Mysterious Castle vs Barnard's Star
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Mysterious Castle
Embark on a turn-based tactical adventure in a procedurally generated world. Control a party of up to four characters, engaging in strategic combat against diverse monsters. Discover treasure and utilize a variety of skills and items to conquer dungeons.
- Turn-based tactical combat
- Procedurally generated world
- Party-based exploration
- Monster variety
- Item and spell system
- Dungeon crawling
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A minimal touch interface controls a party in a turn-based adventure set in a procedurally generated open world filled with monsters and treasure. Play in your browser at https://www.mysterious-castle.com - Control up to 4 characters as they explore and engage in tactical turn based combat with enemy parties of monsters in a labyrinthine open world. - Use combat techniques, spells, bows, wands, staffs, potions, sneak-attacks, and more to dispatch monsters - Pick locks, find hidden keys, and open secret doors as you make your way to the bottom of the network of dungeons that dot the forest. - Unique, procedurally generated open world with varied monsters and items makes for endless playability.
Barnard's Star
Engage in strategic, turn-based multiplayer battles across space. Outwit opponents with unique character abilities and tactical map control. Victory depends solely on your strategic prowess, with no reliance on luck or in-app purchases.
- Multiplayer turn-based tactics
- No micro-transactions or random chance
- 3 warring factions (Humans, Robots, Critters)
- 30 characters with unique attacks
- 18 maps on space stations and ships
- Offline vs. AI and local multiplayer
- Online multiplayer challenges
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Snipe your friends, electrocute your enemies and rain down acidic slime in the Barnard’s Star system, 6 light years from Earth. A multiplayer, turn-based tactics battler with no micro-transactions and no random chance — ingenuity is the only way to victory! Features: - Choose between 3 warring factions: Humans, Robots, and Critters - Do battle with 30 characters using dozens of unique attacks and abilities - Conquer 18 different maps set on space stations and intergalactic ships - Play offline vs. AI or locally against a friend - Challenge friends and strangers with online multiplayer
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Barnard's Star at $3.99 against Mysterious Castle's $9.99. Barnard's Star also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.5) and review sentiment (77% vs 63%). Mysterious Castle's advantage is chart position (#184 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On ratings volume, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
Mysterious Castle costs $9.99 and Barnard's Star $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Barnard's Star holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 30 and 46 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 63% of Mysterious Castle's written reviews are positive against 77% of Barnard's Star's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Mysterious Castle | Barnard's Star |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | $3.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.5 (30 ratings) | 4.7 (46 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 63.2% of reviews | 77.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 30 | 46 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks | Every 4 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #184 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 222 MB | 122 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Jeremy Jurksztowicz | Pollywog Games |
Customer experience
Mysterious Castle
Barnard's Star
In-app purchases
Mysterious Castle
No in-app purchases
Barnard's Star
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Mysterious Castle free?
Is Barnard's Star free?
Which has better reviews, Mysterious Castle or Barnard's Star?
Do Mysterious Castle or Barnard's Star have ads?
Which is updated more often, Mysterious Castle or Barnard's Star?
Other comparisons
