Doodlekeep vs Undead Surge
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side ā with what reviewers say about each.
Doodlekeep
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A kingdom has spilled into the margins. Raise the blue banner and lead a company of doodle knights through a medieval adventure illustrated in loose pen and ink, irregular crosshatching, and restrained coloured-pencil accents. COMMAND YOUR COMPANY Recruit shield knights, swordsmen, pikemen, longbow archers, wizards, mounted paladins, siege engines, and dragons. Spend ink carefully, choose your moment to rally, and break the opposing keep across 27 campaign battles in nine chapters. BUILD A STRONGER KEEP Visit the Royal Armory to improve your equipment, strengthen your castle defenses, and stop at the tavern to recruit heroes. Your choices shape the company you send back into battle. OPEN THE SIEGE PAGES Take aim at 30 castles with catapults, ballistae, and trebuchets. Adjust angle and power, choose ammunition with different effects, and bring the walls down while protecting the blue knight. RIDE INTO THE JOUST Challenge champions across nine chapter cups. Time your charge, aim your lance, and brace for impact. Improve your equipment in Armory & Stables and return to challenge riders again. ASK OSRIC. HE WILL ANSWER LOUDLY. Osric the Unnecessarily Loud has advice, announcements, and an alarming amount of enthusiasm. Follow his commentary through the campaign and side adventures, then display your earned trophies in the Hall of Honours. YOUR OWN NOTEBOOK Play offline without a game account. Progress is saved on your device, with export and import tools for backing up your chronicle. Challenge yourself in Endless Siege after exploring the campaign. Created by Emerys. Published by Cyber Atlas LLC. On iPhone and iPad, Chapter I is free. A one-time Full Notebook purchase unlocks the remaining campaign chapters and Endless Siege. Equipment and heroes are earned through play. Purchasing, restoring purchases, and downloading updates require an internet connection. Purchases do not transfer between stores; progress does not sync automatically. New chapters and battlefields are coming soon!
Undead Surge
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Survive the zombie horde with one thumb, an auto-aim rifle and spells you fuse into something bigger. Undead Surge is a roguelike horde shooter made for portrait play. Steer with one thumb while your rifle picks its own targets. Every run lasts ten minutes: collect XP, choose a card at each level-up, and watch a few stray zombies grow into a flood of hundreds. Hold out until the clock runs down, then spend your gold and go again. FUSE FIRE, FROST AND LIGHTNING ⢠Nine spells across three schools: Chain Lightning, Meteor Strike, Frost Nova, Flame Aura, Storm Drone, Ball Lightning and more. ⢠Pair two schools into Plasma Storm, Blizzard or Steam Cyclone, or push one school to Supernova, Megavolt or Absolute Zero. ⢠13 fusions in all, including upgraded Resonances and the three-school Meltdown. FIVE RIFLE FORMS ⢠Plasma Bolt, Scatter, Rail, Ricochet and Burst each change how every shot works. ⢠Max a form's key mod and a boss chest evolves it. A NEW BUILD EVERY RUN ⢠45 level-up cards: spells, rifle mods, powers, reactions, dash and Starfall techniques, and risky Gambits. ⢠Elites drop chests, bosses drop better ones, and banishes keep unwanted cards out. 13 CHAPTERS, EACH WITH ITS OWN RULE ⢠From Ember Crypt and Frost Hollow to Dead Line, Final Whistle Arena and Midnight Midway. ⢠Every chapter changes the fight: erupting vents, black ice, trains clearing the tracks, dust whirlwinds, turning carousels and more. ⢠Two bosses in every chapter. Read the telegraph, dodge the slam, bring them down. MODES FOR SHORT AND LONG SESSIONS ⢠Classic: survive ten minutes. Quick: the same run in five. ⢠Endless: win, then choose your next Depth and keep going. ⢠Threat Levels 1ā10, then Custom Threat, for a harder climb. ⢠Weekly challenge: a new twist each week, and everyone plays the same kit. ⢠Boss Rush, Last Light, Custom Surge, featured challenges and 60 Expedition stages. PROGRESS THAT STICKS ⢠24 talents with 10 alternates, 7 Survivors to play as, and a Codex of every card you find. ⢠37 achievements and 4 leaderboards on Game Center. ⢠Daily missions and a login calendar that never resets. PLAY YOUR WAY ⢠Plays offline. No Wi-Fi needed to play a run. ⢠No energy or stamina timers. ⢠Close the app mid-run and pick up exactly where you left off. ⢠Left-handed controls, text size up to 200%, three color-blind presets, Reduce motion, sliders for screen shake and flashes, an Assist option, and controller support. Ads are optional rewarded videos, at most five a day, and they never play during a run. The shop sells hero looks, spell themes, gold packs, a milestone pass and early access to the side chapters. No loot boxes, no paid revives. Questions or ideas? Write to support@undeadsurge.com.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Doodlekeep at none against Undead Surge's shown. Undead Surge's advantage is update cadence (daily vs every 5 days). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Doodlekeep sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Undead Surge sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Doodlekeep ships an update every 5 days, Undead Surge daily. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.
| Parameter | Doodlekeep | Undead Surge |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days | Daily ā better |
| Ads | No ā better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod ā better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 ā better | 16.0 |
| Further details ā not scored | ||
| Size | 3.1 GB | 36 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Defender Outfitters | CODINGJET LLC |
In-app purchases
Doodlekeep
- Full Notebook$3.99
Undead Surge
- Tempest Spell Theme$1.99
- Glacier Spell Theme$1.99
- Gilded Frame$1.99
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- Cobalt Ranger$2.99
- Ember Ranger$2.99
- Nightfall Ranger$3.99
- All Side Chapters$4.99
- Wardrobe Bundle$5.99
- Instant Rewards$7.99
- Founder's Bundle$14.99









