Comparison

Star Survivor vs Nova Drift

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

Head to head
About

Star Survivor

Engage in a sci-fi roguelike bullet-heaven experience where you pilot a lone ship against overwhelming alien swarms. Upgrade your vessel with a crafted deck of equipment and power-ups to survive endless waves and conquer challenging sectors. Test your reflexes in this intense offline action shoot'em up.

Highlights
  • Survive endless alien swarms
  • Upgrade ship with equipment and power-ups
  • Create unique builds each run
  • Select from multiple ships
  • Build and customize upgrade decks
  • Campaign adventure mode with sector conquest
Features
Read full description

SURVIVE the swarm in this rogue-lite + survivors + asteroids bullet heaven mashup! Exterminate as many space invaders and alien drones as you can. Upgrade your ship from the crafted deck of equipment and power-ups. You are the Last ship against the Endless... Will your choices be enough to overcome the thousands hunting you in this offline action shoot'em up game? 【One vs Thousands】 You are the last ship, survive the endless swarm with every overpowered weapon and upgrade the fleet has to offer. 【Slaughter the Endless with Unique Builds Every Run】 In this rogue-lite survival asteroids game, select from a variety of weapons and upgrades to create fun run-worthy, overpowered builds every run. Carefully control your ship with Newtonian physics past the swarm of thousands of enemies. Each kill will gain you resources to upgrade your vessel, unlock new ships, or stack the odds in your favor. 【Select Your Ship】 Choose from a selection of ships that offer a variety of unique gameplay experiences and equipment synergies. 【Build Your Deck】 Turn the odds in your favor with Challenge Mode. Unlock new cards each run, purchase, and add new cards to your deck that is drawn when you level up in combat. Upgrade them to increase your power and customize your upgrade deck for strategic builds. A space shooter twist to the randomness of rogue-lites. 【Choose Your Path】 In Campaign adventure mode, choose your path wisely and build your ship as you conquer each sector on your way to slay the Endless Queens in an epic space war. Immerse yourself in the thrilling arcade-style battle, and test your reflexes in this intense shooting game! 【Contact Us】 Discord:@Erabit or join via https://discord.gg/P6vekfhc46 Twitter:@erabit_studios Facebook:@Star Survivor Email:support@erabitstudios.com

About

Nova Drift

This roguelike space shooter blends arcade combat with RPG elements for deep ship customization. Evolve your vessel through rapid gameplay sessions, experimenting with over 200 modular upgrades to craft unique builds and dominate unpredictable, randomly generated challenges.

Highlights
  • Roguelike space shooter gameplay
  • Deep ship build-crafting
  • Over 200 modular upgrades
  • Quick, iterative gameplay sessions
  • Randomly generated challenges
  • Permanent death
Features
Read full description

- SURVIVE - EVOLVE - DOMINATE - Nova Drift is a roguelike space shooter that combines classic arcade combat with action-rpg elements, emphasizing build-crafting and deep customization. Your ship rapidly evolves as you defeat enemies, allowing you to take a build from inception to execution in a single, captivating game session. Featuring: - Quick gameplay sessions (15-45 minutes) that allow for rapid experimentation, iteration, and advancement. - Over 200 modular upgrades, unlocked over time, to create your ideal build with. Snipe, command a drone army, discharge your shields, charge up, burn enemies with your thrusters, or smash right through them... there's a way to make it work. - Modular challenge modes to unlock and activate, providing greater risk and rewards. The stakes are high, as death is permanent! - Every game is randomly generated, keeping the fight intense and unpredictable. Fight through the campaign or play endlessly... Nova Drift is created by Chimeric, with music by Miles Tilmann. Website: https://novadrift.io/ Discord: https://discord.com/invite/Zp2MkPJ

Screenshots

Star Survivor4 screens
Nova Drift4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Star Survivor at $2.99 against Nova Drift's $9.99. Star Survivor also leads on rating (4.6 vs 4.4) and ratings volume (189 vs 56). Nova Drift's advantage is chart position (#152 vs unranked). On review sentiment, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

Star Survivor costs $2.99 and Nova Drift $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Star Survivor holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 189 and 56 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 73% of Star Survivor's written reviews are positive against 81% of Nova Drift's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Star Survivor ships an update fortnightly, Nova Drift every 10 days. Both last shipped on October 25, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Star Survivor versus Nova Drift: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStar SurvivorNova Drift
Price$2.99 — better$9.99
Rating4.6 (189 ratings) — better4.4 (56 ratings)
Positive reviews73.5% of reviews81.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings189 — better56
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreemium — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#152 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS11.010.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size535 MB573 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperQI YU SG. PTE. LTD.Chimeric LLC

Customer experience

Star Survivor

All ratings187 ratings
Positive89.3%
Neutral5.3%
Negative5.3%
Written reviews113 reviews
Positive73.5%
Neutral16.8%
Negative9.7%

Nova Drift

All ratings54 ratings
Positive85.2%
Neutral5.6%
Negative9.3%
Written reviews59 reviews
Positive81.4%
Neutral8.5%
Negative10.2%

Bugs and requests

Star Survivor

Reported bugs

13 issues
  • Game crashes around 23 minutes in fast mode or 1 hour in regular mode
  • Controller support broken in gameplay (only works in menus)
  • iPad Pro screen shifts 1/2 inch lower, cutting off bottom
  • Magic Keyboard triggers text entry in shop menus
  • Upgrades don't apply unless app is restarted
Show 8 more
  • Sound levels inconsistent (deafening or inaudible)
  • Meteorites spawn directly on player location causing instant death
  • Screen visibility issues with dark backgrounds
  • Enemy AOE attacks are too faint to see
  • Missile and fire build effects obscure visibility
  • Level-up menu distracting and causes deaths
  • Xbox controller doesn't respond for movement
  • View Items button easy to press accidentally during stage completion

Requested features

14 requests
  • Full controller support with analog stick movement
  • Additional ships beyond the first one
  • Colorblind mode for better visibility
  • Longer campaign or campaign length options
  • Endless mode with proper deck building
Show 9 more
  • Weapon combo reference page
  • Moveable and resizable joystick and buttons
  • Improved visual contrast for enemies and asteroids
  • More weapon options in level-up cards
  • Manual weapon firing controls
  • Faster experience pickup mechanics
  • Larger virtual joystick size
  • Graphics settings to reduce battery drain
  • Better explanations of game mechanics and upgrades

Nova Drift

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Star Survivor

No in-app purchases

None

Nova Drift

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Star Survivor free?
Star Survivor costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Nova Drift free?
Nova Drift costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Star Survivor or Nova Drift?
Star Survivor is rated higher. Star Survivor averages 4.6 out of 5 from 189 ratings, while Nova Drift averages 4.4 from 56 ratings.
Do Star Survivor or Nova Drift have ads?
Neither Star Survivor nor Nova Drift shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Star Survivor or Nova Drift?
Star Survivor ships an update fortnightly, and Nova Drift every 10 days. Most recently, Star Survivor was updated on October 25, 2026 and Nova Drift on October 25, 2026.

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