Comparison

Captain's Curse vs Arc 9

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

Head to head
About

Captain's Curse

Navigate the Golden Age of Piracy where every decision impacts your crew, ship, and reputation. Explore supernatural encounters, battle sea monsters, and forge your own path to victory or a cursed demise.

Highlights
  • Branching narrative choices
  • Multiple victory paths
  • Supernatural encounters
  • Sea monster battles
  • Crew and ship management
  • Puzzle solving
Features
Read full description

EVERY DECISION SHAPES YOUR FATE Face hundreds of unique scenarios as you navigate the treacherous waters of the Golden Age of Piracy. Fight the Royal Navy or flee into the storm? Trust the mysterious witch or throw her overboard? Each choice affects your crew's morale, ship's condition, gold reserves, and infamous reputation. MULTIPLE PATHS TO VICTORY • Break the curse by returning the stolen gold to its ancient temple • Embrace immortality and become a ghost ship captain forever • Unite the pirate captains and crown yourself Pirate King • Claim the legendary Phantom Galleon and sail between worlds • Or die trying to mutiny, naval cannons, starvation, or the curse itself RICH PIRATE ADVENTURES • Battle legendary sea monsters: Krakens, Megalodons, and sea serpents • Encounter ghosts, vampires, zombies, sirens, and merfolk • Explore sunken cathedrals, cursed temples, and hidden treasure vaults • Make allies or enemies of notorious pirate captains • Solve ancient puzzles and decipher cryptic maps • Experience the supernatural: witches, curses, and voodoo magic YOUR CREW, YOUR STORY

About

Arc 9

Pilot a ship through a closing alien defense system, rotating to pass through narrow gaps. Survive increasing speeds and challenges across four threat levels, with options to revive and upgrade your ship.

Highlights
  • One-touch rotation controls
  • Four progressive difficulty levels
  • Emergency revive option
  • 25 unlockable achievements
  • Global leaderboards
  • Ship upgrades available
Features
Read full description

Navigate through the void. Survive the barriers. Escape the system. ARC 9 is a fast-paced arcade game where you pilot a ship trapped inside an ancient alien defense system. Massive energy barriers are closing in from all sides — each one a ring of force with only a single narrow gap. Your ship is locked in a fixed orbital path around the station core. The only way out is through. Tap the left or right side of the screen to fire your thrusters and rotate your ship into position. Time your movements carefully — the gaps shift as barriers close in, and the speed only increases the further you go. FOUR THREAT LEVELS Choose your challenge. Easy eases you in with wider gaps and slower barriers. Medium picks up the pace. Hard demands precision. Crazy is relentless — faster walls, tighter gaps, and rapid rotation. Each threat level has its own global leaderboard. EMERGENCY REVIVE Lost all your shields? You get one chance to revive with 3 fresh shields and keep pushing your score higher. ACHIEVEMENTS Unlock 25 achievements across sector milestones, lifetime stats, and skill challenges. Clear 100 sectors without losing a shield to earn INVINCIBLE. Play every threat level to unlock the PROMOTED Achievement! Track your progress in the Rankings tab. GLOBAL LEADERBOARDS Compete against pilots worldwide. Four separate leaderboards — one for each threat level. Submit your best scores through Game Center and see how you stack up. SHIP UPGRADES Remove Ads for uninterrupted gameplay. Grab Extra Shields to start every mission with 5 shields instead of 3. CUSTOMIZE YOUR EXPERIENCE Adjust thruster sensitivity, toggle sound effects, music, and vibrations. Fine-tune your setup in the Systems screen. FEATURES - Simple one-touch controls! Tap left or right to rotate - Progressive difficulty that scales as your score climbs - Synthesized ambient soundtrack that builds suspense - Haptic feedback on every ring pass and shield hit - Extremely smooth gameplay - Responsive design across all iPhone screen sizes No one has ever cleared Sector 100 on Crazy. Prove them wrong, pilot.

Screenshots

Captain's Curse4 screens
Arc 94 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Captain's Curse at none against Arc 9's 2. Captain's Curse also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (daily vs weekly). On price, rating 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

Both are free to download. Arc 9 sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Captain's Curse 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 Captain's Curse against 5.0 for Arc 9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Captain's Curse has 6 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Captain's Curse ships an update daily, Arc 9 weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Captain's Curse versus Arc 9: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCaptain's CurseArc 9
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (6 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings6 — better1
Update frequencyDaily — betterWeekly
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.6 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size124 MB5 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperPraxticus Mobile Labs LLCMK Productions LLC

Customer experience

Captain's Curse

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Arc 9

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Captain's Curse

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Arc 9

One-time2
  • Remove Ads$1.99
  • Extra Shields$1.99

Questions

Is Captain's Curse free?
Captain's Curse is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Arc 9 free?
Arc 9 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Captain's Curse or Arc 9?
Captain's Curse and Arc 9 are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 6 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Captain's Curse or Arc 9 have ads?
Arc 9 shows ads; Captain's Curse does not.
Which is updated more often, Captain's Curse or Arc 9?
Captain's Curse ships an update daily, and Arc 9 weekly. Most recently, Captain's Curse was updated on October 28, 2026 and Arc 9 on October 14, 2026.

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