Ellipse vs Hold the Keep
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ellipse
Design, build, and launch rockets with realistic orbital mechanics. Explore celestial bodies and experience dynamic physics for a true-to-life space simulation. Ideal for aspiring engineers and space enthusiasts.
- Rocket design and customization
- Realistic orbital mechanics
- Explore celestial bodies
- Dynamic physics engine
- Space exploration simulation
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Build your own vehicles and conduct your own space missions to explore space. Launch capsules, satellites, land on the Moon, land on Mars. - Real orbital mechanics and physics, nothing is faked - Planets based on real solar system data - Thrilling visual effects - No ads, no account required, free to download
Hold the Keep
Command heroes and use skill cards in this fast-paced tactical survival game. Build your army, upgrade abilities, and defend your keep against increasingly difficult waves of enemies. Each playthrough offers a chance to strategize and grow stronger for the next challenge.
- Command heroes
- Unleash skill cards
- Battle waves of enemies
- Build and upgrade army
- Defend the keep
- Strategic gameplay
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Hold The Keep is a fast-paced tactical survival game where you command heroes, unleash skill cards, and battle through waves of enemies that grow stronger over time. Build your army, upgrade your abilities, and defend the keep against an ever-intensifying battlefield. Every run challenges you to survive longer, make smarter choices, and grow stronger for the next fight. Summon heroes across different roles, including tanks, healers, ranged attackers, mages, assassins, and specialists. Unlike games that limit your squad size, Hold The Keep lets you bring as many heroes as you can afford to summon. Use skill cards to change the tide of battle with damage spells, summons, healing, shields, buffs, debuffs, and crowd control. Time each card carefully and build powerful combinations to survive longer. Face endless waves of enemies, elites, and bosses as the pressure keeps rising. Earn rewards, strengthen your heroes, upgrade your cards, improve your summons, and refine your strategy with each attempt. Can you hold the keep?
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Ellipse at none against Hold the Keep's shown. Ellipse also leads on ratings volume (2K vs 4). Hold the Keep's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs monthly) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Ellipse sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Hold the Keep sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Hold the Keep holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ellipse has 2K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 79% of Ellipse's written reviews are positive against 100% of Hold the Keep's.
Ellipse ships an update monthly, Hold the Keep weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ellipse | Hold the Keep |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (2K ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 78.9% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2K — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 245 MB | 400 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Starwelds | BcuzEYEcan |
Customer experience
Ellipse
Hold the Keep
Bugs and requests
Ellipse
Reported bugs
12 issues- Connected parts don't work
- Staging issues (last stage goes first)
- Fairings don't attach
- Cannot delete after spawning samples
- Detached parts don't detach
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- Game freezes during missions
- Parachute gets cut before launch
- Expansion pack causes build issues
- Glitches on iPad
- Rocket parts don't separate
- Capsule doesn't separate from rocket near the moon
- Build area barrier
Requested features
49 requests- Add more planets
- Add astronauts
- Add a delete button
- Add more parts (solar panel, battery, antenna, wing, landing leg, chassis, monopropellant tank, docking port)
- Add electricity consumption
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- Add plane flight mechanics
- Add planet navigation (like SFS)
- Improve RCS control
- Improve plane aerodynamics
- Improve RCS in docking mode
- Add launch instructions
- Add symmetry feature
- Add staging mechanic
- Add modding or community made packs
- Add individual save slots
- Add more free stuff
- Add engine mounts
- Add SRB customizations
- Make fuel tanks adjustable
- Add emergency escape towers
- Add Jupiter and its moons
- Add Deimos (Mars' second moon)
- Add gas giants and their moons
- Add controllers support
- Add better damage and break apart models
- Add rovers
- Add Saturn V rocket parts
- Add free space shuttle
- Adjust planet speed
- Add more buildings around Earth
- Make planets more detailed
- Add more expansion parts
- Make build area better
- Remove build area barrier
- Add Saturn V rocket
- Add gas giants
- Add gas giant moons
- Add Deimos
- Add Jupiter and its 4 biggest moons
- Add more free parts
- Add tutorial on how to build
- Improve realism
- Add space stations
- Add more capsules
- Add bigger fuel tanks
- Add bigger rocket booster fuel
- Add more detailed graphics
- Add more parts to build planes
- Add a tutorial for maneuvers
Hold the Keep
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Ellipse
- Large Parts$2.99
- Heavy Lift Program$4.99
- Expansion$4.99
Hold the Keep
- Talent point reset$0.99
- Gold Pack 1000$0.99
- Small Hero Shard Pack$1.99
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- Medium Gold Pack$4.99
- A medium pack of hero shards$4.99
- Premium Hero 1$4.99
- Premium Hero 2$4.99
- Large Gold Pack$9.99
- Large pack of hero shards$9.99
- Giant pack of gold$19.99
