# Spaceward Ho! — user reviews

> 130 indexed App Store user reviews of Spaceward Ho! by Ariton, rated 4.60/5 from 95 ratings.

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/spaceward-ho/id510527152/reviews
- App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/spaceward-ho/id510527152.md
- Rating breakdown: 5★ 78 · 4★ 6 · 3★ 4 · 2★ 4 · 1★ 3

## What do users think of Spaceward Ho!?

Overall sentiment: positive

**Pros**

- ⏰ Timeless gameplay still engaging after 30+ years
- 📱 Works well on modern iOS devices despite age
- 🎮 Faithful port of classic Mac game
- 🎯 Simple yet deep strategy mechanics
- 😄 Includes original sound effects and Easter eggs
- 🧠 Challenging AI opponents at various difficulty levels
- ⚡ Smooth touchscreen controls feel natural
- 🎨 Retro graphics maintain nostalgic charm
- 🔄 Highly replayable with configurable galaxy options
- 💰 No pay-to-win mechanics or hidden fees

**Cons**

- 🐛 Occasional crashes and stability issues
- 📐 UI feels clunky and dated
- 🔍 Small icons and buttons difficult to tap accurately
- 📊 Missing comparison graphs from original version
- 🎯 Planet icons remain too large when zoomed out
- 🖱️ Slider controls imprecise and hard to adjust
- 📱 Poor experience on iPhone due to screen size
- 🔊 Cannot mute splash screen audio
- ⚠️ Lacks comprehensive tutorial for new players
- 🎮 Battle scenes display issues and off-screen ships

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Game crashes when ending turn while winning
- Crashes on iOS 14+ due to security checks
- Audio issues on Mac with Apple Silicon
- Dreadnoughts disappear when mixed with tankers in delayed fleets
- Some planets get stuck and won't terraform or mine
- Double-tap battle recap feature removed in update
- Leaderboard and achievements not updating
- Game runs slowly on older devices
- Planets get stuck unable to move ships
- Interface elements scale incorrectly when zoomed out
- Text overlays prevent clicking through to planets

**Most requested features**

- Multiplayer support (most frequently requested)
- WiFi/Bluetooth multiplayer with friends
- Game Center integration for multiplayer
- Save/load game functionality for save-scumming
- Ability to rename planets and ships
- Improved UI with modern design
- Mac desktop version with flexible layout
- Better fleet management interface
- Leaderboard and achievement updates
- Ability to measure distance between planets
- Individual ship naming for fleets
- Adjustable mining vs terraforming levels
- Pop-up magnifier for precise slider control
- Comparison graphs for player statistics
- Tap-and-hold menu controls instead of button clicks

## Newest reviews (15 of 130)

### 3/5 — Fond Memories

*2026-03-02, version 1.2.9*

I remember playing this on my Mac Classic back in the 90s, and was thrilled to see it rebooted for iOS. Clever, minimalist graphics, and a subtle sense of humor make this a charming strategy game.
Unfortunately, AI wasn’t really a thing in the 90s, and it still isn’t with this app: As with many games of the era, such as Civilization II, the challenge doesn’t come from facing an clever opponent, but rather one who controls the board. Beyond a skill level of 53 or so, the game just plain cheats: It knows exactly how many ships you have, where they are, and what strength. By fiddling with a tool that allows one to save and replay a game (something not actually allowed for in the game), I was able to determine that it will actually shift defenses from one planet to another AFTER the battle has started. So it’s basically impossible to beat beyond level ~53. 
Still, three stars for clever visuals and some nice nostalgia. It would be interesting to see what competent programmers could do with this code base, and add in true AI tools instead of being lazy and cheating. Maybe someday.

### 4/5 — Great game but if on Mac w/ Apple Silicon audio problem

*2024-08-05*

This is an amazing classic game. thankfully brough back to life some years ago.  now, needs and update to properly work on macs.

thanks for keeping this game alive. cheers.

### 4/5 — So Much Fun, But Multiplayer?

*2022-07-07*

I would rate this 5 stars for the sheer enjoyment of the strategy against various AI levels and endless galaxy combinations, but one of the joys of Spaceward Ho! from the 90s was the ability to play against friends. I know there hasn’t been a development update in years, but allowing us to play against friends - even if it was through Bluetooth only would be a huge plus (preferable would be through WiFi). It would definitely earn 5 stars with that feature update.

### 5/5 — Great strategy game...

*2021-04-21*

Now finally working in the latest iOS.

### 4/5 — Abandoned!

*2021-04-09*

This is most of what I loved from the Delta Tao game we had back in the 1990s. I’ve had a blast playing it on my iPad hundreds of times.

Alas, it appears to be abandoned. The game crashes outright on iOS 14 due to new security checks, and the listed support page for Ariton Software is gone.  I am sad to see this end, and I’d love to see it updated again, but I’m not holding out much hope.

### 5/5 — Still fun after 30 years!

*2020-11-22*

I first started playing this game on my Macintosh SE/LC II back in the early 90’s and it’s still enjoyable. A classic!  Now if I could only find Sky Shadow for iOS I’d be all set.

### 5/5 — Great retro classic game

*2020-07-31, version 1.2.9*

Fun to watch the autoplay mode.

Fun way to fill some time in😃👽👾🤠👨🏻‍🚀👨‍💻🛸🚀🛰🌌📡🔭

### 4/5 — Love the game.

*2020-06-01, version 1.2.9*

Would like to see some new content tho.

### 4/5 — Great game. Needs Multiplayer

*2019-06-15*

Loved playing this in college and now my kids are hooked too. Would love to play others with Multiplayer but I can’t figure out how to add Friends since the Game Center was discontinued. Do we need an update to reenable Multiplayer?

### 5/5 — It’s great now

*2019-06-05, version 1.2.9*

This classic Mac game was ported poorly to iOS at first but now it rocks. All the fun is back.

### 5/5 — So glad to find this!

*2019-06-02*

I played this in the mid 90s and for years after. I was sad when it was no longer playable on newer versions of windows. But then I happened to find it here and now it’s my go to game.
Thank you for bringing back a classic.

### 5/5 — Loved it as a kid, love it still!

*2018-11-12*

I’m the only person as far as I know who bought this game on *three* platforms: original MacOS, OSX universal binary, and now, iOS. Worth every penny. And the iOS version is a spectacular port. Mind you, I play on an iPhone se, and I have believe even without the benefit of experience that the iPad experience is exponentially better still. 
An App Store review may not be the best forum for questions, but I do have three of them. 
1) just out of curiosity did you guys port version 4 or 5?
2) how do I set up an internet or WiFi multiplayer without going through Game Center?
3) is there a way to set up a game with AIs of multiple different skill levels or starting world qualities?

### 5/5 — Great to play, tough to beat

*2018-08-29*

I've been playing this game since the original Mac version. It's still tough to beat. It's got decades of gameplay, literally.

### 5/5 — Awesome Game

*2018-07-13, version 1.2.9*

Great game and no extra fee’s to play

### 2/5 — Keeps crashing when I start winning

*2018-06-30*

Every few games when I start winning the game, the "end turn" button makes the game crash.  When it happens on four new games in a row it makes me suspect more to it than a mere bug.

## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated)

### 1/5 — bugué et mal adapté

*2022-11-19*

tout est dans le titre, et pas mis à jour depuis 5 ans

### 1/5 — Fuel?

*2020-07-10, version 1.2.9*

I’ve been playing this game since I had my old Mac Plus.

Now there’s fuel?

I can’t play this.  Wasted money.

### 1/5 — Disappointing

*2015-05-09, version 1.2.5*

Looks good, but manual doesn't tell you how to play. And no more info available at the website. How do you refuel scout ships?

### 1/5 — No multiplayer!

*2013-12-08, version 1.2.5*

Wish i would have known before i bought it. Waste of money without multiplayer.

### 1/5 — Horrible

*2013-02-18, version 1.1.1*

Horrible graphics, the tutorial is so bad I never found out how to do anything Other than buy ships.

### 1/5 — Very buggy

*2013-02-10, version 1.1.1*

I loved this game when it was out on the Macintosh platform. This version though does not work well. As some have said the interface is clunky at best. I think it would be better on an iPad but alas I am stuck playing this on my iPhone. 
The worst part is that it crashes all the time. I don't know what happened since the Palm version but that one worked so well and I never had a complaint about the interface. At the very least the crashes MUST be fixed and if the developer can be given an old Treo with Spaceward Ho on it then they can use that as the basis for the interface.

### 1/5 — Latest update ruined good game

*2012-12-17, version 1.1*

The interface changes made in the most recent update have made this game unplayable. Actions that previously took one or two taps now take several additional taps - this adds up when a typical game might require hundreds or even a thousand+ actions. And there is now *less* information/options available in some of the menus than there was previously!

I have been playing Spaceward Ho since the original app on the Mac, and am currently the second highest-ranked player on Gamecenter, but the game is now too frustrating and unstable to play. Achievements and rating from the app also do not work. I do not understand why these aribitrary and less-than-useful changes to the interface were made instead of bringing back multiplayer mode.

### 2/5 — Bad ui

*2025-04-26, version 1.2.9*

Hard use with small icons. Would not recommend

### 2/5 — interesting game, mediocre implementation

*2022-10-29*

Many very visible bugs, no update since 5 years, don't spend your money here...

### 2/5 — Not great on iPhone

*2020-08-26*

I loved this game when I was younger but the experience and playability on iPhone is only a few notches above terrible. Granted the UI is limited by the amount of screen space, but this could’ve been done much better.  I expected MUCH more for the money.

## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated)

### 5/5 — Still kicking after all these years

*2025-11-02*

This app hasn’t been updated in nearly a decade, but it still runs nearly perfectly on a modern iPad, and even on a Mac. It handles being resized just fine, although in a perfect world it would return to the Mac (the proper Mac version is PPC only so hasn’t been usable in decades) with a more flexible layout designed for a bigger screen.

The game plays exactly like I loved it back in the 90s, feels completely natural on a touchscreen—probably better than with a mouse!—and even includes the Easter eggs like special hats that appear on holidays.  The only bugs I’ve ever encountered are very rare and only annoyances—inability to tap on things—and quickly solved by restarting the app.

For old-schools have noticed only two differences, one good and two negative but cosmetic. The good is that if you set a fleet to scrap at the same time as evacuating a planet, it no longer dumps the metal on the abandoned planet, which never made sense. The bad is that aging ships no longer start to look rusty and old.

The other negative one is more a UI change than problem; zooming in and out are super fluid and natural, but while the old desktop version. Would eventually shrink the planet icons down to mini sizes at distant zoom, the min icon size here is relatively large so with big galaxies the “big picture” view looks cluttered and confusing instead of expansive. It’d be nice to have it continue to zoom out instead.

The one thing I miss is save-scumming; if you’re doing a massive galaxy a game can take many hours to complete, and there are two issues: 

One, if I make a stupid UI mistake like forget to set a colony ship to delayed arrival, it can literally end a tight game I’m 3 hours into, with absolutely no takebacks. That is, frankly, not fun, especially since the delayed arrival controls are a bit finicky.

And two, sometimes I get an interesting situation but make some bad decision early on that ends up with a loss, and I’m always REALLY curious if the game was winnable had I taken a different strategy, but there’s now no way to find out. I really miss that.

### 5/5 — Timeless

*2025-01-16*

I’ve played this game since the 80s, and hope to play it in my 80s.

### 5/5 — Still crazy after all these years

*2025-01-09*

I first played this game in the early 1990’s with friends on an AppleTalk network with a collection of early Mac Plus and SE computers. We played marathon sessions over weekends and never tired of the game. I still have the early floppy disk the game came on!!

Nowadays I have this app on my travel iPad and still enjoy the game just as much over 30+ years later. Such a great game.

### 5/5 — Fantastic game! Have played it nearly daily since 1998.

*2025-01-04*

Really enjoy the game. The original game designers should know that their efforts have brought fun and relaxation into likely thousands of people’s lives.  Well done and thank you!

### 5/5 — Old School 4x fun

*2024-09-11, version 1.2.9*

I played this on my brother’s apple Mac 35-40 years ago and I still enjoy the game.

### 5/5 — Still a classic

*2023-09-24*

Have played this since the early 90’s and it’s still fantastic.

### 5/5 — Yes

*2023-02-25, version 1.2.9*

This game is proof that the world was once a good place.

### 5/5 — love this game

*2023-01-25, version 1.2.9*

i’ve been playing this game for 30 years. it still manages to be an excellent game every time.

### 5/5 — So, I guess you aren’t keeping stats anymore?

*2022-02-10*

Leaderboard and achievements haven’t moved in months!

### 5/5 — Spaceward Ho! Back on the Mac.

*2021-12-12*

This game is an uncomplicated explore and conquer game with a sense of humor. There's enough variety to keep me coming back. 
I first played Spaceward Ho on the Mac (multi-player, even) in the early 1990s, then later the excellent PalmOS port. This version continued that tradition faithfully on iOS, where I play it regularly. Now thanks to the M1 I can play it on my Mac again.  Thanks, Ariton, for keeping it alive and coming full circle.

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*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 2026-09-01.*