Comparison

Dead Man's Draw vs Cthulhu Realms

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

Head to head
About

Dead Man's Draw

A strategic card game where players balance risk and reward by drawing cards. Chain combos, unlock treasures, and use mystic jewel powers to win. Offers over 50 tournaments with ongoing additions.

Highlights
  • Easy to learn, challenging to master
  • Chain card combos for points
  • Win gold and unlock treasures
  • Exploit mystic jewel powers
  • Earn special rewards
  • 50+ distinct tournaments
Features
Read full description

Stand on the knife’s edge between risk and reward. The turn of a single card can win bags of treasure or lose it all in this simple and strategic game of chance and skill. Every card you draw could be your last, but the right mix of wit and courage wins the booty. “Creative card game that starts out simple and layers on the strategy” Gamezebo – 9/10 “If you're after a polished and fun card game, this should be your first port of call.” PocketGamer – 8/10 “‘baller x-treme’ (that is a compliment)” Tycho of Penny-Arcade “You’re not just getting a nifty card game; you’re getting a long steady feed of new ways to play.” Quarter to Three – 4/5 stars “Best New Games” and “What We’re Playing” -Apple Dead Man’s Draw combines luck and strategy in a simple card-drawing format. Pulling the wrong card could bust your entire hand, but choosing the right target for a cannon blast or following a treasure map to the best destination can turn the tides in your favor more than any blind luck ever could. Draw if you dare! ------------------------------- ● Easy to learn, challenging to master ● Chain together card combos to rack up points ● Win gold and unlock new treasures ● Exploit unique powers granted by mystic jewels ● Earn special rewards with high scores ● Test your skills in 50+ distinct tournaments, with more to come ------------------------------- Follow us on Twitter: @DeadMansDraw

About

Cthulhu Realms

This digital card game challenges players to drive opponents insane or maintain more sanity than them by the end of the deck. It features comical art and strategic deck-building mechanics, offering a free-to-play experience with an optional upgrade for expanded features and online play.

Highlights
  • Deck-building mechanics
  • Sanity-based win conditions
  • Comical horror art
  • AI opponent
  • Campaign missions
  • Online multiplayer
  • Pass and Play mode
Features
Read full description

Star Realms has gone insane! Introducing Cthulhu Realms! Are you zany enough to play the crazier and creepier cousin of Star Realms? Download and play today to find out why Cthulhu Realms is so crazily addictive! In Cthulhu Realms, each player tries to drive their opponent insane or have more sanity than their opponents when the deck runs out. "The art in Cthulhu Realms is hilarious and beautifully done, somehow complimenting the horror theme perfectly. The production value is top-notch." — Gameosity "It’s a surprisingly effective package that delivers a great little deck builder with a low price tag. If you can embrace the playful theme, you’ll find a pleasant gem in Cthulhu Realms." — Geek Ken "It certainly is not just another deck-building game, but has original and fresh mechanics that will challenge your brain." — Board Game Maniac How to Play the Game: Each player starts the game with a small deck comprised of initiates, goons and followers. Five cards from the deck form a row of available cards on the table; with more than two players, place three available cards between each pair of players. Each turn, you start with five cards in hand, playing those cards in order to put locations into play, boost your own sanity or reduce that of others, collect conjuring power to acquire new cards, and remove cards from the game. You can use the power of your locations once each turn. At the end of your turn, discard any cards still in hand and all entities and artifacts that you played. If you lose all of your sanity, you're out of the game. If you're the only one at the table who's still sane, you win. Otherwise, the game ends when the deck runs out and whoever has the most sanity wins. Darwin Kastle is the designer of the popular Star Realms Deckbuilding Game, and with the digital release of Cthulhu Realms, he once again provides tons of playability for free, and a one-time upgrade to be able play with your friends and more on any device. Free Version • Drive people insane everywhere - play across devices. • Crazyily addictive deckbuilding game. • Tutorial teaches you how to make people crazy in minutes. • Awesome, comical art. • Play VS the AI. • 8 silly campaign missions! Full Game Additional Features • Play the AI on 2 different difficulty settings. • 8 more fun campaign missions. • Battle your friends face to face with Pass and Play. • Play against many more opponents online. • Challenge a friend to online Player v Player combat Cthulhu Realms is also available at your local game store as a physical card game from Tasty Minstrel Games.

Screenshots

Dead Man's Draw4 screens
Cthulhu Realms3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Dead Man's Draw at 4.3 against Cthulhu Realms's 3.2. Dead Man's Draw also leads on review sentiment (65% vs 38%) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 5 weeks). On price, ads, 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. Dead Man's Draw sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Cthulhu Realms 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

Dead Man's Draw holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Dead Man's Draw has 427 ratings behind it against 64, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 65% of Dead Man's Draw's written reviews are positive against 38% of Cthulhu Realms's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Dead Man's Draw ships an update fortnightly, Cthulhu Realms every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Dead Man's Draw versus Cthulhu Realms: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDead Man's DrawCthulhu Realms
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (427 ratings) — better3.2 (64 ratings)
Positive reviews65.1% of reviews — better37.6% of reviews
Number of ratings427 — better64
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS6.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size45 MB206 MB
Age rating17+9+
DeveloperStardockWhite Wizard Games

Customer experience

Dead Man's Draw

All ratings417 ratings
Positive83.2%
Neutral5.3%
Negative11.5%
Written reviews229 reviews
Positive65.1%
Neutral6.1%
Negative28.8%

Cthulhu Realms

All ratings64 ratings
Positive46.9%
Neutral9.4%
Negative43.8%
Written reviews85 reviews
Positive37.6%
Neutral11.8%
Negative50.6%

User reviews

Dead Man's Draw

From 427 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Fun and addictive gameplay
  • 🚀 Smooth and polished app
  • 💡 Unique pirate-themed card game
  • 👍 Easy to learn, with increasing complexity

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
  • 🤑 Aggressive in-app purchases
  • 🐢 Slow progression without spending money
  • 🔨 Abandoned by developers, no updates

Cthulhu Realms

From 64 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Fun gameplay
  • 👍 Humorous storyline
  • 👍 Cool art
  • 👍 Good digital version
  • 👍 Enjoyable card game

Room to improve

  • 😞 Confusing game
  • 😞 Not fullscreen on iPad
  • 😞 Not ported to iPhone well
  • 😞 In-app purchase not on all devices
  • 😞 Extremely complicated

Bugs and requests

Dead Man's Draw

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Game crashes after every match
  • Card abilities not functioning properly
  • Progress reset after app reinstalls
  • Extremely fast AI opponent turns

Requested features

4 requests
  • Online multiplayer mode
  • More gameplay variety and levels
  • Ability to save progress across devices
  • Option to disable in-app purchases

Cthulhu Realms

Reported bugs

43 issues
  • Not fullscreen on iPad 10
  • Words cutoff on Face ID iPhones
  • Cannot login
  • No way to contact support
  • In-app purchase says available on all devices but not so
Show 38 more
  • User name doesn't show up
  • Cannot play online
  • Cannot play missions or vs AI
  • App is completely broken
  • Tap on campaign - nothing
  • Tap on single match - nothing
  • Everything now broken
  • Update broke everything
  • Campaign, vs AI, Tutorial non-responsive
  • Stopped working
  • Update broken
  • Cannot start a game
  • June2018 update problem
  • 'Start game' button not working
  • Update broken on iPad and iPhone 7
  • Won't let me buy full version
  • Server error on online play
  • Online play has never given a match
  • UI could be improved
  • Online play implemented well
  • App badge and notifications when it is your turn
  • Game lags with perfect graphics
  • Push notifications don't appear
  • Badge notifications appear after opening app
  • Online doesn't work
  • Purchased full version, won't let me play online
  • App doesn't remember purchase
  • Constantly logging out
  • Broken, please fix
  • Bought but won't recognize it
  • Broken-purchased and won't unlock or restore
  • Still can't make the purchase for full game
  • Broke, doesn't allow purchases
  • Loses connection often
  • Notification bug
  • Bug that app doesn't remember I bought the in-app purchase
  • Keep having to rebuy the game
  • Account creation bug

Requested features

12 requests
  • More campaign content
  • More levels
  • Rank ladders for online play
  • Fix current stats
  • Turn off background movement
Show 7 more
  • Add pass & play feature
  • Improve UI for readability
  • Fix online connection issues
  • Allow real-time games with friends
  • Fix notifications
  • Allow multiple online accounts per purchase
  • Fix account creation bug

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Dead Man's Draw

One-time10
  • 4,000 Gold$0.99
  • 3,000 Gold$0.99
  • 12,000 Gold$2.99
Show 7 more
  • Plunderer Trait$2.99
  • Davy Jones' Locker Trait$2.99
  • 9,000 Gold$2.99
  • Gold Multiplier$4.99
  • 30,000 Gold$5.99
  • Premium Pack$6.99
  • 35,000 Gold$9.99
1 purchases

Cthulhu Realms

One-time1
  • Main Expansion$4.99

Questions

Is Dead Man's Draw free?
Dead Man's Draw is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Cthulhu Realms free?
Cthulhu Realms is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Dead Man's Draw or Cthulhu Realms?
Dead Man's Draw is rated higher. Dead Man's Draw averages 4.3 out of 5 from 427 ratings, while Cthulhu Realms averages 3.2 from 64 ratings.
Do Dead Man's Draw or Cthulhu Realms have ads?
Neither Dead Man's Draw nor Cthulhu Realms shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Dead Man's Draw or Cthulhu Realms?
Dead Man's Draw ships an update fortnightly, and Cthulhu Realms every 5 weeks. Most recently, Dead Man's Draw was updated on November 1, 2026 and Cthulhu Realms on November 4, 2026.

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