Comparison

Classic Maelstrom vs DEFRAG_

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

Head to head
About

Classic Maelstrom

Features
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Maelstrom is a licensed open source port of the original shareware game for the Macintosh by Ambrosia Software, Inc. It is a fast-action, asteroids-like game, with classic pixel graphics and original sounds. In addition to being a faithful reproduction of the original game, this version adds game controller support, mobile touch controls, and both cooperative and competitive multiplayer action. Features: Kid Mode Clicking the "kid mode" icon next to the play button will enable an easier play mode which will add the retro-thruster prize and automatically shield you as long as shields are available - but beware the Shenobi ships! Their shots will not trigger the automatic defensive systems. Achievements and high scores are not available while in this mode. Multiplayer You can host or join a multiplayer game from the main menu. Up to three players can play at once, and they can be any combination of other players on the local network, and connected controllers. Easter Eggs The classic easter eggs from the original game are all there, and it's up to you to find them...

About

DEFRAG_

A first-person horror game where you navigate a corrupted digital world by rendering its environment with text. Use your rasterizer to reveal paths, but be wary of sound-hunting creatures and limited memory.

Highlights
  • Procedural, seed-persistent world
  • Sound-hunting creatures
  • Runtime synthesized audio
  • Endless descent gameplay
  • Authentic CRT playback effects
  • Text-based rendering
Features
Read full description

Nothing here is lit. Everything must be drawn. DEFRAG is a first-person horror game rendered entirely in text. You are a recovery process inside a vast, corrupted console - a liminal megastructure of atriums, corridors, and holes where the floor should be. Your only tool is a handheld rasterizer: sweep it across a surface and the world resolves into a lattice of characters, exactly the same characters every time, because the text was always there. You are not lighting the dark. You are forcing it to render. Memory is life. Every glyph you draw spends dedicated memory. Run out, and the sector restarts. Reach each sector's amber gate with something left, and descend. You are the loudest thing here. The residents - low-poly, many-legged, geometrically wrong - hunt sound, not sight. Footsteps, bursts, the raster itself: everything you do tells them where you were. Bait them. Route around them. Hold one frozen in your beam while you back away. Sprint only when you must, because sprinting is the only thing faster than they are - and when one gets close, your own map begins to boil: characters scramble, tremble, and blush red as the corruption walks through your work. A different console every time - and the same one forever. Your world seed persists: every wall, every pit, every inscription is exactly where it was. Sectors grow larger, meaner, and more crowded without end. The music - a worn, detuned synthesizer loop generated from your seed - degrades into screaming static as death approaches. Every sound in the game, from the sub-bass rumble of the structure to the corrupted-modem calls of the residents, is synthesized live. There are no audio files, no textures, no models. Only text. - Procedural, seed-persistent world that renders only where you rasterize - Sound-hunting creatures that read your noise, not your position - All audio synthesized at runtime; score generated from your world seed - Endless descent with escalating scale and difficulty - Authentic IBM VGA typeface and full CRT playback: scanlines, barrel distortion, phosphor grain - Deaths: falling, holes, and geometry that made contact Photosensitivity note: DEFRAG uses CRT-style flicker and bursts of scrambling static.

Screenshots

Classic Maelstrom4 screens
DEFRAG_4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Classic Maelstrom at Free against DEFRAG_'s $4.99. Classic Maelstrom also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 4 days) and device support (4 vs 2). On ads and in-app purchases 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

Classic Maelstrom is free to download; DEFRAG_ costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Classic Maelstrom ships an update every 2 days, DEFRAG_ every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 5 level
Classic Maelstrom versus DEFRAG_: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterClassic MaelstromDEFRAG_
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterEvery 4 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Paid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, Mac
Requires iOS15.6 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB1 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperSam LantingaMichael Gecawicz

In-app purchases

None

Classic Maelstrom

No in-app purchases

None

DEFRAG_

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Classic Maelstrom free?
Classic Maelstrom is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is DEFRAG_ free?
DEFRAG_ costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Classic Maelstrom or DEFRAG_ have ads?
Neither Classic Maelstrom nor DEFRAG_ shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Classic Maelstrom or DEFRAG_?
Classic Maelstrom ships an update every 2 days, and DEFRAG_ every 4 days. Most recently, Classic Maelstrom was updated on October 3, 2026 and DEFRAG_ on October 10, 2026.

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