Comparison

Sorcery! 3 vs Cultist Simulator

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

Head to head
About

Sorcery! 3

Embark on an epic adventure through a cursed wilderness filled with monsters, traps, and magic. Explore freely, make thousands of choices that shape your story, and master new spells. This interactive fiction game offers a unique experience with dynamic time travel elements.

Highlights
  • Explore freely through a dynamic world
  • Alter the world with time beacons
  • Thousands of choices that shape your adventure
  • Thirty new enemies with unique strategies
  • Discover new spells and master magic
  • Play the game of bluff and deceit, Swindlestones
Features
Read full description

An epic adventure through a cursed wilderness of monsters, traps and magic. Begin your journey here! (Parts 1 and 2 not required.) *** Rock Paper Shotgun best RPG of 2016 *** "Sorcery! 3 is unlike anything you’ve ever played. Its mix of puzzle-solving, combat, and choose-your-own-adventure stylings have created a unique form of entertainment that I cannot wait to get back into" - Pocket Tactics, 5/5 "An amazing adventure... easily the biggest and most satisfying gamebook ever released on iOS" - TouchArcade, 5/5 "[One] of 2015’s best iPhone games", TIME magazine "This dragon-centric chapter of Sorcery! 3 does a fantastic job of keeping things dynamic and interesting, and better yet, its new puzzle-like aspect gives it the kind of magical, surprise-filled, combat-related fun fantasy fans live for." - Examiner.com, 5/5 "Sorcery! 3 demonstrates just how wonderful interactive fiction can be." - 148apps + Explore everywhere - move freely through the world, any way you want, creating your own unique story + New time beacons allow you to alter the world dynamically - travel through the present, or into the past, or mix the two + Thousands of choices - all are remembered, and shape your adventure + Thirty new enemies, including seven deadly serpents, each with their own strategies - and weaknesses + Adapted from the best-selling gamebook series by legendary game designer Steve Jackson + Swindlestones is back! The game of bluff and deceit is back, with new, smarter, opponents + New spells to discover and new magic to master + Five Gods, all with different quirks and powers + Start your adventure here, or load your characters and choices from Part 2 + New music from "80 Days" composer Laurence Chapman + Two new 3D hand-drawn maps to explore by Mike Schley "A seminal moment in interactive fiction" - Gamezebo "A vast and engaging third chapter that expands brilliantly on the first two" - PocketGamer (Gold award) The land of Kakhabad is a wilderness - a ruined desert, a tangled forest, cruel mountains and fissures, all guarded by seven fearsome serpents. But you must cross this land if you are to reach Mampang and the Crown of Kings. Rely on your wits or fight your way through - play with honour, or lie, cheat and steal - the choices are all yours. From the creators of TIME's Game of the Year 2014, "80 Days", comes the third instalment in the acclaimed Steve Jackson's Sorcery! series. An interactive story told through thousands of choices, all of which are remembered, where no two adventures are the same. Adapted and expanded from the million-selling gamebook series by legendary game designer Steve Jackson, co-founder of Lionhead Studios (with Peter Molyneux) and co-creator of Fighting Fantasy and Games Workshop (with Ian Livingstone). Using inkle's unique inklewriter technology, the story is written in real-time, built around your choices and actions. Praise for the Sorcery! series: * "I love this app... better than any gamebook ever was in your head when you were a kid" - 5/5, Interactive Fiction of the Year, Pocket Tactics * Top 20 Mobile Game of 2013, Touch Arcade * Top 25 Mobile Game of 2013 Gamezebo * Gold Award, Pocket Gamer * "Some of 2013's best interactive storytelling" - IGN * "inkle's adaptation of Sorcery! takes the genre to a whole new level" - Kotaku

About

Cultist Simulator

A challenging roguelike narrative card game where you play as a seeker of forbidden knowledge. Experiment with rituals, summon entities, and ascend to become a herald of a new age in a Lovecraftian 1920s setting.

Highlights
  • Challenging roguelike gameplay
  • Story-driven legacy system
  • Intense, immersive narrative
  • Choice-based storytelling
  • Lovecraftian world
  • Card combination mechanics
Read full description

SEIZE FORBIDDEN TREASURES. SUMMON ALIEN GODS. FEED ON YOUR DISCIPLES. BE WARNED. This game has no tutorial - part of the challenge is figuring out how to play. It's hard, but keep trying, and you'll master it. Good luck! In this infamous roguelike narrative card game, play as a seeker after unholy mysteries in a 1920s-themed setting of hidden gods and secret histories. Become a scholar of the unseen arts. Craft tools and summon spirits. Indoctrinate innocents. Seize your place as the herald of a new age. Cultist Simulator was first released on PC and has more than 200,000 players all over the world. Now we’re bringing the cosmic mysteries of Cultist Simulator to mobile. • Challenging roguelike gameplay - There is never only one history. Cultist Simulator doesn’t hold your hand. Experiment, expire and transcend death with a story-driven legacy system. Over time you’ll learn enough to wrestle the game to its knees. • Intense, immersive narrative – Combine cards to tell your own story. A hefty novel’s worth of choice-based storytelling, from the creator of Fallen London and Sunless Sea. There are many paths through this game of ambition, appetite and abomination, and many ways your tale can end. • A rich Lovecraftian world – Corrupt your friends and consume your enemies. Search your dreams for sanity-twisting rituals. Translate grimoires and glean their lore. Penetrate the realm of the Hours and win a place in their service. Cultist Simulator brings the peripheral horror of Lovecraft’s tales to an entirely new setting. Expand your knowledge with the DLCs: New Legacies, New Ascensions, New Mechanics... • The Dancer - Join the Bacchanal • The Priest - Knock, and Ye Shall Be Opened • The Ghoul - Taste of the graveyard's fruit • The Exile - Some there are who will not yield If you encounter any issue with the game, please click on “Contact us” at the bottom of this page and give us as many details as possible regarding the issue and your device: https://playdigious.helpshift.com/hc/en/11-cultist-simulator/?p=ios

Screenshots

Sorcery! 34 screens
Cultist Simulator4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Sorcery! 3 at none against Cultist Simulator's 5. Sorcery! 3 also leads on price ($4.99 vs $6.99) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.0). Cultist Simulator's advantage is ratings volume (4.3K vs 77) and chart position (#27 vs unranked). On rating, review sentiment, 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

Sorcery! 3 costs $4.99 and Cultist Simulator $6.99 up front. Cultist Simulator sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Sorcery! 3 asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Sorcery! 3 against 4.8 for Cultist Simulator. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Cultist Simulator has 4.3K ratings behind it against 77, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 76% of Sorcery! 3's written reviews are positive against 73% of Cultist Simulator's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sorcery! 3 ships an update every 5 weeks, Cultist Simulator every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Sorcery! 3 versus Cultist Simulator: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSorcery! 3Cultist Simulator
Price$4.99 — better$6.99
Rating4.7 (77 ratings)4.8 (4.3K ratings) — better
Positive reviews75.9% of reviews — better72.7% of reviews
Number of ratings774.3K — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank—#27 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size321 MB331 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperinklePlaydigious

Customer experience

Sorcery! 3

All ratings77 ratings
Positive90.9%
Neutral1.3%
Negative7.8%
Written reviews158 reviews
Positive75.9%
Neutral7.0%
Negative17.1%

Cultist Simulator

All ratings4,221 ratings
Positive95.9%
Neutral1.6%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews370 reviews
Positive72.7%
Neutral9.5%
Negative17.8%

User reviews

Sorcery! 3

From 77 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Outstanding game
  • 👍 Unique and well-made series
  • 👍 Captivating and engaging story
  • 👍 Immersive and thought-provoking
  • 👍 Memorable characters and lore

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
  • 🔋 High battery consumption
  • 🤔 Frustrating moments due to randomness
  • 🤔 Lack of clear direction at times
  • 🤔 Monotonous exploration in later stages

Cultist Simulator

From 4.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🤯 Fascinating and mysterious
  • 🎨 Beautiful atmosphere and writing
  • 🕰️ Compelling time management gameplay
  • 🕵️ Rewarding sense of discovery
  • 💡 Unique and innovative concept

Room to improve

  • 🤯 Steep learning curve with no tutorial
  • 🕰️ Intense time pressure and resource management
  • 🧠 Confusing mechanics and unclear objectives
  • 🧭 Frustrating lack of progress and repeated failures
  • 🔍 Difficult to keep track of cards and game state

Bugs and requests

Sorcery! 3

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Bugs with certain encounters and items
  • Crashes on older devices
  • Issues with accessing certain areas

Requested features

3 requests
  • Additional game modes or variants
  • Improved navigation and UI
  • Ability to save the fractured world

Cultist Simulator

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Occasional crashes and save file issues
  • Disappearing cards and UI elements
  • Inability to access certain features like the club

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add tutorial or in-game hints
  • Provide more accessibility options for text size
  • Implement save/load system to avoid losing progress
  • Add DLC content like the Dancer storyline
  • Improve card organization and UI layout

In-app purchases

None

Sorcery! 3

No in-app purchases

5 purchases

Cultist Simulator

One-time5
  • The Dancer$1.99
  • The Priest$1.99
  • The Ghoul$1.99
Show 2 more
  • The Exile$4.99
  • Forbidden Bundle$6.99

Questions

Is Sorcery! 3 free?
Sorcery! 3 costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Cultist Simulator free?
Cultist Simulator costs $6.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Sorcery! 3 or Cultist Simulator?
Cultist Simulator is rated higher. Sorcery! 3 averages 4.7 out of 5 from 77 ratings, while Cultist Simulator averages 4.8 from 4.3K ratings.
Do Sorcery! 3 or Cultist Simulator have ads?
Neither Sorcery! 3 nor Cultist Simulator shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sorcery! 3 or Cultist Simulator?
Sorcery! 3 ships an update every 5 weeks, and Cultist Simulator every 2 months. Most recently, Sorcery! 3 was updated on October 24, 2026 and Cultist Simulator on October 25, 2026.

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