XenoShyft vs Caverna
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
XenoShyft
Defend your base from relentless alien waves in this cooperative deck-building strategy game. Coordinate with up to three other players to outfit your troops, plan your defenses, and survive nine rounds of intense combat.
- 1-4 player cooperative gameplay
- Deck-building mechanics
- Base defense strategy
- Strategic planning and coordination
- Inventive armor and weapon upgrades
- Beautifully illustrated universe
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The hit Kickstarter boardgame, now available on mobile! IMPORTANT: This app requires iPhone 5 or newer, iPad 3 or newer, iPad Mini or iPod Touch 5th generation or newer! Defend against waves of horrific aliens in this beautifully illustrated, base defense, deck-building game for 1 to 4 players! "One of the most fun co-op games I have played in a long time!" - Tom Vasel (The Dice Tower) "The enemies are just monstrous and difficult!" - Rodney Smith (Watch it Played) In XenoShyft Onslaught players take on the role of a commander in the NorTec Corporation. You're tasked with defending your division of the NorTec base as wave after wave of horrific aliens attempt to destroy the base and end NorTec's strip mining operation. Gameplay Features 1 - 4 players - Single player compatible, fully cooperative gameplay. Strong focus on coordination and strategic planning - to overcome the game's intense difficulty players will need to work together. Base-Defense with deck-building elements Incredible art - Illustrated by three amazing artists, XenoShyft features beautiful and consistent art. All of which creates one cohesive and frightening universe. Inventive and exciting armor and weapon upgrade cards - You'll need to outfit your troops with the best equipment if you hope to survive. Xenoshyft is a game for 1-4 players, with each player controlling one of the divisions of the Nortec military: The Science Labs, Med Bay, Armory, Weapon's Research, Barracks and Command Center. Each of these divisions represents one part of the overall Nortec base, and it is your job as Commander of these divisions to protect the base while its field operations are completed. You and your teammates will have to work together to survive the continuous onslaught of powerful alien threats and horrors – the goal of the mission is not to wipe out these threats, it is merely to outlast them! Survive through nine rounds of combat with these horrors and the base will have succeeded in its mission, and you and your allies will have survived to fight another day!
Caverna
Lead a dwarf tribe to expand their cavern home and cultivate the surrounding forest. Dig deeper for resources, furnish rooms to grow your tribe, and forge weapons for adventures. Cultivate fields, breed animals, and increase your wealth to become the strongest tribe leader.
- Dwarf tribe management
- Cavern expansion and furnishing
- Resource cultivation and mining
- Animal breeding and farming
- Weapon forging and adventures
- Worker action system
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Caverna by Uwe Rosenberg makes you the head of a dwarf tribe, living in a small cavern. You cultivate the forest in front of your cavern and dig deeper into the mountain throughout the game. By furnishing rooms in your caverns you make space to grow your tribe and and create new goods from your resources. Deeper into the mountain you will find fountains as well as ore and gem mines. It's on you to decide how much ore and gems you want to mine, giving you the opportunity to forge weapons and go on adventures; a new way to do things in the game instead of using actions with your workers. Outside your cavern you can clear the forest, cultivate fields, fence pastures and grow crops or breed animals. All this in order to increase your wealth and become the strongest and best tribe leader of them all!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Caverna at 4.1 against XenoShyft's 3.4. Caverna also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 6) and update cadence (every 6 days vs monthly). XenoShyft's advantage is price ($4.99 vs $11.99) and iOS requirement (7.0 vs 13.0). On ratings volume, ads 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
XenoShyft costs $4.99 and Caverna $11.99 up front. XenoShyft sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Caverna asks for nothing beyond the download.
Caverna holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 27 and 12 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 46% of XenoShyft's written reviews are positive against 61% of Caverna's.
XenoShyft ships an update monthly, Caverna every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | XenoShyft | Caverna |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 — better | $11.99 |
| Rating | 3.4 (27 ratings) | 4.1 (12 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 45.8% of reviews | 61.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 27 — better | 12 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 7.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 504 MB | 450 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Twin Sails Interactive | DIGIDICED |
Customer experience
XenoShyft
Caverna
In-app purchases
XenoShyft
- Grafting Lab$0.99
- Psychogenics Lab$0.99
- The Hive Expansion$0.99
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- NorTec Elite$1.99
- Forbidden Sciences$2.99
- Dreadmire$3.99
Caverna
No in-app purchases









