Thornguard vs Space Outpost
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Thornguard
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Thornguard is a tower defense roguelike where every run starts fresh. Choose a prophecy, build towers, draft abilities, collect relics, and see how far you can go. PROPHECIES Pick from 9 challenge tracks before each run. Four elemental prophecies throw themed enemy waves at you. Four tactical prophecies test specific strategies. One throws everything at you from wave one. Each prophecy has 6 difficulty levels with signature mechanics that intensify as you climb. Beat a level, earn a title. TOWERS Six tower types across four elements and two neutral. Fire beats Frost, Frost beats Lightning, Lightning beats Fire. Thorn plays by its own rules. Place your towers wisely — the element matchup matters. ABILITIES Over 20 abilities to collect during a run. They cycle through a queue system — draft them, wait for recharge, activate from your slots. Each ability has a branching upgrade tree from L1 through L3, so you can specialize your build as you go. RELICS After each wave, pick one of three relics. Over 60 relics across four rarities — Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Legendary. They stack and synergize to shape your strategy. No two runs build the same way. BOSS FIGHTS 10 bosses with unique mechanics — summoning minions, shifting lanes, shielding themselves, draining your towers. Beat them for extra gold. FEATURES - 9 prophecy tracks with 6 difficulty levels each - 6 tower types across 4 elements - 20+ abilities with branching upgrade trees - 60+ relics across 4 rarities - 10 bosses with unique mechanics - 40+ enemy types across elemental families - Fully offline — no internet, no accounts, no ads - All progress stored locally on your device Built for quick sessions. No internet required. No ads. No accounts. Just towers and bad decisions.
Space Outpost
Defend your outpost against relentless alien hordes in this sci-fi tower defense game. Strategically build and upgrade defensive towers, deploy mobile units, and utilize powerful orbital strikes to save the sun. Play offline and one-handed.
- Campaign across unique planets
- Diverse tower and unit types
- Mobile strike units and orbital powerups
- Multiple enemy types and bosses
- Classic and Sudden Death game modes
- Offline and one-handed play
- Unlockable towers, units, and powerups
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Space Outpost is a hand-crafted sci-fi tower defense game, built for one-handed portrait play and fully playable offline. The sun is dying. Kyro is the only fuel that can keep it burning, and it is mined on the most hostile worlds in the system. You command the outpost that holds them. Hold the line, Commander. A growing roster of planets, an escalating bestiary, mobile strike units, and orbital powerups mean no two stands play the same. HOLD THE LINE • Battle across a campaign of unique planets, from the pale dust of Lunar Field to the black cliffs of the Obsidian Throne, with more worlds on the way. • Each world has its own terrain, lanes, and threats, ramping from Easy to Nightmare. • Clear milestone waves at 25, 50, 75, and 100 for escalating Kyro payloads, then hold out as long as you can in endless waves past 100. BUILD YOUR DEFENSE • Stack guns and support buildings: Laser, Plasma, Burst, Beam, and Nova towers, plus Barracks, Repair Bay, Refinery, Trading Post, Targeting Uplink, and Shield Pylon. • Upgrade every tower through multiple tiers. • Mine rock, raise walls, and lay mines to shape the kill zone. GO ON THE OFFENSIVE • Deploy mobile units that march out and fight: Troopers, Snipers, Rocket Troopers, and Medic Drones. • Call in single-use powerups: Meteor strikes, Orbital Strikes flown by your own ship, Fission Bombs, Supply drops, field Repair, Freeze, Overclock, Trooper Drops, and Energy Boosters that triple one turret's damage for thirty waves. KNOW YOUR ENEMY • Face Grunts, Runners, Brutes, swarming Mites, shielded Bulwarks, tower-diving Reavers, splitters, flyers, freeze-proof Wraiths, and self-healing Hive Crawlers. • Survive boss waves: Warlords, Warbringers, Titans, Colossus brood-carriers, and the flying Dreadnought capital ship. • Study every threat in the in-game Armory before it lands on your doorstep. TWO WAYS TO PLAY • Classic: repair your base between waves and dig in for the long haul. • Sudden Death: low base HP, no repairs. One leak ends the run. Higher Kyro payouts for the brave. SPEND KYRO, UNLOCK EVERYTHING • Earn Kyro by clearing milestone waves, then permanently unlock new towers, units, and powerups in the Armory. • Plays fully offline: no account, no internet required. • Designed for portrait, one-handed play. Hold the line. Every gram of Kyro buys the sun another day.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Space Outpost at none against Thornguard's 4. Space Outpost also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 2 days). Thornguard's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and device support (4 vs 1). On price 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
Both are free to download. Thornguard sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Space Outpost asks for nothing beyond the download.
Thornguard ships an update every 2 days, Space Outpost daily. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Thornguard | Space Outpost |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 2 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days | Daily — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | — | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 104 MB | 78 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | NATHAN CARLISLE FOX | Steven Brown |
In-app purchases
Thornguard
- Bronze Supporter$0.99
- Silver Supporter$2.99
- Gold Supporter$4.99
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- Champion$9.99
Space Outpost
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Thornguard free?
Is Space Outpost free?
Do Thornguard or Space Outpost have ads?
Which is updated more often, Thornguard or Space Outpost?
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