Comparison

XCOM vs FaB Life

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Manages alien invasion plans
  • Tracks in-game time
  • Dynamic turn structure
  • Randomized invasion scenarios
  • Supports cooperative play
Features
Read full description

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.

About

FaB Life

Track life totals, game timers, and resources for card games. Features include hero portraits for life resets, a history log, and solo mode for webcam play. Customize visuals and effects to your preference.

Highlights
  • Hero portraits for life resets
  • Game timer
  • History log
  • Solo mode
  • Resource tracker
  • Customizable settings
Features
Read full description

FEATURES: * Hero Portraits * Dice Rollers * Reset Life (using Hero Portraits to set a hero's abnormal max life. Kayo to 19, Kano to 15/30, etc) * Game Timer (50min vs 30min) * History Log - Review the life changes over the course of the game, just like you'd write it on paper! * One Game Memory - Remember the full history of your last game, and toggle between a new game state and your last game's ending state * Solo Mode - When each player tracks their own life, for webcam games, etc. Shows full character art! * Resource Tracker (Tunic, Runechants, Blood Debt, etc) for each player * Settings to optionally turn off most of these features, visuals, and effects * And more!

Screenshots

XCOM4 screens
FaB Life4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: FaB Life at 4.8 against XCOM's 3.7. FaB Life also leads on review sentiment (71% vs 51%). XCOM's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

FaB Life holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.7. 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 71% of FaB Life's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

XCOM ships an update every 2 months, FaB Life every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
XCOM versus FaB Life: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterXCOMFaB Life
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (29 ratings)4.8 (24 ratings) — better
Positive reviews51.0% of reviews71.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings29 — better24
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size182 MB125 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperFantasy Flight GamesTucker Campbell

Customer experience

XCOM

All ratings28 ratings
Positive64.3%
Neutral7.1%
Negative28.6%
Written reviews51 reviews
Positive51.0%
Neutral9.8%
Negative39.2%

FaB Life

All ratings23 ratings
Positive91.3%
Neutral4.3%
Negative4.3%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive71.4%
Neutral14.3%
Negative14.3%

In-app purchases

None

XCOM

No in-app purchases

None

FaB Life

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is XCOM free?
XCOM is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is FaB Life free?
FaB Life is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, XCOM or FaB Life?
FaB Life is rated higher. XCOM averages 3.7 out of 5 from 29 ratings, while FaB Life averages 4.8 from 24 ratings.
Do XCOM or FaB Life have ads?
Neither XCOM nor FaB Life shows ads.
Which is updated more often, XCOM or FaB Life?
XCOM ships an update every 2 months, and FaB Life every 3 months. Most recently, XCOM was updated on October 22, 2026 and FaB Life on October 24, 2026.

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