Starfall Vanguard vs Nova Lancer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
Starfall Vanguard
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One thumb. Fifty levels. Ten star systems. How far can you fly? Starfall Vanguard is a classic arcade shoot-em-up built for one-handed play. Drag anywhere to fly โ your ship rides above your finger and fires while you're touching. Lift off to hold fire, weave through the barrage, and get back in the fight. Tap with a second finger to drop a bomb. CAMPAIGN - Fifty levels across ten star systems and six biomes, each with its own enemies, bosses and skies - Fourteen enemy types: rammers, gunships, armored hulls, splitters, carriers and swarms that learn new tricks the deeper you go - Twelve bosses with multi-phase attack patterns โ spread fans, bullet rings, homing missiles you'll learn to bait and break - Earn up to three stars per level; three means a clean run - Clear a level and fly straight into the next with your weapon, shields and bombs intact FIGHT - Weapon upgrades to a 5-barrel spread with double-damage rounds - Stacking energy shields that absorb hits before your hull - Bombs that grow from a ring to a full screen clear as you upgrade PROGRESS - Earn coins with every kill, keep them forever - Three ships to own and fly โ buy them with the coins you earn and switch between them in the hangar - Spend coins on hull plating, shield batteries, rapid fire, weapon mastery, bomb bays and coin magnets - Your progress syncs through iCloud between your devices COMPETE - Endless mode: ever-shifting formations, a boss every 20 waves, and a kill-streak multiplier โ stay clean, score big - Local top-10 high scores and a Game Center leaderboard Painted ships and enemies, neon lasers, fireball explosions and a cockpit view. No in-app purchases and no accounts. Coins are earned by playing, never bought. A short ad plays after boss victories, and after a run you can optionally watch one to double your coin haul.
Nova Lancer
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Nova Lancer is an offline arcade space shooter. Drag to fly. Your cannons fire on their own. Twenty missions. Over 15,000 enemies. Nineteen boss encounters. Every wave was placed by hand, not generated โ so each mission has its own shape: where it opens quiet, where it lets you breathe, and where it stops giving you room. BOSSES Three classes of capital ship, each with its own attack patterns and a warning on the way in. The larger ones arrive with an escort wing flying formation around the hull. Bosses shed supplies as you damage them. HANGAR - Ten ships, each with its own hull strength and weapon grade, printed on the card - Two wingmen to hire and upgrade โ they scale with your firepower instead of falling behind - Weapon grades that open your fire from one shot into a spread across three cannons NO STRINGS - Completely offline - No ads - No in-app purchases - No account, nothing collected about you Every ship, every wingman, every upgrade is earned by playing.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Nova Lancer at none against Starfall Vanguard's shown. Starfall Vanguard's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 weeks). On price, in-app purchases, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Starfall Vanguard ships an update every 3 days, Nova Lancer every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.
| Parameter | Starfall Vanguard | Nova Lancer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 3 days โ better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | Yes | No โ better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPod โ better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.6 โ better |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 24 MB | 111 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Rick Conner | Trinh Thi Huong |
In-app purchases
Starfall Vanguard
No in-app purchases
Nova Lancer
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Starfall Vanguard free?
Is Nova Lancer free?
Do Starfall Vanguard or Nova Lancer have ads?
Which is updated more often, Starfall Vanguard or Nova Lancer?
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