Comparison

Bug Heroes vs Notebook Artillery

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

Head to head
About

Bug Heroes

Engage in a miniature war blending action, strategy, and tower defense. Control unique heroes, build diverse defenses, and upgrade your units to protect your territory. Explore a vast campaign or unleash your creativity in a custom level editor.

Highlights
  • Action-strategy tower defense blend
  • 11 unique Bug Heroes with distinct abilities
  • Dozens of unlockable tower types
  • Single player campaign across multiple environments
  • Robust level editor for custom battles
  • RPG-style progression with upgrades
  • Third-person hero control or classic overhead view
Features
Read full description

Control powerful heroes, unlock dozens of tower types, and craft your perfect defense in an exciting blend of action, strategy and tower defense! Master 11 Bug Heroes, each with their own play style, abilities, and weapons; from the Spider Assassin to the Ant Engineer, to the Worm Demolitions Expert, and more! Scavenge for food and junk, build turrets, level up your heroes and towers, equip upgrades, and defend against the enemy! FEATURES • An exciting mix of action, tower defense, and RPG style upgradeability • Huge single player campaign spanning an entire neighborhood of houses • Unleash your creativity at the Playground — a robust level editor where you can craft custom battles and share them with other players • Dozens of towers to unlock and experiment with - craft your defense however you choose • Discover a unique world with interesting heroes, each with their own unique play style, abilities, and personalities • RPG style progression with level ups, upgrades, equipment, and more • Tons of enemy variety to keep gameplay fresh • Take direct control of your heroes from a 3rd person camera, or play like a traditional tower defense game with a classic overhead camera • Jaw dropping, stylized graphics We truly respect your time and support, and we hope you enjoy Bug Heroes: Tower Defense! If you have any questions, suggestions, or need help, please contact us at info@foursakenmedia.com

About

Notebook Artillery

Engage in strategic cannon combat with this arcade-simulation-action game. Adjust firing angle and powder to hit targets or opponents, accounting for wind and random stage layouts. Features hand-drawn art and multiple game modes.

Highlights
  • Adjust firing angle and powder
  • Account for wind and stage layouts
  • Solo target practice mode
  • CPU opponent
  • Local multiplayer vs mode
  • Hand-drawn game art
  • Unlockable stickers
Features
Read full description

Apple called it "sketchy — in a good way." Multiple-time Game of the Day in 80+ countries. Nintendo Force gave it 8.5/10. And it started as a doodle. Once upon a time in a middle school computer lab, a student ignored every assignment for an entire semester to fire cannons at a friend. That student grew up, spent 20 years making games professionally, and eventually decided the world needed a proper love letter to that wasted time. This is it. Notebook Artillery is a hand-drawn artillery game inspired by the classic Mac game that got confiscated off school computers everywhere. Set your angle. Load your powder. Fire. Account for the wind. Try not to hit your own tower. Play your way: Solo target practice — break floating targets across randomly generated stages VS CPU — take on a computer opponent Local multiplayer — challenge someone in the same room What makes it feel different: Every frame hand-drawn in Procreate — ruled lines, coil binding, pencil textures, the whole notebook aesthetic Trees splinter. Towers explode. Cannonballs collide mid-air. Wind changes everything. Read the flag. Use your shot trails. Unlock stickers by pulling off feats — first-shot eliminations, mid-air collisions, and yes, accidentally destroying your own tower Randomly generated stages mean no two games play the same Made by one person, with audio by Kevin Samuels and Switch/console ports by PolyCrunch Games. No AI tools were used in making this game. All art hand-drawn. Developed in GameMaker Studio.

Screenshots

Bug Heroes4 screens
Notebook Artillery4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Bug Heroes at Free against Notebook Artillery's $0.99. Bug Heroes also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.5) and ratings volume (3.3K vs 149). Notebook Artillery's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 13) and chart position (#66 vs unranked). On review sentiment, update cadence, ads 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

Bug Heroes is free to download; Notebook Artillery costs $0.99 up front. Bug Heroes sells 13 one-off in-app purchases. Notebook Artillery asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Bug Heroes holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bug Heroes has 3.3K ratings behind it against 149, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 76% of Bug Heroes's written reviews are positive against 82% of Notebook Artillery's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bug Heroes ships an update every 9 days, Notebook Artillery every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on October 30, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Bug Heroes versus Notebook Artillery: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBug HeroesNotebook Artillery
PriceFree — better$0.99
Rating4.9 (3.3K ratings) — better4.5 (149 ratings)
Positive reviews76.2% of reviews81.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3.3K — better149
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#66 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1.3 GB115 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperFoursaken MediaAustin Ivansmith

Customer experience

Bug Heroes

All ratings3,290 ratings
Positive97.6%
Neutral1.3%
Negative1.1%
Written reviews181 reviews
Positive76.2%
Neutral8.3%
Negative15.5%

Notebook Artillery

All ratings148 ratings
Positive87.2%
Neutral6.8%
Negative6.1%
Written reviews87 reviews
Positive81.6%
Neutral10.3%
Negative8.0%

User reviews

Bug Heroes

From 3.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fantastic gameplay
  • 👍 Unique and engaging tower defense mechanics
  • 🎨 Excellent graphics and visuals
  • 🔊 Great sound design
  • 🕹️ Enjoyable character control

Room to improve

  • 💰 Aggressive monetization with frequent in-app purchase prompts
  • 🔒 Limited progression without spending money
  • 🐛 Performance issues and bugs in later levels
  • 🕹️ Lack of controller support
  • 🔍 Unbalanced difficulty spikes

Notebook Artillery

From 149 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Engaging gameplay
  • 👍 Charming hand-drawn visuals
  • 🎨 Creative twist on artillery games
  • 💡 Simple yet effective mechanics
  • 🕹️ Satisfying challenge of mastering angles and power

Room to improve

  • 🔁 Repetitive gameplay
  • 🤖 Erratic AI behavior
  • 🕹️ Controls could be improved for one-handed play
  • 🎨 Pixelated terrain graphics
  • 🕹️ Lacking difficulty settings or progression

Bugs and requests

Bug Heroes

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Treasures spawning in unreachable locations
  • Bugs causing towers to be destroyed too easily
  • Freezing and performance drops in late-game

Requested features

5 requests
  • Multiplayer co-op mode
  • More diverse hero and tower selection
  • Expanded endgame content
  • Improved balancing and difficulty curve
  • Controller support

Notebook Artillery

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Crashes on iOS 12 and 13 on iPad Pro
  • Inconsistent animation speeds

Requested features

7 requests
  • Online multiplayer
  • Campaign mode with objectives
  • Weapon/tower upgrades
  • Customization options
  • Special game modes (speed run, boss battles, etc.)
Show 2 more
  • Ability to save and continue games
  • Detailed badge/achievement system

In-app purchases

13 purchases

Bug Heroes

One-time13
  • Couple of Gems$0.99
  • Pile of Gems$2.99
  • Mug of Gems$4.99
Show 10 more
  • Starter Pack$4.99
  • Bag of Gems$7.99
  • Remove Ads$7.99
  • Starter Pack$7.99
  • Bucket of Gems$9.99
  • Premium Game+$9.99
  • Remove Ads$14.99
  • Box of Gems$19.99
  • Mountain of Gems$49.99
  • Man God Fortune$99.99
None

Notebook Artillery

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Bug Heroes free?
Bug Heroes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Notebook Artillery free?
Notebook Artillery costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Bug Heroes or Notebook Artillery?
Bug Heroes is rated higher. Bug Heroes averages 4.9 out of 5 from 3.3K ratings, while Notebook Artillery averages 4.5 from 149 ratings.
Do Bug Heroes or Notebook Artillery have ads?
Both Bug Heroes and Notebook Artillery show ads.
Which is updated more often, Bug Heroes or Notebook Artillery?
Bug Heroes ships an update every 9 days, and Notebook Artillery every 2 weeks. Most recently, Bug Heroes was updated on October 30, 2026 and Notebook Artillery on October 30, 2026.

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