Comparison

Shadow Node vs Arcbound

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

Head to head
About

Shadow Node

Features
Read full description

Welcome to Shadow Node – the ultimate hacker idle experience. You are an elite hacker on a mission to infiltrate global networks, breach high-security servers, and mine valuable data fragments. Your ultimate goal? The legendary Shadow Node—a network so secretive it is only spoken of in whispers on the deepest dark web forums. Are you ready to bring the digital world to its knees? FEATURES Progressive Hacking Network Work your way up from simple local networks to complex government databases. Every successful hack brings you closer to the top of the digital food chain. Idle Gameplay: Your Botnet Never Sleeps Progress even while you’re offline. Your scripts automatically gather data fragments while you're away. Return to collect massive rewards—perfect for hackers on the go. Deep Upgrade System Invest in cutting-edge hacking tools, AI assistants, massive botnets, and quantum processors. Optimize your mining rate with hundreds of unique upgrades. Strategic Prestige System Perform a strategic reset to unlock permanent bonuses and multipliers. Plan your ascension carefully to exponentially increase your earning potential. Milestones & Achievements Complete challenging objectives to unlock legendary Dark Matter upgrades that fundamentally transform your gameplay. Immersive Cyberpunk Atmosphere Experience an atmospheric soundtrack and a dark aesthetic designed to pull you deep into the world of cybercrime. HIGHLIGHTS Offline Progression: Your mining operations run 24/7. Fully Customizable: Tweak visual effects, haptic feedback, and choose from multiple languages. Mobile Optimized: Smooth gameplay and intuitive touch controls. PREMIUM MODE (Optional) Maximize your efficiency with the Premium Upgrade: 2x Mining Rate: Double the speed of your data extraction. Ad-Free: No interruptions, just pure hacking. Instant Boosts: Get immediate payouts with zero delays. Leave no trace. Download Shadow Node now and begin your ascent to hacker stardom!

About

Arcbound

Features
Read full description

Arcbound is a colony simulation game set entirely on a single evolving starship. Everything is connected. And everything can fail at any moment. Design and expand your ship room by room, manage oxygen, power, and crew survival, and guide a fragile civilisation from Earth’s final evacuation into deep space. WHAT YOU DO Design and expand your Arcship room by room Manage oxygen, power, water, and food to keep your crew alive Send missions to Earth to recover resources and survivors Grow your ship into a self-sustaining spacefaring civilisation Every system connects. Every decision has consequences. Inspired by classic colony sims, Arcbound takes the genre into a single fully interconnected starship, where layout, systems, and social dynamics are tightly linked. FROM ESCAPE SHIP TO STAR-BOUND SOCIETY Early Access includes both phases of Arcbound’s journey: Phase 1: The Exodus Stabilise your ship before Earth collapses and prepare for launch. Phase 2: The Voyage Guide a growing civilian population during multi-year transit as your Arcship becomes a living society facing internal pressure, scarcity, and unknown signals from deep space. BUILD YOUR ARCSHIP Start with a small emergency platform and grow it into a fully functioning star-faring vessel. Design living quarters, engineering bays, hydroponics, research facilities, and life-support systems while managing power, water, atmosphere, and maintenance across a fully simulated ship. A well-designed ship creates stability. A poorly planned one barely survives. MANAGE YOUR CREW Your crew are more than workers. They form friendships and rivalries, develop beliefs, suffer stress, and react to the decisions you make as commander. Social relationships and ideology evolve over time, influencing morale, productivity, and the long-term identity of your Arcship. Rescue new survivors, but every arrival may change the culture of your ship. SURVIVE THROUGH MISSIONS Send crews beyond your vessel on dangerous expeditions to secure vital resources. Recover technology, extract survivors, or raid for fuel, missions always return something… but consequences follow. Injuries, conflict, and unexpected events can reshape life aboard your ship long after the mission ends. Missions can trigger injuries, political tension, or unexpected consequences that ripple through life aboard the ship. KEY FEATURES Grid-based ship construction and expansion Fully simulated oxygen, power, water, and resource networks Crew needs, skills, relationships, and ideology systems Consequence-driven mission system Research unlocking new technologies and discoveries Civilian population and societal stability management Emergent storytelling driven by player decisions Pause and time controls for relaxed strategic play Designed for long-form sandbox progression In Arcbound, your entire civilisation exists within a single evolving Arcship. Every decision shapes not just your ship, but the society living inside it. Stabilise your ship before Earth collapses… or carry your failures with you into the void. A CALM SURVIVAL EXPERIENCE Arcbound is designed as a chilled but thoughtful space management experience. Most of the time you’ll be carefully expanding and optimising your ship, until emergencies, social tension, or difficult choices introduce moments of drama. There is no single correct way to survive. Only the ship you build… and the future you create. Join the community on Discord

Screenshots

Shadow Node4 screens
Arcbound3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Arcbound at none against Shadow Node's shown. Arcbound also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs weekly). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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

Both are free to download. Shadow Node sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Arcbound sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shadow Node ships an update weekly, Arcbound every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 4 level
Shadow Node versus Arcbound: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShadow NodeArcbound
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 2 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size109 MB336 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperNETBYTE UG (haftungsbeschränkt)Dean Lennard

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Shadow Node

One-time1
  • Premium$1.99
1 purchases

Arcbound

One-time1
  • Arcbound - Early Access$9.99

Questions

Is Shadow Node free?
Shadow Node is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Arcbound free?
Arcbound is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Shadow Node or Arcbound have ads?
Shadow Node shows ads; Arcbound does not.
Which is updated more often, Shadow Node or Arcbound?
Shadow Node ships an update weekly, and Arcbound every 2 days. Most recently, Shadow Node was updated on October 7, 2026 and Arcbound on October 6, 2026.

Other comparisons