Comparison

The Elder Scrolls vs Loop Hero

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

The Elder Scrolls

Build and manage your own castle and dynasty across generations. Make crucial decisions, customize your stronghold, and send heroes on quests to protect your kingdom. Your choices shape your legacy.

Highlights
  • Build and customize your castle
  • Manage your dynasty across generations
  • Make impactful kingdom decisions
  • Train subjects and assign workstations
  • Complete epic quests with heroes
  • Equip heroes with epic gear
Features
Read full description

From Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning developer behind Skyrim and Fallout Shelter, comes The Elder Scrolls: Castles – a new mobile game that puts you in control of your very own castle and dynasty. Oversee your subjects as the years come and go, families grow, and new rulers take the throne. BUILD YOUR DYNASTY Tell your story for generations - each day in real life covers the span of an entire year in The Elder Scrolls: Castles. Train your subjects, name heirs, and maintain order to help your kingdom flourish. Will you keep your subjects happy and ensure a long life for their ruler? Or will they grow discontent and plot assassination? MANAGE YOUR CASTLE Customize your castle from the ground up, adding and expanding rooms, placing lavish decorations and inspirational monuments, and even assign subjects to workstations to ensure your castle has the resources to thrive for years to come! RULE YOUR KINGDOM Make key decisions that impact your legacy. Will you risk a limited supply of food to aid a neighboring kingdom? How should a heated spat between your subjects be settled? Your choices determine if your rule will inspire prosperity or lead your castle to peril. COMPLETE EPIC QUESTS Create heroes, equip them with epic gear, and send them to battle against classic Elder Scrolls foes to collect valuable items and keep your kingdom growing.

About

Loop Hero

Embark on a roguelike RPG adventure where you strategically place cards to create enemy encounters, buildings, and terrain. Equip your hero with powerful loot, expand your camp, and unlock new classes and cards to break an endless cycle of despair and save a forgotten world.

Highlights
  • Randomly generated expedition loops
  • Strategic card placement for trials
  • Loot collection for hero progression
  • Camp expansion and reconstruction
  • Unlockable classes and cards
  • Retro pixel art dark fantasy story
Features
Read full description

*Try Loop Hero for free and unlock the full game for the whole adventure!* The Lich has thrown the world into a timeless loop and plunged its inhabitants into never ending chaos. In this roguelike RPG, wield an expanding deck of mystical cards to place enemies, buildings, and terrain along each unique expedition loop for the brave hero. Recover and equip powerful loot for each class of hero for their battles and expand the survivors' camp to reinforce each adventure through the loop. Unlock new classes, new cards, and devious guardians on your quest to shatter the endless cycle of despair. FEATURES - Explore an endless number of paths: bring your hero on randomly generated loops and never experience the same run twice. - Shape your expeditions into darkness: build your deck and place your cards to script your hero’s trials and tribulations. - Loot as you loop to rebuild the world: recover your memories as you collect equipment and resources to become stronger, reconstruct your camp and get your reality back. - Plunge into a gloomy universe: discover a melancholic dark fantasy story told through a retro pixel art direction and recollect the memories of this world. - Break the cycle: triumph over mighty bosses to free the world from the Lich’s neverending time loop. CAREFULLY REDESIGNED FOR MOBILE - Revamped interface – exclusive mobile UI with complete touch control - Game Center achievements - Cloud Save – Share your progress between iOS devices - Compatible with MFi controllers - iPhone 15 Optimization (including Pro Max)

Screenshots

The Elder Scrolls4 screens
Loop Hero4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Loop Hero at none against The Elder Scrolls's shown. Loop Hero also leads on review sentiment (75% vs 49%) and rating (4.9 vs 4.6). The Elder Scrolls's advantage is ratings volume (13K vs 3.9K) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. The Elder Scrolls sells 39 one-off in-app purchases and Loop Hero sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Loop Hero holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 13K and 3.9K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 49% of The Elder Scrolls's written reviews are positive against 75% of Loop Hero's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

The Elder Scrolls ships an update every 2 weeks, Loop Hero every 10 days. Both last shipped on October 20, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
The Elder Scrolls versus Loop Hero: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThe Elder ScrollsLoop Hero
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (13K ratings)4.9 (3.9K ratings) — better
Positive reviews49.2% of reviews75.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings13K — better3.9K
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 10 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size686 MB213 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperBethesdaPlaydigious

Customer experience

The Elder Scrolls

All ratings13,152 ratings
Positive89.2%
Neutral4.0%
Negative6.8%
Written reviews1,187 reviews
Positive49.2%
Neutral18.1%
Negative32.7%

Loop Hero

All ratings3,814 ratings
Positive97.5%
Neutral0.7%
Negative1.8%
Written reviews288 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral6.6%
Negative18.4%

User reviews

The Elder Scrolls

From 13K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fun and addictive gameplay
  • 👍 Unique Elder Scrolls-themed mechanics
  • 💡 Interesting character relationships and decision-making
  • 🎨 Beautiful visuals and music

Room to improve

  • 🔋 Drains battery quickly
  • 💰 Aggressive monetization with paywall-locked content
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and sync issues
  • 🕹️ Clunky controls and UI

Loop Hero

From 3.9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Excellent mechanics
  • 👍 Great replayability
  • 👍 Charming graphics
  • 👍 Unique and enjoyable experience
  • 👍 Smooth gameplay

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Sound doesn't work
  • 🐛 Crashes and freezes
  • 🐛 Unresponsive after certain actions
  • 🐛 Difficulty reading small text
  • 🐛 Accidental card placement

Bugs and requests

The Elder Scrolls

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Inability to select rooms without selecting characters
  • Accidental character movement due to poor UI
  • Inconsistent resource collection when game is closed

Requested features

4 requests
  • Multiple save files or restart option
  • More customization options for castle and characters
  • Improved character management tools
  • Deeper integration with Elder Scrolls lore and characters

Loop Hero

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Game crashes after defeating first boss
  • Unplayable after initial progress
  • Inability to progress past trial version

Requested features

4 requests
  • Portrait mode
  • More classes/build diversity
  • Improved UI/overlay customization
  • Chinese language support

In-app purchases

39 purchases

The Elder Scrolls

One-time39
  • Event Bundle$0.99
  • Pouch of Gems - 50% discount$0.99
  • Imperial Decoration: Discount$1.99
Show 36 more
  • Legendary Shield Spellbreaker$1.99
  • Legendary Axe: Warlock Butcher$1.99
  • Pouch of Gems$1.99
  • Event Bundle$2.99
  • Potions and Scrolls$2.99
  • Imperial Decoration$3.99
  • Witch-Hunting Reinforcements$4.99
  • Small Starter Bundle$4.99
  • Emperor's Pass (7 days)$4.99
  • Sack of Gems$4.99
  • Magical Craftsmen$5.99
  • Legendary Event Subject Bundle$6.99
  • Redguard Bundle: New Blood$7.99
  • Holiday Feast Bundle$9.99
  • Satchel of Gems$9.99
  • Potions and Scrolls$9.99
  • Dwemer Furnace Bundle$9.99
  • Emperor's Pass (14 days)$9.99
  • Magical Craftsmen$9.99
  • Weekly Bundle: Silversmith$11.99
  • Put Your Dukes Up - Discount$11.99
  • A Bit of Everything$11.99
  • Decoration Pack$12.99
  • But make it fashion - discount$13.99
  • Emperor's Pass (30 days)$13.99
  • Large Starter Bundle$14.99
  • Weekly Bundle: It's Adore-able$17.99
  • Imperial Coffer of Gems$19.99
  • Weekly Bundle : A Noble Path$19.99
  • Weekly Bundle: A Mage's Touch$19.99
  • Biggest Bundle (Big Discount)$19.99
  • Emperor's Pass (1 year)$19.99
  • Strongbox of Gems$19.99
  • Put Your Dukes Up$29.99
  • Weekly Bundle: Silversmith$29.99
  • Imperial Coffer of Gems$99.99
1 purchases

Loop Hero

One-time1
  • Unlock Full Game$6.99

Questions

Is The Elder Scrolls free?
The Elder Scrolls is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Loop Hero free?
Loop Hero is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, The Elder Scrolls or Loop Hero?
Loop Hero is rated higher. The Elder Scrolls averages 4.6 out of 5 from 13K ratings, while Loop Hero averages 4.9 from 3.9K ratings.
Do The Elder Scrolls or Loop Hero have ads?
The Elder Scrolls shows ads; Loop Hero does not.
Which is updated more often, The Elder Scrolls or Loop Hero?
The Elder Scrolls ships an update every 2 weeks, and Loop Hero every 10 days. Most recently, The Elder Scrolls was updated on October 20, 2026 and Loop Hero on October 20, 2026.

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