Shotgun King vs Payroll Dice
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Chess with a shotgun mechanic
- Roguelike progression with upgrades
- 15 difficulty ranks
- Unlockable cards
- Over 100 achievements
- Endless and chase modes
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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!
Payroll Dice
Strategically manipulate dice rolls to score points and pay off debts. Build unique dice combinations with new faces and synergies to overcome challenges. Face a loan shark in boss rounds with random modifiers and test your skills in an endless mode.
- Strategic dice manipulation
- Dice face customization
- Synergy crafting
- Boss rounds with modifiers
- Unlockable dice sets
- Endless mode
- Bite-sized runs
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CONTROL THE CHAOS This isn't a luck simulator. This is strategic dice manipulation. Throw 3 dice. Rotate each die to any visible face. Score to pay your debts. BUILD YOUR PERFECT DICE Spend pips in the shop after each roll. Add new faces, craft synergies, and build something that probably shouldn't work — until it does. Every decision compounds. Every run feels different. FACE THE LOAN SHARK Clear your debts and the shark himself shows up. He doesn't play fair. Boss rounds twist the rules with random modifiers. 8 DICE SETS TO UNLOCK Different starting faces, unique passive abilities, and entirely new combo potential — every unlocked die opens a fresh tactical rabbit hole. Over 100 Unique Dice Faces Rotate Dice to Control Your Luck 7 Unlockable Dice — each transforms how you play Boss Rounds with Random Modifiers Endless Mode — difficulty scales infinitely 15–30 Minute Runs — perfect bite-sized sessions True Roguelike — no permanent upgrades, pure skill Strategic Combo Crafting High Replayability NO SAFETY NETS. NO EXCUSES. No meta-progression. No permanent upgrades. Every run starts from zero. Build from blank dice to devastating combos in 10 rounds. Think you've figured it out? Endless Mode is waiting. Simple to learn. Impossible to master. Throw. Rotate. Score. Shop. Survive. Can you pay off the loan shark before he cashes in?
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: Shotgun King at 709 against Payroll Dice's 5. Payroll Dice's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.8) and review sentiment (80% vs 66%). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Shotgun King costs $6.99 and Payroll Dice $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Payroll Dice holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Shotgun King has 709 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 66% of Shotgun King's written reviews are positive against 80% of Payroll Dice's.
Shotgun King ships an update every 5 days, Payroll Dice every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Shotgun King | Payroll Dice |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $6.99 | $4.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (709 ratings) | 5.0 (5 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 66.1% of reviews | 80.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 709 — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #59 — better | #162 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 468 MB | 136 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Plug In Digital | George Timms |
Customer experience
Shotgun King
Payroll Dice
In-app purchases
Shotgun King
No in-app purchases
Payroll Dice
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Shotgun King free?
Is Payroll Dice free?
Which has better reviews, Shotgun King or Payroll Dice?
Do Shotgun King or Payroll Dice have ads?
Which is updated more often, Shotgun King or Payroll Dice?
Which is more popular, Shotgun King or Payroll Dice?
Other comparisons
