Comparison

Shotgun King vs Card Crawl 2

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

Head to head
About

Shotgun King

Experience a unique twist on chess where you command a king armed with a shotgun. Fight your way through enemy pieces, strategically reload, and upgrade your abilities to reclaim your kingdom. This roguelike chess adventure offers challenging gameplay and extensive replayability.

Highlights
  • Chess with a shotgun mechanic
  • Roguelike progression with upgrades
  • 15 difficulty ranks
  • Unlockable cards
  • Over 100 achievements
  • Endless and chase modes
Features
Read full description

Chess, but all your army has gone over to the white side, leaving you with nothing but your royal shotgun and your wounded pride. Carried by your dark folly, you decide it's time to teach those white pieces to fear the Shotgun King. Every turn, you may either move your king or shoot at enemy pieces, after what you'll need to move again to reload your shotgun. Avoid checkmate and kill the enemy king to complete the floor. After each floor, you may choose between two random combinations of one upgrade for you and one upgrade for the other side. Choose wisely and keep on winning floors and you just may get your kingdom back. Runs may take ~20 minutes to complete. The game features 15 ranks of difficulty, unlockable cards, over 100 achievements to complete, an endless mode, and now a chase mode where you get continually assailed from all sides!

About

Card Crawl 2

A solitaire dungeon crawler card game where you battle monsters, collect gold, and unlock powerful spells and equipment. This sequel introduces a new core mechanic with more stacked cards and strategic depth.

Highlights
  • Solitaire-style card battles
  • Collect spell cards and equipment
  • Unlock hero cards with unique abilities
  • New core card stacking mechanic
  • Offline and online game modes
  • Weekly competitive mode
  • Unlock achievements and art
Features
Read full description

Card Crawl 2 is a solitaire dungeon crawler card game. Grab your deck and dive into exciting new game modes, battling your favorite tavern dwellers. Defeat tricky monsters, collect gold, and unlock powerful spell cards, new equipment, and a cast of new and familiar hero cards. About the Game Card Crawl 2 is the official sequel to the beloved original. Once again, you’ll face Hoerni and his friends in clever solitaire-style card battles. This time, a brand-new core mechanic is introduced. Instead of just 4 dungeon cards, you now play with up to 16 cards stacked across 4 columns. Sort, equip, and sell cards to outwit every monster in the deck. Harness plenty of new spell cards and, for the first time, add equipment items to your runs, which add a whole new layer of strategy. Grow your collection and take on a variety of offline and online game modes that will test your skills with each of the newly added hero types. Features -> Fresh twist on Card Crawl’s core gameplay -> Strategic solitaire-style card battles -> Collect and master new spell cards and equipment -> Unlock hero cards with unique abilities -> Play across new and familiar game modes -> Compete with others in the Weekly Tavern Crawl -> Unlock achievements, new cards, and tavern art -> Cloud saves and Game Center support Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Shotgun King4 screens
Card Crawl 24 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Card Crawl 2 at Free against Shotgun King's $6.99. Shotgun King's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 7) and ads (none vs shown). On ratings volume, update cadence, device support and iOS requirement 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

Card Crawl 2 is free to download; Shotgun King costs $6.99 up front. Card Crawl 2 sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Shotgun King asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Shotgun King holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 709 and 399 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 66% of Shotgun King's written reviews are positive against 53% of Card Crawl 2's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shotgun King ships an update every 5 days, Card Crawl 2 every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Shotgun King versus Card Crawl 2: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShotgun KingCard Crawl 2
Price$6.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (709 ratings) — better4.5 (399 ratings)
Positive reviews66.1% of reviews — better52.8% of reviews
Number of ratings709 — better399
Update frequencyEvery 5 daysEvery 3 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#50 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size468 MB582 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperPlug In DigitalArnold Rauers

Customer experience

Shotgun King

All ratings709 ratings
Positive95.2%
Neutral1.4%
Negative3.4%
Written reviews118 reviews
Positive66.1%
Neutral11.0%
Negative22.9%

Card Crawl 2

All ratings399 ratings
Positive86.5%
Neutral3.5%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews180 reviews
Positive52.8%
Neutral11.7%
Negative35.6%

In-app purchases

None

Shotgun King

No in-app purchases

7 purchases

Card Crawl 2

Subscriptions1
  • Tavern Dweller Pass$0.991 Month
One-time6
  • Hero Set Purchase$0.99
  • Chest Pack$0.99
  • Pouchy Upgrade 1$1.99
Show 3 more
  • Starter Pack$4.99
  • Pouchy Upgrade 2$5.99
  • Booster Pack$8.99

Questions

Is Shotgun King free?
Shotgun King costs $6.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Card Crawl 2 free?
Card Crawl 2 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Shotgun King or Card Crawl 2?
Shotgun King is rated higher. Shotgun King averages 4.8 out of 5 from 709 ratings, while Card Crawl 2 averages 4.5 from 399 ratings.
Do Shotgun King or Card Crawl 2 have ads?
Card Crawl 2 shows ads; Shotgun King does not.
Which is updated more often, Shotgun King or Card Crawl 2?
Shotgun King ships an update every 5 days, and Card Crawl 2 every 3 days. Most recently, Shotgun King was updated on September 25, 2026 and Card Crawl 2 on September 24, 2026.

Other comparisons