Comparison

path vs Rift Deck

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

Head to head
About

path

Features
Read full description

path-to-one is a math roguelike game based on the Collatz conjecture (3n+1 problem). Choose a "cursed number" and navigate a dark labyrinth where every room is a mathematical challenge. Odd rooms are dangerous — the curse swells with 3n+1, dealing damage. Even rooms offer brief safety — divide by 2 and press on. Your goal: reach 1 to break the curse. STRATEGIC COMBAT Every odd room presents a choice: fight head-on (3n+1), take a detour (n+1) for a card, use spell cards, or flee. Each decision affects your curse chain — consecutive odd rooms amplify damage up to 2x. In even rooms, press on, rush ahead, or take a risky bet. SPELL CARDS Start with 6 single-use spell cards from 7 types. Halve your number, subtract from it, shield against damage, heal HP, peek ahead, accelerate through rooms, or purify to even. Duplicate cards upgrade to powerful enhanced versions. 7 ENEMY TIERS From Cursed Slimes to the God of Ruin, each enemy tier brings unique abilities: Dark Fog negates foresight, Piercing cuts through shields, Despair triples erosion damage. 6 BUILDS AND 4 DIFFICULTY TIERS Choose from Guardian, Accelerator, Sorcerer, Seer, Contractor, or the premium Overlord — each with unique starting hands and playstyles. Challenge Normal, Abyss, End, or Void difficulty for greater rewards. WEEKLY CHALLENGE (OPTIONAL) Every week, players worldwide take on the same cursed number under the same conditions (Guardian build, Normal difficulty) and compete with their best score of the week on "This Week's Ranking". Joining is consent-based: nothing is sent until you choose a nickname and tap "Agree and register". Link your Apple ID or Google account (optional) to carry your record and nickname over to a new device or a reinstall. You can delete your account and ranking records from within the app at any time (Weekly Challenge > "Account" > "Delete account"). WEEKLY CHAMPION REWARD The week's #1 (on a tie, whoever reached that score first) chooses the cursed number for the week after next: any number from 100 to 9999 that takes at least 70 steps to reach 1. The choice can be changed until Sunday 23:55 (JST), and that week's screen shows the chooser's nickname. DAILY CHALLENGE A unique seeded number every day, one attempt per day. Clear it for 1.5x score and 2x Curse Marks. DAILY REMINDER On days you haven't played the Daily Challenge yet, a notification reminds you around 18:00. Permission is requested after your first finished run, and you can turn it off in your device settings at any time. The reminder is scheduled on your device; nothing is sent externally. COMBO SYSTEM Clear consecutive rooms without taking damage to build a streak. Up to 100 bonus points added to your final score. DEEP PROGRESSION - 19 achievements to unlock - Grimoire tracks all enemies, cards, and events - Curse Marks currency to unlock builds and difficulties - Score ranking system (D through S rank) - Adventure records to track your history - 4 derived events unlock through repeated play RANDOM EVENTS Healing springs, curse traps, treasure chests, dark merchants — and their enhanced variants unlock after repeated encounters. 16 LANGUAGES English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Korean, German, French, Hindi, Indonesian, Russian, Italian, Turkish, Thai, and Vietnamese. IN-APP PURCHASES (ONE-TIME) The game is free to play. Three optional items are available, each a one-time purchase that stays unlocked. Use "Restore Purchases" on the title screen after a reinstall. - Remove Ads: hides all ads - Unlock Number Input: choose any starting number from 2 to 9999 - Overlord Build: unlocks the Overlord build, strong in offense and defense ABOUT ADS A banner is shown at the bottom of the screen and a full-screen ad after you tap a button on the result screen. You can change how ads are shown at any time from "Ad settings" on the title screen. Can mathematics save you from the curse?

About

Rift Deck

Features
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A deckbuilding roguelike where you chain cards to end the fight in a single turn. In a world where the sky has cracked open, start with a small deck and grow it with every stage you clear. ■ 12 worlds, 120 stages 10 worlds and 100 stages, plus 2 expansion worlds (Blood Arena and Slumbering Archive, 20 stages). Each world has monsters and a boss found nowhere else. 105 monsters, including 12 Elites and 12 Bosses. ■ Battlefield Rules that change every stage 36 Battlefield Rules. Mist hides enemy intents, scorching heat burns away the cards you hold, and playing the same card twice in a row doubles its numbers. Rules don't just make enemies stronger — they change how you fight. ■ Front row and back row Enemies stand in a front row and a back row. While the front row holds, only cards that reach the back row can hit it. Each turn, decide whether to go after the healers and summoners in the back or break through the front. ■ See what's coming Enemy intents show their next action and damage above their heads. You win or lose on your decisions, not on luck. ■ 4 heroes · Bark — Riftbreaker Warrior. Every hit builds Rage; unleash it for one massive blow. · Elin — Backline-Piercing Hunter. Carve Marks and shoot from afar — slowly with Poison, or all at once on a Mark. · Sora — Element-Weaving Shaman. Fill 3 Element Slots with Fire, Frost and Storm, and each combination unleashes a different spell. · Dowin — Construct Engineer. Gather Parts to build Turrets and Drones. ■ 478 cards · 120 Relics · 54 events · 30 Potions Six card rarities from Common to Mythic. Engrave cards that grow stronger every time you play them, Sacrifice cards that cost you HP, Relics that reshape your whole build, and events that ask for choices you can't take back. ■ Game modes Standard · Short Run (15 stages) · Daily Challenge (same seed for everyone) · Endless, plus 20 Ascension levels. ■ Sign-in is optional All content is playable without signing in. Sign in with Apple or Google to sync your records and rankings to the cloud and continue on other devices. ■ No ads, no purchases No ads, no in-app purchases, no tracking. Available in English, Japanese and Korean.

Screenshots

path4 screens
Rift Deck4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Rift Deck at none against path's 1. Rift Deck also leads on ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). path's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs fortnightly). On price 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. path sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Rift Deck asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

path ships an update every 2 days, Rift Deck fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 2 level
path versus Rift Deck: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterpathRift Deck
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterFortnightly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size44 MB45 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperFuji Bit Inc.sanghak bae

In-app purchases

1 purchases

path

One-time1
  • Overlord Build$1.99
None

Rift Deck

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is path free?
path is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Rift Deck free?
Rift Deck is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do path or Rift Deck have ads?
path shows ads; Rift Deck does not.
Which is updated more often, path or Rift Deck?
path ships an update every 2 days, and Rift Deck fortnightly. Most recently, path was updated on October 28, 2026 and Rift Deck on October 31, 2026.

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