Comparison

Basic Buddies vs Crawl Tactics

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

Head to head
About

Basic Buddies

Experience a fast-paced arcade game focused on vertical descent and precision movement. Navigate a continuously generating world with unique challenges and unlockable content. Master timing and control to survive longer and achieve higher scores.

Highlights
  • Four unique game modes
  • Endless vertically scrolling gameplay
  • Responsive mobile controls
  • Unlockable characters and customization
  • Coin-based progression
  • Designed for quick sessions
Features
Read full description

Descend fast. Survive longer. Master the descent. This is a fast-paced arcade-style game built around vertical descent, precision movement, and split-second decision making. Each run drops you into a continuously generating world filled with platforms, hazards, and opportunities to push just a little farther. The game features four distinct game modes, each offering a different way to play — from endless, score-chasing runs to survival-style challenges that test how long you can last under pressure. Whether you’re aiming for a clean, focused descent or pushing yourself through increasingly intense encounters, every mode rewards timing, control, and momentum. Features: - Four unique game modes with different rules and challenges - Endless, vertically scrolling gameplay - Smooth, responsive controls built for mobile - Unlockable characters and visual customization - Coin-based progression and optional rewards - Designed for quick sessions and high replay value Easy to learn but difficult to master, this game is all about control, rhythm, and surviving the descent.

About

Crawl Tactics

Engage in deep, turn-based tactical combat with rogue-like progression. Explore procedurally generated dungeons or build and defend your town with customizable mercenaries. Master environmental interactions and strategic unit placement for victory.

Highlights
  • Orthodox turn-based strategy RPG gameplay
  • Procedurally generated dungeons
  • Town development and mercenary management
  • Environmental combat and traps
  • Deep character customization
  • New Game Plus and class reset system
Features
Read full description

Crawl Tactics is a game that combines classic turn-based tactics with rogue-like progression. In Dungeon Mode, explore procedurally generated maps that change every run and face challenging battles. In Quest Mode, develop your town, train mercenaries, and defend against increasingly powerful enemy invasions. # Game Features # * A True Tactical RPG Rather Than a Puzzle: - Crawl Tactics is not a puzzle-like tactics game focused on trick solutions, but a classic, orthodox turn-based strategy RPG designed for fans of traditional SRPGs. - It offers deep strategic gameplay that considers elevation, unit direction, weather, and terrain. * Growth, Customization, and Building Your Ideal Party - Freely customize a wide range of skills, equipment, classes, abilities, and appearances. - Characters can be developed endlessly through New Game Plus after clearing the base dungeon, and through the Reverse system, which allows class reset even after advancing to higher-tier classes. - Form your desired party composition, from solo play to full 8-unit battle parties. * Combat Utilizing Environment and Traps - Traps and terrain affect both you and your enemies. Set grass on fire, electrify enemies standing in water, and ignite poison clouds. - Push and throw mechanics allow dynamic interactions by moving objects or units. Knock enemies off cliffs, push them into blade traps, or roll boulders to deal damage. - Activate cannons and ballista traps to strike enemies from a distance. These traps can also trigger chain reactions for satisfying outcomes. * Challenging and Ever-Changing Dungeon Mode! - Dungeon Mode features exploration of dungeons composed of multiple rooms. - Both the dungeons and their battlefields are procedurally generated, offering varied and challenging experiences. - Diverse environments such as ruins, caves, catacombs, and forests appear, each with unique climates, monsters, and conditions. - Each dungeon includes NPCs that may be hostile or friendly, unique mercenaries, valuable items, and distinctive events such as sieges and defense battles. * Quest Mode Focused on Town Development and Character Growth - In Quest Mode, you build structures each turn to develop your town and hire multiple mercenaries to assign to quests of your choice. - Rewards vary depending on the type of quests completed each turn, and you can choose to increase difficulty, allowing for as much grinding as desired. - Large-scale battles are also available through town defense events against invading monsters that occur every set number of turns.

Screenshots

Basic Buddies4 screens
Crawl Tactics4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Basic Buddies at Free against Crawl Tactics's $9.99. Crawl Tactics's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5) and ads (none vs shown). On rating, review sentiment, update cadence 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

Basic Buddies is free to download; Crawl Tactics costs $9.99 up front. Basic Buddies sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Crawl Tactics asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Basic Buddies against 4.9 for Crawl Tactics. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Crawl Tactics has 28 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of Basic Buddies's written reviews are positive against 92% of Crawl Tactics's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Basic Buddies ships an update weekly, Crawl Tactics every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on June 4, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Basic Buddies versus Crawl Tactics: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBasic BuddiesCrawl Tactics
PriceFree — better$9.99
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better4.9 (28 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better92.3% of reviews
Number of ratings128 — better
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 4 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#46 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size52 MB230 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperAndrew Hoffartbyungpil Mun

Customer experience

Basic Buddies

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Crawl Tactics

All ratings28 ratings
Positive96.4%
Neutral3.6%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews26 reviews
Positive92.3%
Neutral7.7%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Basic Buddies

One-time5
  • Small Coin Pack (100 Coins)$0.99
  • Medium Coin Pack (500 Coins)$2.99
  • Premium Upgrade (No Ads)$3.99
Show 2 more
  • Large Coin Pack (1,500 Coins)$4.99
  • Epic Coin Pack (5,000 Coins)$9.99
None

Crawl Tactics

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Basic Buddies free?
Basic Buddies is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Crawl Tactics free?
Crawl Tactics costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Basic Buddies or Crawl Tactics?
Basic Buddies is rated higher. Basic Buddies averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Crawl Tactics averages 4.9 from 28 ratings.
Do Basic Buddies or Crawl Tactics have ads?
Basic Buddies shows ads; Crawl Tactics does not.
Which is updated more often, Basic Buddies or Crawl Tactics?
Basic Buddies ships an update weekly, and Crawl Tactics every 4 days. Most recently, Basic Buddies was updated on June 4, 2026 and Crawl Tactics on September 23, 2026.

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