Comparison

Frayborn vs LADDER

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

Head to head
About

Frayborn

Features
Read full description

Forge your fate. In a medieval world of steel and sorcery, every choice is life or death. Frayborn is a roguelike tactical RPG set in a dark medieval European fantasy world. Choose from three warrior classes, carve your path through branching routes, and survive relentless battles where every resource counts. STRATEGIC TURN-BASED COMBAT Attack, defend, unleash skills โ€” exploit enemy weaknesses and chain combos to turn the tide. But beware: equipment breaks and skills are consumed. Manage your resources wisely, or perish. CHOOSE YOUR PATH Battle, elite encounter, treasure, shop, rest site โ€” the branching route map offers a different journey every run. No two adventures are the same. THREE DISTINCT CLASSES โ€ข Holy Knight โ€” An unyielding shield who heals through defense โ€ข Battle Mage โ€” A spellblade with devastating skill damage โ€ข Shadow Rogue โ€” A lethal assassin who doubles down on combos BUILD YOUR ARSENAL Acquire equipment and skills through auctions, gacha, and shops. Collect powerful relics to craft a build uniquely yours. COMPETE FOR GLORY Climb the global leaderboard and prove your worth against players worldwide. Born from the fray โ€” will you survive it?

About

LADDER

Features
Read full description

It's 2026. Every engineer works alongside AI agents, every PM promises an AI-native future, and "just use Claude" is both a solution and a curse. LADDER is a roguelike deckbuilder about the job. You start at L3. You draft a deck out of the things people actually do at work: pairing sessions, design docs, one-on-ones, and the shortcut you will regret in two sprints. You fight the things that actually stop work: scope creep, spec ghosts, the reorg. A run pauses whenever real work interrupts, and resumes right where you left off. THE SATIRE IS IN THE RULES AI-leveraged cards genuinely are faster. Delegate the ticket and it ships by lunch. The card that writes itself costs you one Tech Debt, and Tech Debt is a real resource that really comes due. Nothing here is flavor text pretending to be a mechanic. The shortcuts work, and then the bill arrives. FOUR CAREERS, ONE COMPANY LADDER is free to install, and the Engineer's first two levels cost nothing. The Engineering Manager and the Product Manager each let you play their opening level before you decide. The CEO is a paid role from the start. Each role is a one-time purchase with its own resources, its own enemies, and its own way to win. The EM balances AI Literacy against Politics. The PM races a roadmap clock against stakeholder trust. The CEO does not climb at all, because she is already at the top: her ladder is time, and each tier is another fiscal year she has to survive. All four work at the same company in the same fiscal year. An event you live through as an Engineer is one you caused as a CEO. WHAT YOU GET - Over 600 cards across four characters - Over 380 enemies, from the daily standup to the board room - Over 220 workplace events, most of which have no good option - Over 150 relics, several of which are just bad habits - An AI companion who comments on your run, and occasionally on you No ads. No gacha. No timers on your run. Portrait, one-handed, and the game itself plays offline. The AI companion is the one part that needs a connection: it runs on a daily allowance of Cognits that refills each day, with optional top-ups and a monthly plan if you want more of it. LADDER is not affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic, OpenAI, or any AI vendor named or parodied within it. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://laddergame.ai/privacy

Screenshots

Frayborn4 screens
LADDER4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Frayborn at none against LADDER's 10. LADDER's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. LADDER sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Frayborn asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 4 level
Frayborn versus LADDER: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFraybornLADDER
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyโ€”Every 3 days
AdsYesNo โ€” better
In-app purchasesNo โ€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 โ€” better15.1
Further details โ€” not scored
Size239 MB124 MB
Age rating9+12+
DeveloperCOMETALKBaran Kucukguzel

In-app purchases

None

Frayborn

No in-app purchases

10 purchases

LADDER

Subscriptions1
  • Cognit+$4.991 Month
One-time9
  • Coffee Money$0.99
  • The Productivity Pack$2.99
  • The Engineer's Climb$4.99
Show 6 more
  • Product Manager$5.99
  • Engineering Manager$5.99
  • Tokenmaxxer Bundle$6.99
  • CEO$7.99
  • Org Chart Bundle$14.99
  • Series A Whale$19.99

Questions

Is Frayborn free?
Frayborn is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is LADDER free?
LADDER is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Frayborn or LADDER have ads?
Frayborn shows ads; LADDER does not.

Other comparisons