Comparison

Hardboiled vs Star Traders

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

Head to head
About

Hardboiled

Embark on a turn-based RPG adventure in a post-apocalyptic world. Explore a desolate town, engage in strategic combat, and make choices that shape your character's destiny and the fate of survivors. Your decisions will determine whether you become a harbinger of justice or chaos.

Highlights
  • Explore desolate post-apocalyptic towns
  • Strategic turn-based combat
  • Atmospheric graphics and sound
  • Scavenge for weapons and loot
  • Dynamic reputation system
  • Robust skill point system
Read full description

In a world ravaged by the devastating aftermath of humanity's self-destruction, survival is the ultimate goal. The cataclysmic blast unleashed chaos, leaving only remnants of abandoned towns and cities engulfed in the aftermath of radiation and disease. Among the survivors is Max, determined to piece together the fragments of his shattered life. However, his journey takes an unexpected turn after a few stolen car parts set off a chain of events that tests his resolve. Embark on a gripping adventure as Max navigates treacherous landscapes, encountering desperate factions vying for control. As he searches for a new home, conflicts arise, forcing him to confront the delicate balance between justice and survival. Will he reclaim the stolen parts and forge his own path, helping those in need along the way? Or will he resort to ruthless tactics, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake? The choice is yours as Max embraces his role as a harbinger of justice. Features: • Explore a desolate and perilous town, teeming with mysteries and dangers at every turn. • Engage in strategic turn-based combat, utilizing your wits and tactics to outsmart adversaries. • Immerse yourself in atmospheric graphics and immersive sound design, capturing the bleak essence of a post-apocalyptic world. • Arm yourself with an arsenal of diverse weapons and scavenge for valuable loot to enhance your chances of survival. • Shape Max's destiny through a dynamic reputation system, allowing you to choose between acts of compassion or acts of ruthlessness. • Develop Max's skills and attributes through a robust skill point stat system, customizing his abilities to suit your playstyle. • Enjoy an uninterrupted gaming experience with no intrusive ads or in-app purchases. Dive into this gripping post-apocalyptic tale, where your decisions shape the course of Max's journey towards redemption or chaos. Will you navigate the remnants of humanity with empathy and compassion, or will you succumb to the darkness that lurks within? The future lies in your hands. Good luck and have fun!

About

Star Traders

Command your own starship and crew in a vast, procedurally generated open universe. Forge your path as a pirate, merchant, bounty hunter, or explorer, influencing factions and shaping your crew through your choices in this epic sci-fi RPG.

Highlights
  • Open universe exploration
  • Multiple captain careers (26 jobs)
  • Spaceship customization (350+ upgrades)
  • Crew assembly and talent management
  • Dynamic narrative and faction influence
  • Crew molding based on player choices
  • Varied difficulty options including permadeath
Features
Read full description

You are the captain of a starship venturing through a massive open universe. Customize your crew and take command at the helm of your very own ship as you explore a galaxy torn apart by internal strife, alien threats, and political intrigue. Command your ship and crew as a space pirate, merchant, bounty hunter, and more in Star Traders: Frontiers – an epic space RPG from Trese Brothers Games. Venture forth into a massive open universe, rich with adventure and the lore of the Star Traders. Choose your path by assembling and commanding your custom crew and spaceship in a constantly evolving galaxy torn by internal strife, political intrigue, and alien threats. Will you fly as a pirate terrorizing shipping lanes, join the solar wars as a military captain, or track targets across the stars as a fearsome bounty hunter? - Explore a rich, open universe: Discover endless procedurally-generated galactic maps, meet unique characters, and take on enemies to conquer the galaxy! - Become an intergalactic captain: Take on the role of a spy, smuggler, explorer, pirate, merchant, bounty hunter, and more (26 jobs total)! - Customize your own spaceship: Choose from more than 350 upgrades and 45 ship hulls to build your very own vessel to venture across the vast reaches of space. - Assemble and tailor a loyal crew: Assign talents and equip specialized gear for every spaceship crew member. - Experience an ever-changing narrative: Decide to make friends or foes with other factions and influence political, economic, and personal vendettas. - Mold the crew by your choices: As you make decisions and set the tone for your ship, your crew will grow and change to match. Destroy enemy ships with all hands on deck and your crew will become more bloodthirsty and savage. Explore distant worlds and loot dangerous wastelands and your crew will become intrepid and clever ... or scarred and half-mad. - Varied Difficulty Options! play with save slots to try out different builds or storylines or turn on character permadeath and enjoy classic roguelike experience - Achievement Unlocks: accomplish story and challenge goals to unlock additional optional (but not better) content like new starting ships and new starting contacts First there was the Exodus – when survivors of a great war left the ruins of the Galactic Core behind in search of a new home in the stars. Scattered worlds were claimed on the fringe of the galaxy. Each pocket of survivors held on to an isolated set of worlds while trying to rebuild under the great law of Shalun. Three centuries later, technology has brought them back together again. Discovery of the hyperwarp has bridged what was once an unimaginable distance between far-flung colonies, long-lost families, and political factions. With that reunification has come great economic prosperity. The hyperwarp reestablished the transportation of cargo, goods, and technologies between the quadrants – but it has also brought great strife. Political rivalries have been rekindled, blood has been shed in age-old feuds, and the fires of war have been stoked. Amidst the political infighting, a ruthless revolution is rising – and the fervent explorers of the hyperwarp have awoken something that was better left asleep. Our very first game, Star Traders RPG, took hundreds of thousands of gamers on an interstellar adventure. Star Traders’ success and overwhelmingly positive reception helped to launch Trese Brothers Games. It was the adventures of our community’s star-crossed captains that put us on a trajectory to share more of our worlds, ideas, and dreams. We set out to capture the loneliness, bravery, and camaraderie of people living together in a spaceship sailing across the stars. It is with great pride that after releasing four other games in the Star Traders universe, we’ve created a sequel to the original Star Traders RPG. Step onto the bridge of your starship, take to the stars, and create your own story in Star Traders: Frontiers.

Screenshots

Hardboiled4 screens
Star Traders4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Star Traders at 4.6 against Hardboiled's 4.1. Star Traders also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 30 months) and ratings volume (668 vs 46). Hardboiled's advantage is price ($1.99 vs $6.99). On review sentiment, ads, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Hardboiled costs $1.99 and Star Traders $6.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Star Traders holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Star Traders has 668 ratings behind it against 46, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 74% of Hardboiled's written reviews are positive against 73% of Star Traders's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hardboiled ships an update every 30 months, Star Traders every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 20, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Hardboiled versus Star Traders: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHardboiledStar Traders
Price$1.99 — better$6.99
Rating4.1 (46 ratings)4.6 (668 ratings) — better
Positive reviews74.4% of reviews — better73.1% of reviews
Number of ratings46668 — better
Update frequencyEvery 30 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#41 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better12.1
Further details — not scored
Size147 MB316 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperGame Dev TeamTrese Brothers

Customer experience

Hardboiled

All ratings46 ratings
Positive76.1%
Neutral4.3%
Negative19.6%
Written reviews82 reviews
Positive74.4%
Neutral9.8%
Negative15.9%

Star Traders

All ratings668 ratings
Positive88.8%
Neutral2.7%
Negative8.5%
Written reviews216 reviews
Positive73.1%
Neutral6.9%
Negative19.9%

User reviews

Hardboiled

From 46 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ✨ Fallout-like experience
  • 💰 Good value for price
  • ⚔️ Turn-based combat
  • 🗺️ Post-apocalyptic theme
  • 🎮 Simple and fun gameplay

Room to improve

  • ⏳ Too short/limited content
  • ❓ Vague quests/boring quests
  • 📉 Steep learning curve
  • 🤖 Unimaginative equipment
  • 😠 Frustrating combat difficulty

Star Traders

From 668 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🌟 Impressive depth and complexity
  • 🌍 Vast open-world with endless possibilities
  • 🔍 Engaging story and lore
  • 🤖 Diverse gameplay options (trading, exploration, combat, etc.)
  • 🕹️ Satisfying ship and crew management

Room to improve

  • 🤔 Steep learning curve, lacks clear tutorials
  • 🔍 Repetitive or tedious aspects in late game
  • 📱 UI/UX issues on smaller mobile devices
  • 🎲 Frustrating RNG elements and difficulty spikes
  • 🔒 Lack of cloud save functionality

Bugs and requests

Hardboiled

Reported bugs

14 issues
  • Combat locks you in
  • Enemies walk away out of range
  • Cannot save game
  • Loot disappears after death
  • Game crashes during combat
Show 9 more
  • Cannot install with Face ID
  • Raiders and guardians don't fight each other
  • Enemies follow player constantly when attacked
  • Cannot escape combat
  • Guardians don't protect
  • No save zones
  • Inventory system unintuitive
  • Last encounter is a weak boss
  • Spelling mistakes

Requested features

18 requests
  • More content/levels/chapters
  • Sequel with more features
  • Save/load feature
  • More in-depth character customization
  • Perks system
Show 13 more
  • Dialogue with NPCs
  • Larger world/more maps
  • Side quests
  • Co-op/multiplayer options
  • Tutorial
  • Player customization
  • More items and loot
  • Factions
  • Crafting system
  • Ability to run away from fights
  • GameCenter integration
  • Passive skills
  • Unique gear

Star Traders

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crew combat screen UI issues causing accidental input
  • Reputation/faction system bugs leading to unexpected outcomes
  • Crashes and freezes when navigating certain screens
  • Inconsistent behavior with ship component upgrades

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to customize ship colors and appearances
  • Option to command/control multiple ships as a fleet
  • More end-game content and progression systems
  • Improved UI scaling and optimization for larger screens
  • Cloud save/sync functionality across devices

In-app purchases

None

Hardboiled

No in-app purchases

None

Star Traders

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Hardboiled free?
Hardboiled costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Star Traders free?
Star Traders costs $6.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Hardboiled or Star Traders?
Star Traders is rated higher. Hardboiled averages 4.1 out of 5 from 46 ratings, while Star Traders averages 4.6 from 668 ratings.
Do Hardboiled or Star Traders have ads?
Neither Hardboiled nor Star Traders shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Hardboiled or Star Traders?
Hardboiled ships an update every 30 months, and Star Traders every 3 weeks. Most recently, Hardboiled was updated on September 20, 2026 and Star Traders on September 24, 2026.

Other comparisons