DM ENGINE vs Close Encounters RPG
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
DM ENGINE
An AI-powered Dungeon Master for D&D 5e, this app generates scenes, runs combat, and tracks your campaign. It offers a cinematic tabletop experience for solo or multiplayer games, with permanent character death and a reactive world.
- AI-generated scenes and NPC dialogue
- Full D&D 5e combat simulation
- Persistent campaign memory
- Reactive living world
- Permanent character death
- Multiplayer support for up to four players
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DM Engine is a full AI Dungeon Master for D&D 5e — not just a chatbot, but a structured game master that builds scenes, runs combat, tracks your campaign, and delivers a cinematic tabletop experience without needing a human DM. NEW: PLAY WITH FRIENDS Host a party of up to four. Share a join code, and your friends drop into the same living story — no scheduling, no human DM, no one left waiting. Everyone acts in their own turn, rolls their own dice, and fights in the same initiative order. One Guild subscription hosts the whole table; joining is free. WHAT IT DOES Generates opening scenes, NPC dialogue, and story beats Runs full D&D 5e combat — initiative, HP, conditions, death saves Handles skill checks, saving throws, and attack rolls with real dice Remembers everything across sessions — decisions, deaths, relationships Builds a living world that reacts to your choices DEATH MEANS SOMETHING Drop to zero and you're rolling death saves — flat d20, three failures and that character's story ends. Permanently. No resurrection, no undo. Create a new character and the DM writes them into the story at the next turn of the road. CAST LIKE A SPELLCASTER Open your spellbook mid-fight, pick your targets, watch your slots. Attack rolls against real AC. Inspiration to reroll when the dice betray you. Long rests restore you — if the story lets you rest. CAMPAIGN SETUP Choose your world setting, tone (heroic, dark, horror, comedy), and ruleset. Load a lore pack — Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Eberron, or the Nine Hells of Avernus. Create your character with class, race, background, and backstory. The DM weaves your history into everything. THE DM VOICE Built on Claude, one of the most capable AI models available. The DM narrates like an author — specific, present-tense, cinematic. No "adventure awaits." No breaking character. Real consequences for every action. FULL SESSION MEMORY The app tracks your campaign across sessions using a compression system that distills key events into permanent facts. The DM remembers who you killed, what you promised, and what you broke. SESSION RECAP Auto-generated summary after every session. XP log, key moments, loot, and decisions. Your campaign history builds over time. Built on the D&D 5e SRD 5.1 under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://j37953242.github.io/dmengine-legal/#privacy
Close Encounters RPG
Embark on a fantasy adventure that transforms your real-world surroundings into a game. Create a unique character, explore your local area for encounters, and engage in strategic combat. Collect gear, learn spells, and develop your adventurer through a rich progression system.
- Location-based exploration
- Custom character creation
- Strategic combat encounters
- Weapon and armor collection
- Magic and spell learning
- Dynamic weather and time-of-day
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Close Encounters RPG is a location-based fantasy role-playing game that turns the world around you into an adventure. Create a custom character by choosing a kindred and class, assigning attributes, and learning spells. Explore nearby locations, discover players, creatures, and loot, then enter strategic encounters. Equip weapons and armor, collect gold, learn magic, improve your attributes, and develop a unique adventurer over time. Features include: • Location-based exploration and nearby encounters • Multiple character kindreds and classes • Combat against players and fantasy creatures • Weapons, armor, spells, loot, and progression • Dynamic weather and time-of-day atmosphere • Optional consumable gold purchases Location access is used while playing to provide nearby game activity and encounters.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Close Encounters RPG at 100% against DM ENGINE's 50%. Close Encounters RPG also leads on rating (4.0 vs 3.5) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 4 days). DM ENGINE's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and ratings volume (4 vs 1). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Close Encounters RPG sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. DM ENGINE asks for nothing beyond the download.
Close Encounters RPG holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 1 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of DM ENGINE's written reviews are positive against 100% of Close Encounters RPG's.
DM ENGINE ships an update every 4 days, Close Encounters RPG every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and September 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | DM ENGINE | Close Encounters RPG |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.5 (4 ratings) | 4.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 52 MB | 2.2 GB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Che-Lun Huang | Eric Neumuller |
Customer experience
DM ENGINE
Close Encounters RPG
In-app purchases
DM ENGINE
No in-app purchases
Close Encounters RPG
- 250 Gold$0.99
- 600 Gold$1.99
- 1500 Gold$3.99





