Comparison

All Aboard! Defense Express vs Desktop Nard

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

Head to head
About

All Aboard! Defense Express

Defend a power generator from waves of orcs by building and upgrading a train of defensive carriages. Earn gold by selling gems dropped by enemies, and use it to purchase flamethrowers, cannons, and more. Merge identical carriages to create powerful upgrades and face challenging bosses.

Highlights
  • Build and upgrade defensive train carriages
  • Merge identical carriages for upgrades
  • Defend against orc hordes and bosses
  • Earn gold from enemy drops
  • Unlock permanent upgrades with tickets
  • Infinite upgrade system
Features
Read full description

Enemy orcs are coming from every angle to try to destroy the Infinite Power Generator! Luckily for you, each orc is carrying a big gem that can be sold for gold. As the conductor, your job is to spend gold on buying new train carriages to help defend the generator - flamethrowers, snipers, cannons, railguns, and dozens more can be purchased and added to the train to help with defense. Buy 3 of the same type of carriage to upgrade it to the next level. For example, buying 3 level 1 Snipers will merge into a level 2 Sniper, and 3 level 2 snipers will merge into a level 3 Sniper. You can upgrade like this infinitely! Be careful - bosses will spawn every 5 minutes to try to take the generator out! At 5 minutes, 15 minutes, and every 15 minutes after, bosses will drop a Relic Chest, which can be opened for power-ups that last for the rest of the game. Enemy orcs might also drop tickets. Use tickets in the "Boons" menu to unlock additional permanent upgrades! How long can you last against the orc hordes?

About

Desktop Nard

An idle game where dice with unique stats and skills roll across your screen, automatically farming monsters. Collect loot, unlock skill trees, and explore new worlds to enhance your build and discover synergies.

Highlights
  • Itemized dice with unique stats and skills
  • Automated monster farming
  • Endless loot hunting for various items
  • Prestige system with skill trees
  • Map exploration for new rewards
  • Synergy-based build progression
Read full description

A loot-based idle game where dice roll across your screen, triggering skills on monsters, farming them for you. -Itemized Dice: Every dice is a piece of loot with unique stats and skills. -Endless Loot Hunting: Monsters drop dice, gemstones, scrolls, combo rings, relics, and automator gears each pushing your build further and unlocking new synergies. -Prestige & Skill Trees: Rebirth to unlock 4 skill trees that significantly transform your game and provide powerful bonuses. -Maps: Enter a new world with powerful rewards. -And many more systems.

Screenshots

All Aboard! Defense Express4 screens
Desktop Nard4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Desktop Nard at Free against All Aboard! Defense Express's $4.99. All Aboard! Defense Express's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (weekly vs every 6 weeks). On rating, ratings volume, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Desktop Nard is free to download; All Aboard! Defense Express costs $4.99 up front. Desktop Nard sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. All Aboard! Defense Express asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for All Aboard! Defense Express against 4.8 for Desktop Nard. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 10 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 70% of All Aboard! Defense Express's written reviews are positive against 60% of Desktop Nard's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

All Aboard! Defense Express ships an update weekly, Desktop Nard every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
All Aboard! Defense Express versus Desktop Nard: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAll Aboard! Defense ExpressDesktop Nard
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (5 ratings)4.8 (10 ratings)
Positive reviews70.0% of reviews — better60.0% of reviews
Number of ratings510 — better
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS14.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size107 MB319 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperSword ReforgedAbdullah Alhijaily

Customer experience

All Aboard! Defense Express

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive70.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative20.0%

Desktop Nard

All ratings10 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive60.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative20.0%

In-app purchases

None

All Aboard! Defense Express

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Desktop Nard

One-time1
  • Premium Edition$4.99

Questions

Is All Aboard! Defense Express free?
All Aboard! Defense Express costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Desktop Nard free?
Desktop Nard is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, All Aboard! Defense Express or Desktop Nard?
All Aboard! Defense Express and Desktop Nard are both rated 4.8 out of 5 on the App Store, from 5 and 10 ratings respectively.
Do All Aboard! Defense Express or Desktop Nard have ads?
Neither All Aboard! Defense Express nor Desktop Nard shows ads.
Which is updated more often, All Aboard! Defense Express or Desktop Nard?
All Aboard! Defense Express ships an update weekly, and Desktop Nard every 6 weeks. Most recently, All Aboard! Defense Express was updated on November 5, 2026 and Desktop Nard on October 31, 2026.

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