Comparison

Nova Drift vs Dungeon Warfare 3

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

Head to head
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

About

Dungeon Warfare 3

Design your own perilous dungeons by strategically placing terrain and traps to defeat waves of adventurers. Earn experience to permanently upgrade your arsenal and adapt to diverse enemies and procedurally generated challenges.

Highlights
  • Realm Shaping: Forge your battlefield tile by tile
  • Deadly Arsenal: Deploy and upgrade traps
  • Deep Progression: Permanently enhance traps and abilities
  • Diverse Foes: Face unique enemy challenges
  • Handcrafted & Infinite Levels: Play curated and procedural dungeons
  • Adjustable Difficulty: Tune challenge with a rune system
Features
Read full description

Dungeon Warfare 3 is the next evolution of the acclaimed tower defense series. Lay out terrain tiles, carve perilous pathways, and customize your domain to create a perfectly tuned gauntlet of mayhem and misery. Your arsenal of traps and contraptions is deadlier than ever, featuring more methods of maiming, mangling, and misdirecting your foes. Every successful defense grants you valuable experience to permanently strengthen your tools of torment. Experiment with newfound synergy between traps and terrain, adapt on the fly to relentless waves of adventurers, and tailor the difficulty to your liking with a refined rune system. With an expanded variety of enemies, handcrafted levels, and infinite procedural challenges, Dungeon Warfare 3 promises an endlessly replayable tower defense experience that rewards cunning, creativity, and cruelty in equal measure. [Game Features] - Realm Shaping: Forge your battlefield tile by tile. Raise walls, carve chasms, and channel enemy forces into your most insidious defenses. - Deadly Arsenal: Deploy an even greater variety of traps and contraptions, each upgradeable and modifiable to suit your playstyle. - Deep Progression: Earn experience with every victory to permanently enhance your traps, unlock powerful new abilities, and strengthen your stronghold. - Diverse Foes: Face off against an expanded cast of adventurers, each presenting unique challenges that demand dynamic strategies. - Handcrafted & Infinite Levels: Conquer a curated selection of handcrafted scenarios, then test your mastery in procedurally generated dungeons that never play the same way twice. - Adjustable Difficulty: Mix and match runes to scale challenge and rewards, allowing you to perfectly tune each encounter to your preference. - Endless Mode & Beyond: Push your defenses to their limits against relentless waves of enemies, compete for high scores, and become a legend of the Realm Shapers. - Polished Presentation: Enjoy refined pixel art, atmospheric sound design, and responsive controls that bring your dastardly dungeon—and the agony of your foes—to life.

Screenshots

Nova Drift4 screens
Dungeon Warfare 34 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Dungeon Warfare 3 at $6.99 against Nova Drift's $9.99. Nova Drift's advantage is review sentiment (81% vs 71%) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 15.0). On rating, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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

Nova Drift costs $9.99 and Dungeon Warfare 3 $6.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Nova Drift against 4.5 for Dungeon Warfare 3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 56 and 31 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 81% of Nova Drift's written reviews are positive against 71% of Dungeon Warfare 3's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Nova Drift ships an update every 10 days, Dungeon Warfare 3 every 9 days. Both last shipped on October 25, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Nova Drift versus Dungeon Warfare 3: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNova DriftDungeon Warfare 3
Price$9.99$6.99 — better
Rating4.4 (56 ratings)4.5 (31 ratings) — better
Positive reviews81.4% of reviews — better71.1% of reviews
Number of ratings56 — better31
Update frequencyEvery 10 daysEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#169#147 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS10.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size573 MB428 MB
Age rating9+12+
DeveloperChimeric LLCExcidium Inc.

Customer experience

Nova Drift

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

Dungeon Warfare 3

All ratings31 ratings
Positive87.1%
Neutral9.7%
Negative3.2%
Written reviews45 reviews
Positive71.1%
Neutral13.3%
Negative15.6%

In-app purchases

None

Nova Drift

No in-app purchases

None

Dungeon Warfare 3

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Nova Drift free?
Nova Drift costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Dungeon Warfare 3 free?
Dungeon Warfare 3 costs $6.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Nova Drift or Dungeon Warfare 3?
Dungeon Warfare 3 is rated higher. Nova Drift averages 4.4 out of 5 from 56 ratings, while Dungeon Warfare 3 averages 4.5 from 31 ratings.
Do Nova Drift or Dungeon Warfare 3 have ads?
Neither Nova Drift nor Dungeon Warfare 3 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Nova Drift or Dungeon Warfare 3?
Nova Drift ships an update every 10 days, and Dungeon Warfare 3 every 9 days. Most recently, Nova Drift was updated on October 25, 2026 and Dungeon Warfare 3 on October 25, 2026.
Which is more popular, Nova Drift or Dungeon Warfare 3?
Nova Drift currently peaks at #169 in the App Store charts, and Dungeon Warfare 3 at #147. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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