Comparison

Goetz vs Playing Kafka

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

Head to head
About

Goetz

Engage in a challenging narrative puzzle adventure set in 15th century medieval Europe. Plan unit choreography to defeat enemies and uncover a captivating story through illustrated, voiced narrative pieces. Enjoy approximately 8 hours of unique content.

Highlights
  • Strategic unit choreography
  • Rewarding narrative pieces
  • Fully voiced by 12+ artists
  • 15th century medieval Europe setting
  • Detailed world map exploration
  • Approximately 8 hours of content
Features
Read full description

A Tough Nut to Crack Goetz is a challenging game. But if you have a soft spot for planning ahead and making your units help each other to create a choreography that will bring the enemies to their knees, Goetz is for you. Every Picture Tells a Story Each solved mission is accompanied by a rewarding narrative piece, lovingly illustrated and fully voiced by a cast of over 12 voice-over artists. These not only seamlessly tie into the gameplay, but will draw you into a captivating story of friendship and intrigue that never takes itself too seriously. A Thing of the Past A faithful rendering of a 15th century medieval Europe awaits you. Step by step uncover the detailed world map from clandestine woods to icy mountains, delve into the original music and unlock bonus missions off the beaten path. Only Time will Tell Goetz is not a casual experience. It is designed to accompany you on long train rides or give you a good time on a rainy evening. Let yourself sink into the puzzles and you will be rewarded with beautiful solutions and round about 8 hours of unique content.

About

Playing Kafka

Embark on an adventure exploring modern alienation and family issues through an absurdist lens. This game adapts three of Kafka's works, featuring a voiced branching story, atmospheric puzzles, and fateful decisions. Navigate unfair trials, unclear rules, and unresolved relationships.

Highlights
  • Voiced branching story
  • Based on Kafka's works
  • Atmospheric puzzles
  • Fateful decisions
  • Drag and drop gameplay
  • Three game chapters
Features
Read full description

Although you did nothing wrong, you were arrested one morning. You arrived for work, but you don’t recognize your assistants. And your upbringing left you with a pervasive sense of guilt. Welcome to Playing Kafka, an adventure about the alienation of modern society as well as unresolved family issues. The game adapts three works of the famously absurdist writer and was created with leading Kafka experts. Can you manage to win an unfair trial? Is the job even real? Can you escape your father’s crushing presence? How do you move forward, when all solutions are obfuscated by a web of unclear rules and machinations… The game features: • a fully voiced branching story, based on Kafka’s The Trial, The Castle and Letter To His Father • atmospheric puzzles, fateful decisions and a drag and drop gameplay that makes characters and environments come alive • approximately 1.5 hour of story in an ever-changing setting Three books, three game chapters: The Trial You face an opaque legal trial and are slowly sucked into a web of perplexing bureaucracy. It is up to you how to approach the vague, but insidious accusation – choose who to ask for help and how to talk to judges, procurators, and others as the judgment is slowly closing in on you. Does it even matter if you’re innocent? Letter to His Father Drawing inspiration from Kafka's unsent confession to his father, this chapter delves into their tense relationship. Try to find the right words that helped Kafka come to terms with his upbringing. See Franz struggle to connect with his father in scenes from the past. Is there any hope of reconciliation? The Castle You arrive at a snow-laden village to work as a land surveyor, but you quickly find that nothing is as it seems – locals talk about the village Castle in hushed tones and each day brings more questions than answers. Will you ever be accepted by the forever out-of-reach Castle? The game was developed to commemorate the centenary of Kafka’s death and was developed in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut, Prague. The Chinese language version was initiated and supported by the Czech Centre Taipei.

Screenshots

Goetz4 screens
Playing Kafka4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Playing Kafka at Free against Goetz's $3.99. Playing Kafka also leads on review sentiment (88% vs 60%) and ratings volume (63 vs 2). Goetz's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.4) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

Playing Kafka is free to download; Goetz costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Goetz holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Playing Kafka has 63 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 60% of Goetz's written reviews are positive against 88% of Playing Kafka's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Goetz ships an update fortnightly, Playing Kafka every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on August 21, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Goetz versus Playing Kafka: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGoetzPlaying Kafka
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better4.4 (63 ratings)
Positive reviews60.0% of reviews88.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings263 — better
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size650 MB489 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperSleepy SeedCharles Games s.r.o.

Customer experience

Goetz

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive60.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative20.0%

Playing Kafka

All ratings63 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral6.3%
Negative7.9%
Written reviews101 reviews
Positive88.1%
Neutral5.9%
Negative5.9%

In-app purchases

None

Goetz

No in-app purchases

None

Playing Kafka

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Goetz free?
Goetz costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Playing Kafka free?
Playing Kafka is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Goetz or Playing Kafka?
Goetz is rated higher. Goetz averages 5.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Playing Kafka averages 4.4 from 63 ratings.
Do Goetz or Playing Kafka have ads?
Neither Goetz nor Playing Kafka shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Goetz or Playing Kafka?
Goetz ships an update fortnightly, and Playing Kafka every 2 months. Most recently, Goetz was updated on August 21, 2026 and Playing Kafka on September 24, 2026.

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