Stellar Mercenaries vs Dead At Dusk
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Stellar Mercenaries
Engage in offline, vertical scrolling arcade action with this sci-fi RPG. Upgrade your ship, weapons, and abilities to battle rival mercenaries and conquer the solar system. Enjoy endless procedurally generated missions with diverse objectives and challenges.
- Vertical scrolling arcade shooter
- Offline capable gameplay
- Upgradable ships and weapons
- Customizable loadouts
- Procedurally generated missions
- Rival mercenary system
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Ready to vanquish your enemies and change the solar system forever from anywhere? Stellar Mercs is a vertical scrolling, offline capable, action arcade shooter with upgradable ships, weapons, and special abilities. Customize your loadouts for each mission depending on the environments and enemies you'll face! Each mission will reward you with unlocks and cash to continue building your arsenal. You're not the only mercenary out there - the more successful and accomplished you become, the more attention you'll attract. Enemy mercenaries can become persistent arch-rivals, leveling up along side you. Defeating them will net you great rewards, but if you die at their hands, they'll grow even further in power. The fun is never-ending! Fly missions through endless procedurally generated missions with a variety of environments, objectives, hazards, enemies, and rewards. Hijack cargo from speeding space trains, break into heavily guarded research and development space stations to acquire new prototype ships to fly, or defeat mighty leviathan capital ships in your quest to become the wealthiest, most powerful mercenary in the system! Stellar Mercs operates as a single handed action arcade game, so you can play comfortably on the go. SM is offline capable, so even without signal you can keep gaming and conquering the solar system! Configure your spacecraft's loadout and autoshoot your way to victory - focus on maneuvering through hazards and waves of enemies while you employ special abilities for maximum carnage!
Dead At Dusk
Survive the night against relentless enemy hordes by choosing unique heroes and weapons. Specialize your character with powerful abilities to withstand the onslaught.
- Endless enemy horde survival
- Diverse hero selection
- Variety of weapon choices
- Character ability specialization
- Nighttime survival gameplay
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Survive through the night against an endless horde of enemies! HEROES & WEAPONS Choose from a diverse selection of characters and weapons that offer a variety of gameplay experiences. ABILITIES Specialize or equip multiple abilities so your character is strong enough to survive through the night.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Stellar Mercenaries at none against Dead At Dusk's shown. Stellar Mercenaries also leads on ratings volume (38 vs 7). Dead At Dusk's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.8) and review sentiment (100% vs 86%). On price, update cadence, 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
Both are free to download. Stellar Mercenaries sells 9 one-off in-app purchases and Dead At Dusk sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Dead At Dusk holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Stellar Mercenaries has 38 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 86% of Stellar Mercenaries's written reviews are positive against 100% of Dead At Dusk's.
Stellar Mercenaries ships an update every 3 weeks, Dead At Dusk every 5 weeks. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.
| Parameter | Stellar Mercenaries | Dead At Dusk |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (38 ratings) | 5.0 (7 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 85.7% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 38 — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 5 weeks |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 198 MB | 191 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Quest Builders LLC | whale oild LLC |
Customer experience
Stellar Mercenaries
Dead At Dusk
In-app purchases
Stellar Mercenaries
- Currency - Small Pack$1.99
- Starter Pack - Basic$1.99
- Gem Pack - Small$2.99
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- Currency - Medium Pack$3.99
- Stater Pack - Advanced$5.99
- Gem Pack - Medium$7.99
- Currency - Large Pack$7.99
- Gem Pack - Large$15.99
- Starter Pack - Legendary$15.99
Dead At Dusk
- 500 Cleansed Blood$0.99
- 5000 Cleansed Blood$4.99
- 15000 Cleansed Blood$9.99
Questions
Is Stellar Mercenaries free?
Is Dead At Dusk free?
Which has better reviews, Stellar Mercenaries or Dead At Dusk?
Do Stellar Mercenaries or Dead At Dusk have ads?
Which is updated more often, Stellar Mercenaries or Dead At Dusk?
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