# Frozen Synapse - GameClub — user reviews > 185 indexed App Store user reviews of Frozen Synapse by GameClub, rated 4.20/5 from 73 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/frozen-synapse-gameclub/id634991828/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/frozen-synapse-gameclub/id634991828.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 53 · 4★ 7 · 3★ 1 · 2★ 2 · 1★ 10 ## What do users think of Frozen Synapse? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 🚀 Excellent tactical gameplay - 🎨 Unique cyberpunk aesthetic - 🎶 Great soundtrack - 💻 Cross-platform play with PC - 🎮 Challenging and rewarding strategy **Cons** - 🤔 Steep learning curve - 🤖 Frustrating AI behavior - 🔍 Lack of interactive tutorial - 💰 Expensive for a mobile game - 🔌 High battery consumption **Commonly reported bugs** - Crashes on startup - Invisible/unresponsive UI elements - Sync issues with campaign progress **Most requested features** - Difficulty settings - More customization options - Improved tutorial and onboarding - Notifications for turn-based multiplayer - Support for larger team sizes ## Newest reviews (12 of 185) ### 4/5 — Too bad you have to have a monthly subscription *2023-12-12* I bought this game on steam when it first released there many years ago on my PC. Since then I no longer have a pc and was thrilled to be able to buy it on iOS, but the thrill was quickly erased when I found out that you have to have a monthly subscription to play it, and you can’t just pay once to get it. You play turn by turn as you try to kill targets, rescue ppl, reach goals etc, but you only see what the units see as they see it. So it’s kinda like a turn based FPS. With different weapons and equipment (if I remember correctly), and people, to customize as you progress. If memory serves me correctly the soundtrack is pretty decent too for the game. If you like good thinking and precise action strategy type games you will love it, as long as you also like a little parasite(aka subscription) eating slowly away at your money. It’s a shame too, cuz this was a great game I wouldn’t have even thought twice about having to buy it again for my phone after already buying it on my old pc. I don’t get why they can’t have a subscription to their library of all their games for ppl who want to do that, but also have an option for ppl who want to just buy individual games and pay once for each game, oh well, their loss. ### 3/5 — Please FIx the RED campaign CRASH *2023-07-15* Every time I select red campaign now the game immediately crashes on the iPad 2017. Can you please fix this it’s been months. Unplayable. ### 2/5 — Won’t work; IN GAME Action menu; dragged down *2020-07-06* The game won’t let me use the action buttons at the bottom of the screen; it seems the menu for the actions in game is dragged down, not letting me access the PRIME, action; I can press delete; but I can barely see the button. I am using an iPhone se Please fix this; will improve stars . **Developer response:** Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention — we'll take a closer look at the layout on the iPhone SE and investigate. We're on the case! ### 4/5 — good game, plz update icon *2016-08-13, version 1.2.2* a little complicate to play, strategic good game . but the icon on ipad is horrible, plz update to retina icon, ok? ### 4/5 — Great *2015-05-31, version 1.2.2* Challenging, deep and addicting. Thanks for porting the full game. Edit: I was really enjoying it until I learnt how unfair the single player medal system is. On some levels it seems impossible to get gold, taking away some of the replay value. ### 4/5 — Amazing *2015-04-07* Frozen synapse is an amazing and well thought out game, and the complex strategy never gets old. The only thing stopping me from giving this game 5 stars is the apparent absence an ability to change modes in skirmish and the lack of a level editor. While this normally wouldn't be a large deal, it does mention those things in the help section, which really isn't very helpful. That having been said, the rest of the game, from its incredibly well crafted and thought out plot to it's complex and addictive gameplay is worth the 13 dollars that it costs ### 4/5 — amazing!! *2015-02-20, version 1.2.2* awesome! My favorite strategy app hands down! Only problem is that it makes a huge no-no for an ios app: I can't listen to spotify or anything else while playing! My ADD cant handle only doing one thing at a time, cmon guys! =D ### 4/5 — Great but could be better *2014-07-19* Overall this is a great strategy game that I can easily spend countless hours on in one sitting. I personally enjoy the hotseat feature where I can play with my friends or even by myself to test out different strategies. My only concern is that you should allow the hotseat mode's advanced setup to use seeds to generate previous maps that I tweaked in the skirmish generator or allow the skirmish generator mode to allow hotseat playability. (Also you guys should take off the 5v5 limit on the skirmish generator because I loaded a hotseat match before with about 12 men on each side and it played smoothly with no lag. I don't know if this is the same case for other devices (I have the Ipad 3) but it would be a nice feature to add) ### 5/5 — Amazing! *2014-07-18, version 1.2* This game is great, I don't get how some people don't know what some buttons are for because there are tutorials for you to watch! ### 5/5 — And I never write reviews *2014-07-18, version 1.2.1* Seriously, I never write reviews.. This game is amazing! Tactical, turn based strategy. I didn't find the learning curve difficult after diving in. I would recommend this to ANYONE who loves games that need some thought. Love it. ### 3/5 — Hard game. *2014-07-17, version 1.1* I find this game is too hard and the controls are very complex, not even to mention that the tutorials are videos. I need a hands-on way to learn how to fully enjoy this game. But the graphics and physics are really good! ### 5/5 — Unique, tactical fun *2014-06-15, version 1.2.1* I enjoyed the storyline/scenarios. I liked that I can play at my own pace, I'm able to shape my own tactical responses and if I decide to leave the game I can come back to decide the next action. I would encourage more to try this out ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Please FIx the RED campaign CRASH *2023-10-03* Every time I select red campaign now the game immediately crashes on the iPad 2017. Can you please fix this it’s been months. Unplayable. Update Oct 2023 After a year the red campaign is still unplayable. They refuse to respond to emails. No reply. Game club is a scam. Ps I paid full price for this game before game club bought it and ruined it. ### 1/5 — Utter shame *2021-02-17, version 1.2.19* Complete and utter shame I have to pay £5 a month to play my favourite game. I own this on PC and I wanted to see if I could play it on the go. Turns out I can, except I’d have to pay monthly for the ability to do so. I have no interest in the other games and find it insulting that I cannot pay for this game outright. Surely the option to buy the games you like (ala gamepass) is more profitable? I guess not. ### 1/5 — Kind of scummy.. *2020-06-04* I’ve already bought this game years ago and now I have to pay a subscription to play it? Never seen this before ... **Developer response:** Everyone who bought this game prior to this update will continue to have full access to the game without starting a subscription. It sounds like this free upgrade benefit did not work for you — please write us at support@gameclub.io to get it straightened out. ### 1/5 — No tutorial *2016-02-18, version 1.2.2* Making a few levels to teach basics of the game isn't that hard. ### 1/5 — 👎🏻 *2015-05-17, version 1.2.2* I played for 30 minutes trying to understand... No way... ### 1/5 — Difficult *2015-01-11, version 1.2.2* This game looks great and very high quality but I have no idea and there's no tutorial! I can't do anything because I have no idea what to do. Please fix and I'll bring the rating up ### 1/5 — At a loss for words *2014-10-29, version 1.2.2* I can get by without a decent tutorial. Just tell me what the buttons do. That's it. But this crap game cannot even do that. ### 1/5 — Awful *2014-07-16, version 1.2.1* The controls are the worst port I've ever seen! All the reviews saying that it is good have to be bots ### 1/5 — Worst purchase I have made so far *2014-04-19, version 1.2* Games like this are why the AppStore needs a refund policy. ### 1/5 — Patience and smarts required *2014-03-16, version 1.1* I could never quite get there with this game. I can see how it could be enjoyable and the game is well made. However, the tutorials are bad and not helpful to the novice strategy player such as myself. I wanted to enjoy this, but simply cannot. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Like this game *2023-03-16* The best strategy game I have ever seen. But also the hardest game , really enjoy the process of thinking ### 5/5 — Frozen Synapse *2022-01-20, version 1.2.20* Fantastically tactical. PROS: Simple user interface. Graphical representation is spot on, the game is about urban combat tactics, not eye candy, SO refreshing. Physics is accurate enough to give a sense of reality. Challenging AI. Unlimited replay ability with random map generation. CONS: Inability to traverse windows. No pistol weapons. No hand grenades. (Grenade launcher weapon only) No wounds. REALLY enjoy this game, plays very well on my iPad Pro. ### 5/5 — Please add support to iOS11 *2017-09-25* Please add support to iOS 11 - this is my whole time favorite iPad game. Or would you at least let us know if the fix wil come, thanks! ### 5/5 — A masterpiece *2015-09-07, version 1.2.2* One of the finest tactical games in history, on a device perfect for it. Truly a five-star game that should be in any strategy gamer's collection. ### 5/5 — Read For Information *2015-07-01, version 1.2.2* People need to stop whining and exaggerating that this is so hard I can't even kill one red guy.. The game comes with tutorial videos that are helpful to others.. I'm 12 and had a victory the first match, I saw the tutorials and understood the point of the game, make wise decisions and plans. Recommend this to strategic gamers or people that like these types of games, oh and BTW it does involve shooting if you didn't know ### 5/5 — Tactically Challenging *2015-06-13, version 1.2.2* A stunningly beautiful must-have simulation! Plain and simple. Haunting soundtrack too. ### 5/5 — Über *2015-05-18, version 1.2.2* Über fun, über intense, über addicting! If you like top down strategic shooter games, this is the right game for YOU! ### 5/5 — Awesome game...however... *2014-11-17, version 1.2.2* It does need an interactive tutorial. The game can be overwhelming to begin with. Worth persevering though, so much depth... ### 5/5 — A unique game *2014-11-08, version 1.2.2* I have been searching for a game like this for a long time, and am glad to have found it. This game brings to mind a SWAT team. Clear out rooms, take out high value targets, and escort VIPs - this game has everything you'd want in a tactical top-down game. ### 5/5 — BRILLIANT *2014-11-04, version 1.2.2* Maybe the best strategy game and one of the best overall games on the App Store! The online components that make up the multiplayer matchmaking/lobby/menu--along with handling both synchronous and asynchronous gameplay in a unique manner to iOS-- make this a fantastic experience. The single-player is challenging and fun with plenty of levels and custom skirmishes, etc... The tactics, depth and strategy are top notch...HIGHLY RECOMMEND!! --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-06-10.*