XCOM vs NugSmasher®
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
XCOM
This digital companion app enhances a cooperative board game by managing the alien invasion. It tracks time, presents dynamic invasion plans, and adapts to player decisions, creating a challenging strategic experience to defend humanity.
- Manages alien invasion plans
- Tracks in-game time
- Dynamic turn structure
- Randomized invasion scenarios
- Supports cooperative play
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The XCOM digital companion app is a free tool designed for use with XCOM: The Board Game. In XCOM: The Board Game, you and up to three friends assume the roles of the leaders of the elite, international organization known as XCOM. It is your job to defend humanity, quell the rising panic, and turn back the escalating alien invasion coordinated by the game’s innovative, free digital companion app. Each round, the app tracks the time you have allotted to respond to each task, forcing you to think quickly, even as you must carefully measure the strategic implications of your decisions. However, the app does far more than track time. Its design is integrated deep into gameplay, and it permits both a mutable alien invasion plan and a dynamic turn structure. When you start a game of XCOM: The Board Game, the app randomly selects one of five different invasion plans. These plans represent the different, overarching strategies that the aliens might employ as they send forces against the earth’s different continents, create catastrophes, and target your base, pressing back against your resistance efforts. Destroy UFOs. Research alien technology. Defend your base. Uncover the alien invasion plan. Should you fail, humanity is doomed.
NugSmasher®
Log and manage your rosin press sessions directly from your phone. Access past sessions, share results with the community, and easily find strains by name, rating, or material type. This updated app offers improved design and functionality for a streamlined experience.
- Log press sessions
- Access past sessions
- Share press results
- Search strains by name
- Search by rating
- Search by material type
- Streamlined menu and navigation
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The NugSmasher app has been updated, we listened to your feedback and built this app from the ground up with significant improvements to the overall design and functionality of the app. Now, with our Terpfile feature, you can log your press sessions and access them on your phone. That means no more lost data or forgotten settings. Plus, you can share your press results with friends and other members of the NugSmasher community to get feedback and improve your technique. We've made it easier than ever to find what you're looking for with our streamlined menu and simple navigation. Plus, our new search feature lets you find strains by name, rating and material type.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: XCOM at 51% against NugSmasher®'s 20%. XCOM also leads on rating (3.7 vs 3.4). NugSmasher®'s advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
XCOM holds the better App Store score, 3.7 against 3.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 29 and 24 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 51% of XCOM's written reviews are positive against 20% of NugSmasher®'s.
XCOM ships an update every 2 months, NugSmasher® fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | XCOM | NugSmasher® |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.7 (29 ratings) — better | 3.4 (24 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 51.0% of reviews — better | 20.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 29 — better | 24 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 182 MB | 68 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Fantasy Flight Games | PMG COS. L.L.C. |
Customer experience
XCOM
NugSmasher®
In-app purchases
XCOM
No in-app purchases
NugSmasher®
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is XCOM free?
Is NugSmasher® free?
Which has better reviews, XCOM or NugSmasher®?
Do XCOM or NugSmasher® have ads?
Which is updated more often, XCOM or NugSmasher®?
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