A Dark Room vs zDungeon
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
A Dark Room
Awaken in a mysterious world with a throbbing head and blurry vision. Follow the voices' instructions to survive and explore this text-based adventure. Experience a game free from ads, loot boxes, in-app purchases, and tracking, fully playable with VoiceOver.
- Text-based adventure
- Survival mechanics
- Exploration
- Resource management
- VoiceOver compatible
- No ads or IAP
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awake. head throbbing. vision blurry. the voices say to survive. - One of Apple's most downloaded apps of 2014. - Ranked in the top 10 games in 70 countries, #1 app overall in 7 countries. - No ads, no loot boxes, no IAP, no tracking. - 100% playable via VoiceOver. - Relive the glory days of gaming from the era of Zork.
zDungeon
Explore a cave using text commands to find hidden treasure. Discover items, avoid monsters, and solve puzzles to progress. Enjoy simple graphics and offline play.
- Text-based navigation
- Item discovery
- Monster encounters
- Puzzle solving
- Offline play
- In-app purchases
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You're in a cave and you only have a description of your immediate surroundings. You must navigate the cave in search of a treasure. On your adventure you will find items to help you make it to the treasure. Beware of monsters that you encounter as they are not friendly. Use your surroundings with text input. ("open chest", "pickup sword") Not all of the commands are given to you. Find out which commands are available and which commands will help you reach the treasure. Movement can be entered with text input or, for ease, you may use the navigation buttons. Wildly simple graphics. - Playable without wifi - In-App Purchases
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: zDungeon at Free against A Dark Room's $1.99. zDungeon also leads on iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.0). A Dark Room's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 3.7) and in-app purchases (none vs 2). On review sentiment, 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
zDungeon is free to download; A Dark Room costs $1.99 up front. zDungeon sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. A Dark Room asks for nothing beyond the download.
A Dark Room holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: A Dark Room has 2.7K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 93% of A Dark Room's written reviews are positive against 100% of zDungeon's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
A Dark Room ships an update every 2 months, zDungeon every 10 months. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | A Dark Room | zDungeon |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (2.7K ratings) — better | 3.7 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 92.7% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2.7K — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 10 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #31 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 103 MB | 10 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Amirali Rajan | Anthony Fennell |
Customer experience
A Dark Room
zDungeon
In-app purchases
A Dark Room
No in-app purchases
zDungeon
- Map Expansion 1$0.99
- Coffee for Antonioni$2.99
