Comparison

Sorcery! vs Cultist Simulator

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

Head to head
About

Sorcery!

Embark on an epic four-part adventure across a land filled with monsters, traps, and magic. Make thousands of choices that dynamically rewrite your story and engage in unique touch-based sword duels. Master 48 magic spells with wondrous effects to shape your journey.

Highlights
  • Hand-drawn 3D world map
  • Thousands of interactive choices
  • Dynamically rewritten story
  • Unique touch-based sword dueling
  • 48 magic spells with story effects
  • Outwit monsters with weaknesses
Features
Read full description

An epic four-part adventure through a land of monsters, traps, and magic. Start your story here! FREE FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY! *** Rock Paper Shotgun Best RPG of 2016 *** "You should choose to own this adventure" -- Eurogamer "Inkle's adaptation of Sorcery! takes the genre to a whole new level" -- Kotaku "This is some of 2013′s best interactive storytelling" -- IGN UK "Beautifully realised ... this gripping tale has us well and truly hooked" -- Pocket Gamer (Gold Award) "Incredibly impressed" -- Touch Arcade Top 10 Best Mobile Games of 2013, Mashable.com Top 20 of 2013, Touch Arcade Top 25 of 2013, Gamezebo + Plot your own journey across a hand-drawn 3D world map + Fully interactive story, with 1000s of choices + The story is rewritten on the fly based on how you play + Unique touch-based sword-duelling, with procedurally-generated descriptions of the action + Adapted from the best-selling gamebook series by legendary game designer Steve Jackson + Outwit monsters by learning their weaknesses and tells + 48 magic spells to master, with weird and wonderful effects that change the story "Sometimes I feel like I'm wasting my time writing a review when I should really just be pointing at a game and demanding that people play it. This is one of those times. Steve Jackson's Sorcery! is an absolutely marvellous fantasy storybook adventure. Lushly illustrated and expertly told, it should not be missed by anyone even remotely interested in the genre." -- Gamezebo "Let’s not mince words here... Sorcery’s unique blend of tabletop-like roleplaying (including an incredible combat system quite unlike anything I’ve seen before), and elaborate branching pathways with custom scripts preserving the feeling of Steve Jackson’s work make me now want to… no, HAVE TO acquire an iOS device" - Just Press Start From legendary designer Steve Jackson, co-founder of Lionhead Studios (with Peter Molyneux), and Fighting Fantasy and Games Workshop (with Ian Livingstone); and inkle, the studio behind the award-winning, App Store featured Frankenstein, Sorcery! is an interactive adventure like never before. The app uses inklewriter technology to tell your journey in real-time, shaping the story around your choices. The text itself changes based on how you play and what you do, and in combat, the action is description on the fly based on how you play. Featuring original illustrations by John Blanche, new character art by Eddie Sharam (DC Comics), an interactive map by Mike Schley (Wizards of the Coast) and music by David Wise (Donkey Kong Country). "The Shamutanti Hills" is Part 1 of 4. Part 2, "Kharé: Cityport of Traps", is out now, and will load all of your completed Part 1 games to continue your adventure. Part 3 is coming later this year (but while you wait, check out our new game, 80 DAYS).

About

Cultist Simulator

A challenging roguelike narrative card game where you play as a seeker of forbidden knowledge. Experiment with rituals, summon entities, and ascend to become a herald of a new age in a Lovecraftian 1920s setting.

Highlights
  • Challenging roguelike gameplay
  • Story-driven legacy system
  • Intense, immersive narrative
  • Choice-based storytelling
  • Lovecraftian world
  • Card combination mechanics
Read full description

SEIZE FORBIDDEN TREASURES. SUMMON ALIEN GODS. FEED ON YOUR DISCIPLES. BE WARNED. This game has no tutorial - part of the challenge is figuring out how to play. It's hard, but keep trying, and you'll master it. Good luck! In this infamous roguelike narrative card game, play as a seeker after unholy mysteries in a 1920s-themed setting of hidden gods and secret histories. Become a scholar of the unseen arts. Craft tools and summon spirits. Indoctrinate innocents. Seize your place as the herald of a new age. Cultist Simulator was first released on PC and has more than 200,000 players all over the world. Now we’re bringing the cosmic mysteries of Cultist Simulator to mobile. • Challenging roguelike gameplay - There is never only one history. Cultist Simulator doesn’t hold your hand. Experiment, expire and transcend death with a story-driven legacy system. Over time you’ll learn enough to wrestle the game to its knees. • Intense, immersive narrative – Combine cards to tell your own story. A hefty novel’s worth of choice-based storytelling, from the creator of Fallen London and Sunless Sea. There are many paths through this game of ambition, appetite and abomination, and many ways your tale can end. • A rich Lovecraftian world – Corrupt your friends and consume your enemies. Search your dreams for sanity-twisting rituals. Translate grimoires and glean their lore. Penetrate the realm of the Hours and win a place in their service. Cultist Simulator brings the peripheral horror of Lovecraft’s tales to an entirely new setting. Expand your knowledge with the DLCs: New Legacies, New Ascensions, New Mechanics... • The Dancer - Join the Bacchanal • The Priest - Knock, and Ye Shall Be Opened • The Ghoul - Taste of the graveyard's fruit • The Exile - Some there are who will not yield If you encounter any issue with the game, please click on “Contact us” at the bottom of this page and give us as many details as possible regarding the issue and your device: https://playdigious.helpshift.com/hc/en/11-cultist-simulator/?p=ios

Screenshots

Sorcery!4 screens
Cultist Simulator4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Sorcery! at none against Cultist Simulator's 5. Sorcery! also leads on price ($4.99 vs $6.99) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.0). Cultist Simulator's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 4.5) and ratings volume (4.3K vs 188). On review sentiment, update cadence, ads 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

Sorcery! costs $4.99 and Cultist Simulator $6.99 up front. Cultist Simulator sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Sorcery! asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Cultist Simulator holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Cultist Simulator has 4.3K ratings behind it against 188, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 73% and 73% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sorcery! ships an update every 6 weeks, Cultist Simulator every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Sorcery! versus Cultist Simulator: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSorcery!Cultist Simulator
Price$4.99 — better$6.99
Rating4.5 (188 ratings)4.8 (4.3K ratings) — better
Positive reviews72.8% of reviews — better72.7% of reviews
Number of ratings1884.3K — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#28 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size166 MB331 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperinklePlaydigious

Customer experience

Sorcery!

All ratings188 ratings
Positive84.6%
Neutral5.3%
Negative10.1%
Written reviews312 reviews
Positive72.8%
Neutral10.6%
Negative16.7%

Cultist Simulator

All ratings4,221 ratings
Positive95.9%
Neutral1.6%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews370 reviews
Positive72.7%
Neutral9.5%
Negative17.8%

User reviews

Sorcery!

From 188 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Immersive story and gameplay
  • 🎨 Beautiful artwork and illustrations
  • 🔮 Unique spell casting mechanics
  • 🗺️ Interactive map and world exploration
  • 🔁 High replay value with multiple paths

Room to improve

  • ⏱️ Short gameplay for the price
  • 💰 Expensive for a partial story
  • 🔁 Rewind feature cheapens decisions
  • 🤔 Simplistic combat system

Cultist Simulator

From 4.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🤯 Fascinating and mysterious
  • 🎨 Beautiful atmosphere and writing
  • 🕰️ Compelling time management gameplay
  • 🕵️ Rewarding sense of discovery
  • 💡 Unique and innovative concept

Room to improve

  • 🤯 Steep learning curve with no tutorial
  • 🕰️ Intense time pressure and resource management
  • 🧠 Confusing mechanics and unclear objectives
  • 🧭 Frustrating lack of progress and repeated failures
  • 🔍 Difficult to keep track of cards and game state

Bugs and requests

Sorcery!

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Occasional crashes reported
  • Compatibility issues on older devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Longer and more expansive story
  • Multiple save slots
  • Deeper RPG mechanics
  • Improved combat with dice rolls

Cultist Simulator

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Occasional crashes and save file issues
  • Disappearing cards and UI elements
  • Inability to access certain features like the club

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add tutorial or in-game hints
  • Provide more accessibility options for text size
  • Implement save/load system to avoid losing progress
  • Add DLC content like the Dancer storyline
  • Improve card organization and UI layout

In-app purchases

None

Sorcery!

No in-app purchases

5 purchases

Cultist Simulator

One-time5
  • The Dancer$1.99
  • The Priest$1.99
  • The Ghoul$1.99
Show 2 more
  • The Exile$4.99
  • Forbidden Bundle$6.99

Questions

Is Sorcery! free?
Sorcery! costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Cultist Simulator free?
Cultist Simulator costs $6.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Sorcery! or Cultist Simulator?
Cultist Simulator is rated higher. Sorcery! averages 4.5 out of 5 from 188 ratings, while Cultist Simulator averages 4.8 from 4.3K ratings.
Do Sorcery! or Cultist Simulator have ads?
Neither Sorcery! nor Cultist Simulator shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sorcery! or Cultist Simulator?
Sorcery! ships an update every 6 weeks, and Cultist Simulator every 2 months. Most recently, Sorcery! was updated on October 24, 2026 and Cultist Simulator on October 25, 2026.

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