Sorcery! vs Beyond the Chiron Gate
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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).
Beyond the Chiron Gate
Embark on a text-based space exploration adventure. Discover alien worlds, manage your crew, and upgrade your ship to uncover the secrets of ancient civilizations. Your mission is to gather data and reach the home system of the mysterious Gatebuilders.
- Text-based space exploration
- Discover exotic planets
- Manage a space crew
- Upgrade ship technology
- Gather data
- Uncover ancient civilizations
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Explore an endless universe filled with exotic planets, strange life forms, and ancient civilisations in this text-based space exploration game. Manage a crew of space explorers and upgrade their ship with new technology. Brave dangerous worlds to gather the data you need to reach the home system of the mysterious Gatebuilders.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Sorcery! at $4.99 against Beyond the Chiron Gate's $9.99. Sorcery! also leads on update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 5 months) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 13.0). Beyond the Chiron Gate's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.5) and review sentiment (86% vs 73%). On ratings volume, 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
Sorcery! costs $4.99 and Beyond the Chiron Gate $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Beyond the Chiron Gate holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 188 and 68 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of Sorcery!'s written reviews are positive against 86% of Beyond the Chiron Gate's.
Sorcery! ships an update every 6 weeks, Beyond the Chiron Gate every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Sorcery! | Beyond the Chiron Gate |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 4.5 (188 ratings) | 4.7 (68 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 72.8% of reviews | 85.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 188 — better | 68 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks — better | Every 5 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | — | #101 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 166 MB | 93 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | inkle | Space Goblin Games |
Customer experience
Sorcery!
Beyond the Chiron Gate
User reviews
Sorcery!
From 188 App Store ratingsWhat 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
Beyond the Chiron Gate
From 68 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Immersive narrative and storytelling
- 🚀 Engaging gameplay loop
- 💡 Well-written and descriptive text
- ❤️ High replayability
- ✨ Compares favorably to Seedship
Room to improve
- 💰 Pricey for a mobile game
- 🔄 Repetitive events and scenarios
- 📉 Unbalanced difficulty and RNG
- 😥 Focus on crew injury/death can be discouraging
- 🧩 Game feels unfinished to some
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
Beyond the Chiron Gate
Reported bugs
4 issues- VoiceOver clicks on links, ending the game
- Music turns off when app is put in background
- Bug where actions are chosen without consent after picking 'continue'
- Music volume adjustment control is good, but background play is desired
Requested features
8 requests- Add more event types or variations
- Improve interface and touch controls
- Add a back button
- Allow music to play in the background
- Increase effectiveness of medic crew members
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- More unique endings
- More options throughout the game
- Font pitch and script type selection
In-app purchases
Sorcery!
No in-app purchases
Beyond the Chiron Gate
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Sorcery! free?
Is Beyond the Chiron Gate free?
Which has better reviews, Sorcery! or Beyond the Chiron Gate?
Do Sorcery! or Beyond the Chiron Gate have ads?
Which is updated more often, Sorcery! or Beyond the Chiron Gate?
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