Comparison

Darkest Exiles vs Dungeon Merge!

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Hero recruitment and training
  • Tactical grid-based combat
  • 8 unique hero classes
  • Equipment crafting and degradation
  • Faction alliances
  • Dynamic Edicts and World Tiers
Features
Read full description

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?

About

Dungeon Merge!

Embark on a turn-based deckbuilding roguelite adventure where each run offers a unique hero, strategy, and ending. Combine diverse skill cards and powerful relics to overcome challenging enemies and bosses in procedurally generated dungeons.

Highlights
  • Turn-based deckbuilding strategy
  • Unique heroes with distinct playstyles
  • Diverse skill cards and relics
  • Challenging enemies and bosses
  • Procedurally generated dungeons
  • Customizable difficulty with Seal System
Features
Read full description

Dominate the dungeon. Or let it dominate you. A turn-based deckbuilding roguelite — Dungeon Merge! Every run, a different strategy. A different hero. A different ending. ■ Unique Heroes — Not just different stats. A completely different way to play. Assassin: Double damage to a single target. Pick one. Make it count. Engineer: Stack shields, then unleash devastating area attacks. Defense is offense. Gambler: Free level-up rerolls. When luck becomes strategy. Noble: +1 level-up choice, gold-powered leveling at shrines. Money is your weapon. …Every hero demands a different strategy. ■ Diverse Skill Cards — Not collection. Combination. Your deck is your strategy. Chain Lightning: Hit up to 3 enemies in a chain Double Cast: Trigger the same skill twice in a row Replicate: Copy any card in your deck on the spot Skill grades: Common → Rare → Epic → Legendary Upgrade cards mid-combat and discover powerful combinations. ■ Powerful Relics — Sometimes a single relic changes everything. Chalice: Revive once with 50% HP upon death Shard of Collapse: For the next 3 battles, all non-boss enemies start with 1 HP Shackles of Binding: +1 mana per turn, but shop prices increase by 25% Sanctuary Lantern: Fully restore HP whenever you enter a shop ■ Distinct Enemies — Every battle is a new puzzle. Read the pattern or die. Treasure Goblin: Escapes after 7 turns if you fail to defeat it Snowman: Freezes you for 1 turn Crow: Forces you to discard a random card from your hand Face powerful bosses with unique attack patterns and multiple phases. ■ Seal System — The real challenge starts here. Normal mode is only the beginning. As you unlock more Seals, increasingly brutal challenges await. Combine Trials and Contracts to design your own difficulty. Only a handful of players will conquer the hardest combinations. ■ Challenge Mode — New rules. New competition. Every week. Face rotating Grand Pacts and Trials each week. Discover powerful builds under unfamiliar rules where old strategies may no longer work. Compete with other players for the highest score and climb the weekly rankings. Clear the final region of a Challenge to unlock Endless Battle. How long can you survive against enemies that never stop growing stronger? ■ Endless Replayability 3 regions × 11 floors — procedurally generated every run Battle, Event, Elite, Shrine, Shop — diverse room types Different maps, enemy combinations, and card rewards every time Even with the same hero, no two adventures are alike. ■ Features Turn-based strategy + deckbuilding roguelite Unique heroes, skills, relics, and enemies Seal System — customize difficulty with Trials and Contracts Challenge Mode — weekly rules and competitive rankings Endless Battle — push your limits against endless enemies Procedurally generated dungeons Multiple languages supported Cloud save Tear the dungeon apart with your own strategy. One run is never enough.

Screenshots

Darkest Exiles4 screens
Dungeon Merge!4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Darkest Exiles at Free against Dungeon Merge!'s $2.99. Darkest Exiles also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 74%). 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

Darkest Exiles is free to download; Dungeon Merge! costs $2.99 up front. Darkest Exiles sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Dungeon Merge! sells 12 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Darkest Exiles against 5.0 for Dungeon Merge!. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 2 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of Darkest Exiles's written reviews are positive against 74% of Dungeon Merge!'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Darkest Exiles versus Dungeon Merge!: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDarkest ExilesDungeon Merge!
PriceFree — better$2.99
Rating5.0 (4 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better74.4% of reviews
Number of ratings4 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 3 daysEvery 3 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017
Further details — not scored
Size551 MB292 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperMario CosmeBrilbox

Customer experience

Darkest Exiles

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Dungeon Merge!

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews90 reviews
Positive74.4%
Neutral11.1%
Negative14.4%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Darkest Exiles

One-time3
  • Exile's Welcome$0.99
  • Frozen Wastes$3.99
  • Commander's Kit$4.99
12 purchases

Dungeon Merge!

One-time12
  • Diamond Starter$0.99
  • Starter Pack 1$1.99
  • 50 Diamonds$1.99
Show 9 more
  • 70 Diamonds$2.99
  • 120 Diamonds$3.99
  • 145 Diamonds$8.99
  • 330 Diamonds$9.99
  • 700 Diamonds$19.99
  • 16 Base Heroes Unlock Pack$39.99
  • 1500 Diamonds$69.99
  • 4000 Diamonds$99.99
  • True Fan$99.99

Questions

Is Darkest Exiles free?
Darkest Exiles is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Dungeon Merge! free?
Dungeon Merge! costs $2.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Darkest Exiles or Dungeon Merge!?
Darkest Exiles and Dungeon Merge! are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 4 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do Darkest Exiles or Dungeon Merge! have ads?
Neither Darkest Exiles nor Dungeon Merge! shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Darkest Exiles or Dungeon Merge!?
Darkest Exiles ships an update every 3 days, and Dungeon Merge! every 3 days. Most recently, Darkest Exiles was updated on October 25, 2026 and Dungeon Merge! on October 28, 2026.

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