Hoplite vs Shotgun King
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Hoplite
Engage in challenging turn-based tactical combat on small maps. Strategize your moves carefully to overcome procedurally generated levels and unlock upgrades. Compete with friends on leaderboards and test your skills in daily challenges.
- Turn-based tactical movement
- Procedurally generated levels
- Quest mode with upgrades
- Challenge mode with daily challenges
- Leaderboard rankings
- Hard but fair gameplay
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"Blanket recommendation for this one." - Pocket Tactics (5 stars) "It's very simple to learn, but there's a huge amount of depth to the game" - Touch Arcade (5 stars) Hoplite is a turn-based strategy game focusing on tactical movement around small maps. This game is designed to be hard, yet fair. You'll need to think before you act if you hope to win. Every move counts! Quest Mode: • Make strategical choices to upgrade your abilities as you dive deeper into the underworld. • Earn achievements and unlock access to new upgrades. • Procedurally generated levels give a new experience every play. • Challenge your friends and see how you rank on the leaderboard. Challenge mode: • Jump straight into the action with a randomized set of upgrades. • Try to beat the daily challenge or play predetermined challenges at two difficulty levels.
Shotgun King
Experience a unique twist on chess where you command a king armed with a shotgun. Fight your way through enemy pieces, strategically reload, and upgrade your abilities to reclaim your kingdom. This roguelike chess adventure offers challenging gameplay and extensive replayability.
- Chess with a shotgun mechanic
- Roguelike progression with upgrades
- 15 difficulty ranks
- Unlockable cards
- Over 100 achievements
- Endless and chase modes
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Chess, but all your army has gone over to the white side, leaving you with nothing but your royal shotgun and your wounded pride. Carried by your dark folly, you decide it's time to teach those white pieces to fear the Shotgun King. Every turn, you may either move your king or shoot at enemy pieces, after what you'll need to move again to reload your shotgun. Avoid checkmate and kill the enemy king to complete the floor. After each floor, you may choose between two random combinations of one upgrade for you and one upgrade for the other side. Choose wisely and keep on winning floors and you just may get your kingdom back. Runs may take ~20 minutes to complete. The game features 15 ranks of difficulty, unlockable cards, over 100 achievements to complete, an endless mode, and now a chase mode where you get continually assailed from all sides!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Shotgun King at every 5 days against Hoplite's every 3 months. Hoplite's advantage is review sentiment (91% vs 66%) and price ($3.99 vs $6.99). On rating, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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
Hoplite costs $3.99 and Shotgun King $6.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Hoplite against 4.8 for Shotgun King. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 787 and 709 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 91% of Hoplite's written reviews are positive against 66% of Shotgun King's.
Hoplite ships an update every 3 months, Shotgun King every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Hoplite | Shotgun King |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 — better | $6.99 |
| Rating | 4.7 (787 ratings) | 4.8 (709 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 90.8% of reviews — better | 66.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 787 — better | 709 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #133 | #60 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 39 MB | 468 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Douglas Cowley | Plug In Digital |
Customer experience
Hoplite
Shotgun King
Bugs and requests
Hoplite
Reported bugs
2 issues- Crashes on launch with certain OS versions
- Agility upgrade not functioning properly
Requested features
4 requests- More game modes or levels
- Customization options for the character
- Landscape mode support
- Ability to start at higher levels
Shotgun King
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Hoplite
No in-app purchases
Shotgun King
No in-app purchases
