Comparison

Tabletop Gaming vs Hero Realms

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

Head to head
About

Tabletop Gaming

This app delivers a monthly digital magazine focused on board games, card games, RPGs, and wargames. It features news, reviews, interviews, and guides, with exclusive digital content and a mobile-optimized reading experience.

Highlights
  • Monthly magazine content
  • News and reviews
  • Interviews with designers
  • Miniatures painting guide
  • Mobile-optimized reading
  • Night reading mode
  • Adjustable text size
Features
Read full description

Tabletop Gaming is the UK’s only monthly magazine dedicated to all types of gaming on your tabletop. From board games, card games, roleplaying games and miniatures we have you covered every month in 100 pages. Extra digital content is available only with the digital edition including exclusive images, videos, podcasts and more! PLUS, with a specially designed mobile edition, wave goodbye to zooming and say hello to night reading mode, adjustable text size and accessing all things gaming at the touch of your fingertips. 
With tons of reviews of new releases each month you’ll never be in the dark about what you should play next.

 Each issue: 
• Latest news and reviews to discover new favourite games
 • Dive deep into how games are made in interviews with world famous designers
 • In-depth features
 • Ten of the Best games lists
 • Tabletop Gaming Live Event news
 • How we made and have you played articles
 • Learn new tricks with our miniatures painting guide 
• Get to grips with the classics that have passed you by 
• The indie shelf, showcasing unknown gems 
• Event reports from the world of tabletop gaming 
• Shop spotlights to find your new gaming café ---------------------------------------------- This is a free app download. Within the app users can purchase the current issue and back issues. Subscriptions are also available within the application. A subscription will start from the latest issue. -The subscription will renew automatically unless cancelled more than 24 hours before the end of the current period. You will be charged for renewal within 24 hours of the end of the current period, for the same duration and at the current subscription rate for the product. -You may turn off the auto-renewal of subscriptions through your Account Settings, however you are not able to cancel the current subscription during its active period. -Payment will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase and any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when a subscription to that publication is purchased. -If a subscription offers a free trial, at the end of the trial period, you will be charged the full price of the subscription. You may cancel a subscription during its free trial period via the subscription settings on your iTunes account. This must be done 24 hours before the end of the subscription period to avoid being charged. Users can register for/ login to a pocketmags account in-app. This will protect their issues in the case of a lost device and allow browsing of purchases on multiple platforms. Existing pocketmags users can retrieve their purchases by logging into their account. We recommend loading the app for the first time in a wi-fi area so that all issue data is retrieved. If your app will not load past the splash page after a first install or an update, please delete and reinstall the app from the App Store Help and frequently asked questions can be accessed in-app and on pocketmags. If you have any problems at all please do not hesitate to contact us: help@pocketmags.com -------------------- You can find our privacy policy here: http://www.pocketmags.com/privacy.aspx You can find our terms and conditions here: http://www.pocketmags.com/terms.aspx

About

Hero Realms

Engage in strategic deckbuilding combat, recruiting champions and using gold to acquire new cards. Battle opponents online or cooperatively against AI, with a single-player campaign available. Level up your hero and unlock new classes and missions.

Highlights
  • Deckbuilding combat
  • Recruit champions
  • Online PVP
  • Cooperative online play
  • Single player campaign
  • Hero leveling system
Features
Read full description

Become a hero! Choose your class, perform mighty actions, and recruit powerful champions to your cause as you grow in power. Awarded Origins Fan Favorite Best Card Game. From the makers of the award-winning Star Realms® Deckbuilding Game, Hero Realms® combines the fun of deckbuilding games with the interactivity of trading card game-style combat. As you play, use Gold to add new actions and champions to your deck. When played, those actions and champions generate powerful effects, give you additional gold, and attack your opponent and their champions. If you reduce your opponent's health to zero, you win! [Non-Collectible Deck Building Game] Hero Realms does not require you to collect new cards. You start every game with a basic deck, and will acquire cards from the shared center row to build up your deck and defeat your opponent. Victory rewards skill, and not your collection of rare cards! [Level Up Your Heroes] Create a hero from one of several classes (free players start with the Fighter and Wizard available). Level them up with new skills, abilities and equipment, and take them to battle in thrilling Online PVP. Hero Realms uses fair match making, only allowing matches between equal levelled heroes. However, if you feel daring, you can choose to engage in combat against higher levelled opponents for additional XP and bragging rights. [Cooperative Online Play] Hero Realms also features online co-operative play. Battle against challenging AI bosses with another human player as a partner. Free players have access to the Pirate Lord mission, with other co-op missions available with the Base Set purchase. [Single Player Campaign] For offline play, take on the Welcome to Thandar campaign. Fight your way through scripted, story-based chapters against varied AI opponents. [Free Version] Free players will get to experience: - Addictive Deckbuilding Game with Player VS Player Combat. - Play VS the AI - Play with the Fighter and Wizard character classes - Level-up your characters up to Level 3 - Play the first 3 missions in the Welcome to Thandar campaign - Play the Pirate Lord co-op mission Purchasing the Base Set will unlock the full Hero Realms experience: - Unlocks hard AI difficulty level - Unlocks the Cleric, Ranger, and Thief character classes - Level-up your characters to Level 12 - Unlocks the entire Welcome to Thandar campaign. - Unlocks the Necromancers, Inquisition, and Orc Riot co-op missions. Please note that Hero Realms purchases are not compatible with Family Sharing.

Screenshots

Tabletop Gaming4 screens
Hero Realms4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Hero Realms at every 2 weeks against Tabletop Gaming's every 5 months. Hero Realms also leads on ratings volume (219 vs 29). Tabletop Gaming's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 4.3) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. Tabletop Gaming sells 26 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per 3 months and Hero Realms sells 13 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Tabletop Gaming holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hero Realms has 219 ratings behind it against 29, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 54% of Tabletop Gaming's written reviews are positive against 60% of Hero Realms's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tabletop Gaming ships an update every 5 months, Hero Realms every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 5, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Tabletop Gaming versus Hero Realms: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTabletop GamingHero Realms
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (29 ratings) — better4.3 (219 ratings)
Positive reviews53.8% of reviews60.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings29219 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size38 MB432 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperWarners Group Publications PLCWhite Wizard Games

Customer experience

Tabletop Gaming

All ratings29 ratings
Positive93.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative6.9%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive53.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative46.2%

Hero Realms

All ratings219 ratings
Positive80.8%
Neutral5.0%
Negative14.2%
Written reviews133 reviews
Positive60.2%
Neutral10.5%
Negative29.3%

Bugs and requests

Tabletop Gaming

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Hero Realms

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Crashes when trying to play online
  • Inability to access purchased content
  • Freezing and black screen issues
  • Incorrect character level progression
  • Matchmaking problems and long wait times

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more expansions and additional content
  • Implement a friends list and social features
  • Improve the campaign mode with more levels and challenges
  • Add an option to check the contents of your deck before playing
  • Implement a turn timer to prevent players from stalling

In-app purchases

26 purchases

Tabletop Gaming

Subscriptions2
  • Tabletop Gaming Auto Renewable Subscription$19.993 Months
  • Tabletop Gaming Auto Renewable Subscription1 Month trial$79.991 Year
One-time24
  • Issue One (id:799153)$6.99
  • Issue Two (id:799150)$6.99
  • Issue Three (id:799151)$6.99
Show 21 more
  • Issue Four (id:799152)$6.99
  • Issue Five (id:799677)$6.99
  • Issue Six (id:799681)$6.99
  • Issue Seven – D... (id:799685)$6.99
  • June 2018 (#19) (id:801344)$6.99
  • March 2024 #88 (id:695117)$6.99
  • January 2026 (pp:1136735)$6.99
  • February 2026 (pp:1136733)$6.99
  • April 2025_101 (pp:1045477)$6.99
  • March 2025_100 (pp:1045486)$6.99
  • August 2021 [#57] (id:803878)$6.99
  • February 2025_99 (pp:1045495)$6.99
  • March 2022 [#64] (id:804326)$6.99
  • April 2024 #89 (id:695113)$7.99
  • July 2025 [#104] (pp:1110368)$7.99
  • July 2024_92 (pp:1045558)$7.99
  • November 2024_96 (pp:1045522)$7.99
  • October 2024_95 (pp:1045531)$7.99
  • August 2024_93 (pp:1045549)$7.99
  • June 2024_91 (pp:1045567)$7.99
  • December 2023 #... (id:695129)$12.99
13 purchases

Hero Realms

One-time13
  • 80 Gems$0.99
  • 200 gems$2.29
  • Four Journeys Campaign$3.99
Show 10 more
  • 500 Gems$4.99
  • Hero Realms: Call to Arms$4.99
  • Journeys Expansions$4.99
  • Journeys Promo Expansion$4.99
  • Dungeons Expansion$7.99
  • 1200 Gems$9.99
  • Hero Realms Base Set$9.99
  • 2500 Gems$19.99
  • 6500 Gems$49.99
  • 14000 Gems$99.99

Questions

Is Tabletop Gaming free?
Tabletop Gaming is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Hero Realms free?
Hero Realms is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Tabletop Gaming or Hero Realms?
Tabletop Gaming is rated higher. Tabletop Gaming averages 4.6 out of 5 from 29 ratings, while Hero Realms averages 4.3 from 219 ratings.
Do Tabletop Gaming or Hero Realms have ads?
Neither Tabletop Gaming nor Hero Realms shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Tabletop Gaming or Hero Realms?
Tabletop Gaming ships an update every 5 months, and Hero Realms every 2 weeks. Most recently, Tabletop Gaming was updated on October 5, 2026 and Hero Realms on October 17, 2026.

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