Pool Shark vs Mateforge
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pool Shark
This game combines real 8-ball pool physics with roguelike deckbuilding mechanics. Pot balls, chain combos, and build a deck of cards to strategize your way through escalating challenges and opponents.
- Real 8-ball pool physics simulation
- Roguelike deckbuilding with 204 cards
- Strategic shot calling for multipliers
- 18 opponents with unique challenges
- Six rooms of escalating stakes
- Online ranked multiplayer
- Unlockable cosmetic items
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Pool Shark is a deep roguelike deckbuilder built on real 8-ball pool. Every rack is a scoring run — pot balls, chain combos, stack multipliers — and every table plays for money you carry up six rooms of rising stakes. REAL POOL PHYSICS. A deterministic table where spin, banks, kisses, and caroms all count — and the aim hint shows you exactly the shot the table will play, because it IS the same simulation. BUILD YOUR DECK. Draft from a 204-card catalog between matches: 90 Tells that change how shots score, Chalk you burn for one perfect shot, Marks that ride a single ball, Cues that change what a break can do. The order of your build is the strategy. CALL YOUR SHOTS. Banks, combos, and called pockets multiply the take. Style is money — showboating pays if you can back it up. EVERY TABLE IS A MONEY MATCH. Eighteen opponents, each with their own aim, nerve, and temper — race them for stakes and take their purse. A REAL RUN. Eighteen tables across six rooms in one night. Four difficulty tiers, twenty House Rules that bend the game, four different endings. No two runs build the same shark. SURVIVE THE HOUSE. House Tables close side pockets, ban rails, make you call the 8. Read the room and pick your battles. EARN YOUR NAME. Seventy unlockables — masks, titles, cues, gloves, trails, cloths, stamps — won at the table, never sold. TAKE IT ONLINE. Ranked 1v1 on a live referee server: six divisions, seasons, and a ladder with your name on it. Earn House Chips as you play, wager them on a match, and take the crowd's pocket bet. And yes, there's a story: your best friend owes the wrong people $12,500, due before close. Chalk up and get him out. No ads. The only in-app purchases are optional tips behind the SUPPORT US door: they unlock nothing, and the whole game is yours either way.
Mateforge
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Mateforge is a single-player chess roguelike deckbuilder. Command an army of chess pieces, cast powerful spell cards, and survive an ever-collapsing board across an endless run of battles. Each round the board crumbles beneath you — capture every enemy before it does. Between fights, draft upgrades, recruit and merge pieces, forge your deck, and grow stronger for the boss waiting ahead. FEATURES - Chess meets roguelike — pieces move by real chess rules, but the board falls apart every turn - Build your deck — craft custom decks from 29 spell cards: lightning, meteors, freezes, teleports and more - Evolve your pieces — defeat bosses to permanently evolve your army through 3 tiers of power - Merge & recruit — fuse pieces into stronger ones and expand your squad - Boss battles — face bosses with shields, swift moves and spawning, scaling in difficulty - Daily challenge — a new rule-bending mutator every day - Meta progression — earn shards and unlock permanent perks that carry across runs - Endless runs — no two are ever the same - 6 languages — English, Türkçe, Deutsch, Français, Español, Italiano How far can you get before the board swallows you?
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Mateforge at none against Pool Shark's 3. Pool Shark's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 5 days). On price, 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. Pool Shark sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Mateforge asks for nothing beyond the download.
Pool Shark ships an update every 3 days, Mateforge every 5 days. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.
| Parameter | Pool Shark | Mateforge |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 days — better | Every 5 days |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 398 MB | 9 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Motivation Stack LLC | Salih Eksioglu |
In-app purchases
Pool Shark
- Chalk Up$0.99
- Rack a Round$2.99
- Keep the Lights On$4.99
Mateforge
No in-app purchases








