Max vs Vertex Core
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Max
A 2D pixel-art top-down shooter where you play as a retired agent fighting a ruthless regime. Experience intense action, strategic combat, and a gripping narrative with an instant-death system that requires precision and speed.
- 2D pixel-art graphics
- Top-down shooter gameplay
- Strategic combat
- Gripping narrative
- Instant-death system
- Challenging levels
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Max: Countercoup is a 2D pixel-art top-down shooter that delivers intense action, strategic combat, and a gripping narrative. Step into the shoes of a retired special operations agent, pulled back into the shadows by a thirst for justice as he faces a ruthless regime. Set against the backdrop of a brutal late 20th-century conflict, you’ll go up against a militarized dictatorship that seized power through a coup d'état, aiming to crush freedom and impose total control. Unravel their true motives and lead the fight to take back the nation in a high-stakes counter-coup! The gameplay is designed to test reflexes and strategic thinking, featuring a brutal instant-death system that demands precision and speed. Players must navigate challenging levels filled with ruthless enemies, adapting their tactics to engage in intense, full-scale firefights!
Vertex Core
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SWIPE. FIRE. SURVIVE THE TUBE. Vertex Core is a neon vector tube shooter built for one-thumb-fire, one-thumb-swipe mobile play. Spin around a glowing wireframe web, blast down everything crawling toward your rim, and chain kills into screen-clearing power. • PURE VECTOR STYLE - every line on screen is drawn in real time. No sprites, no textures. Just glowing neon against black. • SEVEN ENEMY TYPES - cartwheeling Tumblers, splitting Splitters, wall-climbing Impalers, lane-electrifying Conductors, swarming packs, and Hunters that shoot back. Learn them, or lose to them. • THREE POWER-UPS - a tube-clearing Plasma Bomb, piercing Laser Storm, and a time-bending Chrono Field. Bank them. Unleash them when it counts. • BOSS BATTLES EVERY 6 LEVELS - a colossal, ever-morphing Core Guardian descends from the sky. Armored. Evasive. Only vulnerable in the instant its core cracks open. Beat it and earn a wingman. • ENDLESS VARIETY - 10 tube shapes and 8 color schemes cycle independently, so the run never looks the same way twice. • CHASE THE LEADERBOARD - a local top-8 table, three-letter arcade name and all. No ads mid-run, no pay-to-win. Free through the first boss fight. Unlock the full run whenever you're ready to go further. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Max at none against Vertex Core's 1. Max also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). Vertex Core's advantage is update cadence (daily vs every 4 months). On price, ads 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. Vertex Core sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Max asks for nothing beyond the download.
Max ships an update every 4 months, Vertex Core daily. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Max | Vertex Core |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Daily — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 140 MB | 132 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Vladyslav Omelechko | SPRUCE PROJECT, Y.K. |
In-app purchases
Max
No in-app purchases
Vertex Core
- Vertex Core Full Version$2.99









