Comparison

Defend Your Castle vs Digger Machine

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

Head to head
About

Defend Your Castle

Defend your castle from waves of crayon invaders by strategically upgrading defenses and deploying various troop types. Utilize powerful spells and unlock achievements as you face unlimited levels of challenging gameplay.

Highlights
  • Battle diverse enemy invaders
  • Upgrade castle defenses
  • Convert and assign soldiers
  • Cast powerful spells
  • Earn achievements
  • Unlimited levels
Features
Read full description

Best-selling Nintendo WiiWare hit and Casual Game of the Year nominee. The original game of castle defense -- accept no imitation! PRESS "You'd be insane not to give Defend Your Castle a download. Final Score 9/10" - Joystiq.com "It’s more cathartically satisfying than bubble wrap and a whole lot prettier" - iPhone Games Network Featured in Apple's "Best Castle Defense Games" UPDATES New in 1.0.3: You can now further upgrade your castle's defenses, each tower has three levels of effectiveness, making your army even more powerful than before! New in 1.0.2: Earn up to 45 medals as you play -- with the all-new achievements system! DESCRIPTION Prepare to Defend your Castle against the relentless army of crayon invaders! Those crafty barbarian hordes have amassed their forces once again to challenge your domain. Will you and your court rise to the challenge, or stand aside as they raze your Castle to the ground? FEATURES • Battle many different types of enemy invaders, requiring varying tactics to defeat • Upgrade your kingdom with fortified walls, the archery range, wizard tower, craftsmen's workshop, and the demolition laboratory • Strengthen your forces by converting soldiers and assigning them as Archers, Wizards, or Craftsmen to work within your castle or deploying them as Bombers • Cast powerful spells with the aid of your Wizards • Your superb defending abilities now earn you up to 45 new achievements! • Unlimited levels: Continue to grow the strength of your Kingdom indefinitely • Heroic difficulty mode for players of royal descent

About

Digger Machine

Embark on an arcade adventure to unearth valuable minerals like gold and diamonds. Upgrade your digging machine, build bases, and navigate treacherous mines filled with traps and bosses. Collect and sell 50 types of minerals to enhance your equipment and become the ultimate miner.

Highlights
  • Dig for 50 types of minerals
  • Upgrade digging machine
  • Build bases
  • Navigate 3 underground mines
  • Complete missions
  • Use 6 special actions
Read full description

Digger Machine is an arcade game where you dig for precious and rare minerals like diamonds, gold.. Before achieving your goal, you can build bases, use items and improve your machine which will make your game easier! *** Over 4 million downloads Worldwide! *** Beware though, as the path in minings is filled with traps! When you finally make it to the bottom, the "Boss" will wait for you there! Be the best miner and drill the most rare items! Download now and find the most valuable - Awesomite. Features - 50 precious types of minerals which you can sell to improve Diggy, - 9 levels of improvements, - 4 awesome Diggers - 3 large underground mines - cloudy, green and ice! - 6 actions which you can use during your journey - relaxing but demanding gameplay - navigation for easy searching of new or existing bases - a lot of missions The game is Free to play! Visit our official webpage - http://erapidstudio.com Like us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/diggermachine Find out more about the games we make on our blog - http://erapidstudio.com/blog/ The game uses micro-transaction and have an ads.

Screenshots

Defend Your Castle4 screens
Digger Machine4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Digger Machine at Free against Defend Your Castle's $0.99. Digger Machine also leads on rating (4.5 vs 3.9) and ratings volume (351 vs 31). Defend Your Castle's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 9) and ads (none vs shown). On review sentiment and device support 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

Digger Machine is free to download; Defend Your Castle costs $0.99 up front. Digger Machine sells 9 one-off in-app purchases. Defend Your Castle asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Digger Machine holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Digger Machine has 351 ratings behind it against 31, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of Defend Your Castle's written reviews are positive against 79% of Digger Machine's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Defend Your Castle ships an update every 3 weeks, Digger Machine every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Defend Your Castle versus Digger Machine: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDefend Your CastleDigger Machine
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating3.9 (31 ratings)4.5 (351 ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.3% of reviews79.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings31351 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS9.3 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size69 MB104 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperXGen StudiosDariusz Mazur

Customer experience

Defend Your Castle

All ratings31 ratings
Positive71.0%
Neutral6.5%
Negative22.6%
Written reviews283 reviews
Positive76.3%
Neutral7.1%
Negative16.6%

Digger Machine

All ratings336 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral6.0%
Negative6.5%
Written reviews100 reviews
Positive79.0%
Neutral4.0%
Negative17.0%

User reviews

Defend Your Castle

From 31 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Addictive gameplay
  • 👍 Charming and creative visuals
  • 🕹️ Responsive touch controls
  • 💰 Great value for money
  • 🕹️ Faithful port of the original game

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and save issues
  • 🔁 Repetitive gameplay at higher levels
  • 🔍 Lack of new enemy types and spells
  • 🔇 No option to play own music
  • 🤕 Can be tiring on the fingers

Digger Machine

From 351 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎮 Highly addictive and engaging gameplay
  • 👍 Faithful recreation of classic Motherload game
  • 📱 Works well on mobile devices
  • ⏱️ Great time-killer/casual entertainment
  • 💰 Reasonable monetization with minimal ads

Room to improve

  • 💰 Pay-to-win mechanics after initial hours
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and glitches
  • 💾 Progress deletion on death or app closure
  • 📺 Ad-related issues (black screens, fake X buttons)
  • ⚠️ Game-breaking gem loss bug

Bugs and requests

Defend Your Castle

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Achievements not tracking correctly
  • Saved games not loading properly
  • Archers not functioning as expected

Requested features

5 requests
  • More enemy variety and difficulty scaling
  • Ability to assign converted units to towers
  • Endurance/endless mode
  • Game Center integration for leaderboards and achievements
  • Option to use original game graphics

Digger Machine

Reported bugs

10 issues
  • Game crashes when typing feedback
  • Progress deleted on death despite save system
  • Black screen after watching ads for revival
  • Gems consumed without unlocking base
  • Player stuck in rocks with no escape
Show 5 more
  • False mineral collection notifications
  • Game restart required after ad viewing
  • Progress lost when closing app or locking device
  • Fake X buttons on some ads
  • Ad respawn option doesn't work properly

Requested features

7 requests
  • Character customization options
  • Ability to dig upward
  • More levels/content
  • Map feature
  • Confirmation dialog for restart button
Show 2 more
  • In-app review system
  • Tooltips for upgrades and features

In-app purchases

None

Defend Your Castle

No in-app purchases

9 purchases

Digger Machine

One-time9
  • Small Diamond Pack$1.99
  • Remove Ads$1.99
  • Diamond Pack$2.99
Show 6 more
  • Time limited custom pack$2.99
  • Good and valuable starter pack$3.99
  • Big Diamond Pack$5.99
  • 50% off - Best available sale!$6.99
  • Golden Diamond Pack$11.99
  • Mega Diamond Pack$13.99

Questions

Is Defend Your Castle free?
Defend Your Castle costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Digger Machine free?
Digger Machine is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Defend Your Castle or Digger Machine?
Digger Machine is rated higher. Defend Your Castle averages 3.9 out of 5 from 31 ratings, while Digger Machine averages 4.5 from 351 ratings.
Do Defend Your Castle or Digger Machine have ads?
Digger Machine shows ads; Defend Your Castle does not.
Which is updated more often, Defend Your Castle or Digger Machine?
Defend Your Castle ships an update every 3 weeks, and Digger Machine every 3 months. Most recently, Defend Your Castle was updated on October 31, 2026 and Digger Machine on October 24, 2026.

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