Burn(t) vs Diabolical
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Burn(t)
Experience a gripping zombie apocalypse narrative where your choices shape the story. Decide who to save, who to trust, and whether to form alliances or resort to murder. Every decision has consequences, and survival depends on your choices.
- Interactive novel
- Zombie apocalypse setting
- Branching narrative
- Choice-driven gameplay
- Multiple endings
- Moral dilemmas
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What if you had to survive in a zombie apocalypse? In this riveting interactive novel, you make the story. Save your parents? Or let them die… Alliances or murder? Its your choice, choose carefully or it’ll be your last.
Diabolical
Become the ultimate criminal mastermind in this text-based interactive novel. Make choices to build an evil empire, hire minions, and achieve world domination, or destruction. Explore different villain archetypes and romance options.
- Choose your villainous path
- Hire and manage minions
- Make impactful story choices
- Develop your evil empire
- Explore romance options
- Achieve world domination or destruction
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Start practicing your evil laugh! As the world's greatest criminal mastermind, choose a lair, hire a minion, and steal the world's largest ball of aluminum foil! (Or, destroy the world. FINE.) "Diabolical" is a 130,000-word interactive novel by Nick Aires, where your choices control the story. It's entirely text-based--without graphics or sound effects--and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination. Famous, feared, or filthy rich—why not all three? You've got the money and the motives to build an evil empire worthy of the most ruthless villain the world has ever seen. Crush the good guys and terrorize the populace! Stamp a big red "FAIL" on your enemies' foreheads! Plunder your way to world domination – or sit back and pet your kitty while your henchmen do it for you. Will you be a high-tech daredevil, a ruthless military soldier, or an apparition terrifying to behold? What calling card will you leave at the scene of your crimes? Whatever your choices, the results will be diabolical. • Play a villainous story of scheming, grandstanding, and laughing evilly. • Interview and hire the best possible (or best available) minion. • Decide when to use trickery, when to use force, and when to hide behind henchmen. • Choose the ultimate, guaranteed-to-be-infamous nickname. • Play as male or female, with straight, gay, and bisexual romance options. • Destroy the world!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Diabolical at 77% against Burn(t)'s 22%. Diabolical also leads on rating (4.1 vs 2.4). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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. Burn(t) sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Diabolical sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Diabolical holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 2.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 24 and 45 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 22% of Burn(t)'s written reviews are positive against 77% of Diabolical's.
Burn(t) ships an update every 12 months, Diabolical every 13 months. Both last shipped on October 20, 2026.
| Parameter | Burn(t) | Diabolical |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.4 (24 ratings) | 4.1 (45 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 22.4% of reviews | 77.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 24 | 45 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 12 months — better | Every 13 months |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 27 MB | 30 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Hosted Games LLC | Choice of Games LLC |
Customer experience
Burn(t)
Diabolical
User reviews
Burn(t)
From 24 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Interesting story concept
- 👍 Engaging characters (initially)
- 👍 Can be entertaining
- 👍 Good for reading practice
- 👍 Worth the upgrade (paid version)
Room to improve
- 😞 Story doesn't make sense
- 😞 Punishing choices
- 😞 Repetitive writing
- 😞 Poorly written
- 😞 Too short
Diabolical
From 45 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 😂 Hilarious humor and funny choices
- ✍️ Brilliant and well-written story
- 😈 Great concept of playing as a villain
- 💡 Interesting premise and unique gameplay
- 💯 Highly enjoyable and engaging experience
Room to improve
- 💰 Expensive for content
- 🤏 Limited choices affecting story
- ⏳ Story feels short
- 🤔 Choices feel pointless
- 💸 Overpriced
Bugs and requests
Burn(t)
Reported bugs
1 issue- Some responses redirect to incorrect pages
Requested features
11 requests- More drama
- More games like this
- More stories, endings, choices
- Rewrite the story
- Choices should influence plot
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- Make it longer
- More chapters please
- Needs more storyline
- More options without dying
- Continue the story
- More polished game
Diabolical
Reported bugs
1 issue- Bug fix???
Requested features
14 requests- Sequel needed
- More like this game
- Werewolf story
- More choices that affect story
- Choice of alien game
Show 9 moreShow fewer
- More vs hero interaction
- Longer battles
- More villain POV things
- Improved sequel
- More customization (lairs, sidekicks, stats)
- More interactive than other gamebooks
- More improvements to character development
- More content like this
- More interactive releases
In-app purchases
Burn(t)
- Restart the Game Once$0.99
- Remove Advertising$4.99
Diabolical
- Chapters 3 through 12$4.99
