Tetranea vs Darkest Exiles
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Tetranea
This puzzle game combines roguelike deckbuilding with tile-placement mechanics on a 9x9 grid. Build a unique deck each run to alter gameplay, with over 200 cards to discover and modify. Enjoy short or long runs with increasing difficulty and multiple scoring methods.
- Roguelike deckbuilding
- Tile placement on 9x9 grid
- 200+ discoverable cards
- Card modification
- Boss battles
- Row and column chaining
- Multiple scoring methods
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I built this game to combine two of my great loves in gaming: simple abstract spatial strategy, and deep, complex card deck builders. You can play it for a few minutes at a time, or really get into it and go down the rabbit hole of nearly 100 special cards with special powers. It looks kind of like one of the gazillion tetromino-placing games — pretty simple, usually full of ads, and not much more than making sure you lose after some arbitrary amount of time so they can show you more ads. This one is different. There's tetromino (and pentomino) placement to score points, but the whole game rests on your own deck of cards: shape cards you play on the board, and special cards with special powers. You play runs - series of boards that get harder and harder. Each board needs more points to beat, and some boards have bosses that do all kinds of crazy things. You can play short runs, long runs, and even infinite runs. Each run you get to add new cards to your deck and modify (or delete) existing ones. I've been working on this game for two years now, and I keep adding to it and polishing it. It's become a labor of love. I play it myself often, and friends I've introduced it to generally get hooked. The full game is free to try. There's just one single purchase that unlocks some of the run types. Supported languages: 日本語, 한국어, 简体中文, Français, Deutsch, Español
Darkest Exiles
Lead a guild of heroes in a dark fantasy world. Scout, train, and manage their lives and combat performance on a tactical grid. Master unique classes and craft powerful gear to survive a challenging cycle.
- Hero recruitment and training
- Tactical grid-based combat
- 8 unique hero classes
- Equipment crafting and degradation
- Faction alliances
- Dynamic Edicts and World Tiers
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You are not the hero. You are the Guild Master. Scout, train, and sacrifice heroes in a brutal dark fantasy world where no one lives forever. Deploy your party on a tactical grid. Watch the combat unfold. Adapt or fall. BUILD YOUR ACADEMY Scout unproven youth from the Slums, Iron Peaks, or High Gardens. Assign mentors, manage training, and watch your adepts grow into legendary warriors--or break under the pressure. COMMAND THE BATTLEFIELD Deploy your 5-hero party on a tactical 2x4 grid. Position tanks on the frontline, protect your healers in the back, and watch the tick-based combat unfold. Every formation choice matters. MASTER 8 UNIQUE CLASSES Each class brings distinct abilities and aging curves. Physical heroes peak early but decline; mages remain powerful into their twilight years. CRAFT YOUR ARSENAL Discover equipment with powerful effect affixes--Lifesteal, Phoenix Grace, Formation Master. Use Runes of Flux, Power, and Polish to forge the perfect loadout. But beware: all gear degrades, and fallen heroes take their equipment to the grave. NAVIGATE THE FACTIONS Curry favor with The Iron Decree for military might, The Sanguine Conclave for forbidden magic, or The Night-Silver Pact for gold and secrets. Each alliance unlocks unique benefits--and burns bridges with others. SURVIVE THE CYCLE Edicts reshape the rules of combat. Adapt your strategy or watch your guild crumble. Defeat the Final Boss to Ascend, unlock higher World Tiers, and prove your guild's dominance. FEATURES - Deep hero lifecycle: recruitment, training, prime years, decline, retirement - Emergent narratives through traits, trauma, and mentorship - Deterministic combat you can analyze and optimize - Dark fantasy aesthetic inspired by classic dungeon crawlers The Cycle awaits. Will your guild endure?
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Darkest Exiles at every 3 days against Tetranea's weekly. On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Tetranea sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Darkest Exiles sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Tetranea against 5.0 for Darkest Exiles. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 4 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Tetranea ships an update weekly, Darkest Exiles every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 8, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Tetranea | Darkest Exiles |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (6 ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 6 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 39 MB | 551 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Nathanael Boxer | Mario Cosme |
Customer experience
Tetranea
Darkest Exiles
In-app purchases
Tetranea
- Tetranea Full Game$4.99
Darkest Exiles
- Exile's Welcome$0.99
- Frozen Wastes$3.99
- Commander's Kit$4.99
Questions
Is Tetranea free?
Is Darkest Exiles free?
Which has better reviews, Tetranea or Darkest Exiles?
Do Tetranea or Darkest Exiles have ads?
Which is updated more often, Tetranea or Darkest Exiles?
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