Comparison

Starshard vs Riftburst

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

Head to head
About

Starshard

Features
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Three fleets came out of the dark and took the lanes one by one. Command has one hull left to send — yours. Starshard is a vertical space shooter built on one promise: FAIR PLAY. No pay-to-win. No energy timers. Just you, your ship, and endless waves of alien fleets — now fully playable in English and Turkish. DODGE. BLAST. SURVIVE. Weave through bullet storms with one finger. Collect power-ups, charge your weapons, and carve through six enemy types — from swarming scouts to armor-plated frigates — plus elite gold variants that hit harder and fly faster. DRAFT YOUR BUILD, EVERY RUN Defeat a boss and choose 1 of 3 upgrades: side cannons, homing missiles, piercing lasers, combat drones, tail guns, flak rounds and more. Every run builds differently. Every choice matters. EPIC BOSS BATTLES Three alien dreadnought factions guard the void, each with its own attack patterns — bullet curtains, radial bursts, summoned reinforcements. Push them past half health and face their enraged second phase. BUILD YOUR HANGAR Earn shards and unlock permanent gear: escort wingmen, drone bays, shield generators, afterburners. Choose your ship — the balanced Interceptor, the nimble Falcon, or the heavy Titan — and equip a loadout that fits your style. CAMPAIGN + ENDLESS Clear campaign missions with hand-crafted enemy compositions, or chase your record in endless mode across deep space, planetary sectors, and asteroid fields. Climb the pilot ranks from Cadet to legend. FAIR MONETIZATION • No pay-to-win, no energy timers, no subscriptions • Optional rewarded ads for a revive or bonus crystals; a short ad between runs, never mid-fight • One purchase removes all ads, forever • Everything is earnable by playing The void is waiting, pilot. How far will you fly?

About

Riftburst

Features
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NO GUNS. JUST PORTALS. Riftburst is a fast pacifist neon arcade survival game built around movement, timing and one perfect blast. Relentless enemies lock onto your ship. You cannot shoot back. Pull the swarm into a tight cluster, weave through the grid and dive through a portal at exactly the right moment. The Riftburst catches everything in range and drives your score higher. BUNDLE. DIVE. BLAST. • The longer you survive, the denser the swarm gets • Trigger portal bursts and build your multiplier • Keep Fever alive without getting hit or losing speed • A single mistake decides the run CHASE THE HIGH SCORE Your Arcade and Daily boards live on the device and cover every profile on it. Sign in if you want to measure yourself against the worldwide Arcade ranking — and there are achievements that hold on to your best moments. COLLECT WHAT MAKES YOUR RUN YOURS Missions and achievements unlock hulls, skins, trails and grid themes. All of it is purely cosmetic. Nothing makes you faster, stronger or harder to hit — your score belongs to you, not to your loadout. How long can you survive the swarm? Riftburst — a game by LorenzLabs. Learn more: lorenzlabs.dev/riftburst

Screenshots

Starshard4 screens
Riftburst4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Riftburst at none against Starshard's 2. On price, update cadence, ads 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. Starshard sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Riftburst asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Starshard ships an update every 3 weeks, Riftburst fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 7 level
Starshard versus Riftburst: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStarshardRiftburst
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size85 MB95 MB
Age rating9+12+
DeveloperBurak Emre NevruzogluAndre Lorenz

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Starshard

One-time2
  • Shard Doubler$1.99
  • Remove Ads$2.99
None

Riftburst

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Starshard free?
Starshard is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Riftburst free?
Riftburst is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Starshard or Riftburst have ads?
Both Starshard and Riftburst show ads.
Which is updated more often, Starshard or Riftburst?
Starshard ships an update every 3 weeks, and Riftburst fortnightly. Most recently, Starshard was updated on October 24, 2026 and Riftburst on October 22, 2026.

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