Snowballs! vs Retro Commander
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Snowballs!
Command squads of AI-powered children in real-time snowball battles to capture the enemy flag. Strategically direct your team's movements and attacks while utilizing the environment and managing their stamina.
- AI-powered child squads
- Real-time snowball battles
- Flag capture objective
- Strategic movement commands
- Terrain utilization
- Stamina management
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Lead your squads of school children in a real-time battle to capture the other team's flag in an epic snowball fight! Each child has their own name, strengths and weaknesses, and sophisticated artificial intelligence so all you need to do is tell them where to move to, charge or rapid fire, and they will take care of the rest. They'll run away if you leave them exposed or surrounded so make use of the terrain and be careful not to let them get exhausted.
Retro Commander
Engage in post-apocalyptic real-time strategy battles. Command diverse units and technologies in a rich story campaign or test your skills against AI and players in cross-platform multiplayer. Features include a map editor and extensive modding capabilities.
- Post-apocalyptic RTS gameplay
- Story campaign with unique factions
- Single-player skirmish matches vs AI
- Cross-platform multiplayer
- Map editor and modding support
- Diverse units and research options
- Multiple game modes (capture the flag, battle royale)
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Retro Commander is a post-apocalyptic real-time strategy wargame (RTS). Take command and fight it out in a world where a cataclysmic timeline has transpired on Mother Earth. Wage wars solo, against the AI, or take on your gaming comrades and friends in cross-platform multiplayer matches. Form teams and clans and fight co-op style with the AI and other players for ultimate victory. As opposed to other real-time strategy game, Retro Commander tries to focus on both, a fun single player and a thrilling multiplayer experience. The game strives to be easy to learn with a modern user interface. Single player comes with skirmish matches against the AI as well as a comic-based story campaign. Multiplayer can be played cross-platform and includes a ranking and rating system. POST-APOCALYPTIC: Real-time strategy (RTS) played in a post-apocalyptic timeline on Mother Earth. The environment includes day-night cycles, rain, snow, wind and solar flare activity. STORY CAMPAIGN: Deep campaign and story line of humanity after a cataclysmic event. Factions come with their own specialized technologies such as stealth, robots, drones or shields. SINGLE & MULTIPLAYER: A challenging AI for both single and multiplayer matches with co-op play. Cross-platform multiplayer including LAN/internet. ONLINE play comes with an award and rating system. PLAY MODES: In addition to regular skirmish matches, the game supports missions such as elimination, survival, capture the flag, defense and battle royale. Available in both single and multiplayer also are escort and rescue missions. STRUCTURES & TROOPS: Common troops for land, sea and air warfare is available to all factions. Specialized elements such as stealth, shields, EMP weapons, nukes, portals, orbital weapons, assimilator and other troops and structures provide for additional variety. RESEARCH: A tech tree and research options enable to build specialized structures and troops. A Tech Snatcher can be used to steal enemy technology. MODDING: A map editor is included allowing for player-modded maps including player-modded campaigns. All elements including troops, structures, as well as graphics and sound effects, can be modded if desired.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Snowballs! at 4.5 against Retro Commander's 3.8. Retro Commander's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 4 months). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume 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
Both are free to download. Snowballs! sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Retro Commander sells 14 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Snowballs! holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 35 and 16 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 81% and 80% positive.
Snowballs! ships an update every 4 months, Retro Commander every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on August 21, 2026 and September 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Snowballs! | Retro Commander |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (35 ratings) — better | 3.8 (16 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 80.8% of reviews — better | 80.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 35 — better | 16 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 30 MB | 151 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Sean O'Connor | Noble Master LLC |
Customer experience
Snowballs!
Retro Commander
In-app purchases
Snowballs!
- All of the maps$3.99
Retro Commander
- Map: Chapter 02$0.99
- Map: Battle Map 02$0.99
- Map: Battle Map 05$0.99
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- Clan Manager$1.99
- Map: Chapter 03$3.99
- Map: Chapter 08$3.99
- Map: Battle Map A1$3.99
- Map: Chapter 04$3.99
- Map: Chapter 06$3.99
- Map: Chapter 07$3.99
- Map: Battle Map 03$3.99
- Map: Battle Map 04$3.99
- Modded Maps$4.99
- All Maps & Modding$19.99
Questions
Is Snowballs! free?
Is Retro Commander free?
Which has better reviews, Snowballs! or Retro Commander?
Do Snowballs! or Retro Commander have ads?
Which is updated more often, Snowballs! or Retro Commander?
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