Comparison

The Samurai Wars vs KR 1

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

Head to head
About

The Samurai Wars

Engage in tactical warfare with historical samurai portraits. Command troops, utilize unique skills, and employ diplomacy, ninja tactics, and political maneuvering to conquer Japan. Collect over 400 samurais and 200 treasures.

Highlights
  • Tactical troop command
  • Unique samurai skills
  • Diplomatic activities
  • Ninja operations
  • Political maneuvering
  • Town development
  • Collectable warlords and treasures
Features
Read full description

◆The Samurai Wars◆ This is a tactical war game using actual portrait of samurai. Conquer whole Japan as Oda nobunaga who is famous samurai warlord with over 400 samurais! ◆Intuitive Battle◆ You can command your troop and use tactical skill by Flick/Tap! Defeat enemy by using each samurai's tactical skill! ◆Various Strategies◆ It is not easy to survive by just tactics in battlefield. Diplomatic activities like trading and alliance... Various Ninja's activities... Political activities in Imperial court and Shogunate... Development of town... Let's plan your own strategy! ◆A lot of Warlords, Treasure There are over 400 samurais and 200 treasure items. Can you collect all?

About

KR 1

Lead a medieval state through political intrigue, warfare, and economic management. Engage in diplomacy, raise armies, and conquer territories to build your empire. Experience historical events and make strategic decisions to ensure your civilization's dominance.

Highlights
  • Political maneuvering
  • Medieval warfare
  • Empire building
  • Diplomacy and alliances
  • Economic management
  • Spying and sabotage
  • Historical events
Features
Read full description

Kievan Rus’ is a strategy game with a focus on political maneuvering. Here war is just a tool of the trade. This game enables you to play as the ruler of Kievan Rus’, one of the mightiest states of the world of that time. The Middle Ages is a setting that is truly a treasure for any strategy game fan. In the game, there are 35 states, and Barbarians, who have their own territory and resources. However, the ruler’s way to domination is not going to be a walk in the park. Get ready for deadly wars and backstairs politics – you will be confronted by the most powerful states of the game world, including England that dominates seas, Balkan states (Poland, Hungary, Croatia and Serbia), and the Arab state of Syria, with a huge army at its disposal. So you think the Roman Empire has made great progress? Perhaps, you prefer European states, such as France and Scotland? Or it is Byzantium that you consider to be a good example? Let them know you are ready to fight head-to-head and build your own empire, and that you are a dictator and a strategist. Their aim is to advance their own civilization while preventing yours from doing so. Put your political foresight to the test and find out whether you are good at strategy and diplomacy – lead your country through ages. To succeed, engage in wars with your rivals. Raise your own army and fleet, declare wars or start fighting in them when they are in full swing. Deploy spies and send saboteurs to your enemy country to find out what they are going to do. Invade states, conquer lands and capture rare resources. A sagacious dictator is key to state policy success. Manage foreign affairs, conclude non-aggression pacts, and make suggestions to be considered by other states. Remember that diplomacy and well-thought-out policy are often more effective options than war. Don’t forget about state economic activities: produce food, and manufacture weapons for your army. Use researches to increase the amount of manufactured goods and military capability. However, a single civilization cannot produce everything, so you will have to trade with other states and buy rare resources and goods. Introduce new laws and make your citizens abide by them. You can establish the civilization religion of your choice. Appoint army and fleet commanders, and tax, trade, economy and construction chiefs. Separatism will not be tolerated: quell riots occurring in your state. Your empire will be mightiest, and diplomacy, weapons and economy will help you achieve it. The game uses real-life states that existed at that time, with real historic events. The large and detailed map will enable you to see information about your own territory and that of other countries. These are just the game basics: you can find out how much it offers only by playing it. The game does not require Internet connection, and you can play it anywhere you like. There is no set time limit for turns: you can choose the game pace to your liking. The geopolitical strategy set in the Middle Ages with a special focus on the Slavs is available on smartphones and tablets. It is a good way to spend time, as it combines entertainment and brain exercise. Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula

Screenshots

The Samurai Wars4 screens
KR 14 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: KR 1 at 4.4 against The Samurai Wars's 4.1. KR 1 also leads on review sentiment (72% vs 53%). The Samurai Wars's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 14.0). On price, ratings volume, update cadence 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. The Samurai Wars sells 8 one-off in-app purchases and KR 1 sells 34 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

KR 1 holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 63 and 70 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 53% of The Samurai Wars's written reviews are positive against 72% of KR 1's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

The Samurai Wars ships an update fortnightly, KR 1 every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
The Samurai Wars versus KR 1: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThe Samurai WarsKR 1
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (63 ratings)4.4 (70 ratings) — better
Positive reviews52.8% of reviews71.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings6370 — better
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better14.0
Further details — not scored
Size266 MB698 MB
Age rating9+9+
DeveloperKeita NagafuchiOXIWYLE LLC

Customer experience

The Samurai Wars

All ratings59 ratings
Positive76.3%
Neutral5.1%
Negative18.6%
Written reviews72 reviews
Positive52.8%
Neutral11.1%
Negative36.1%

KR 1

All ratings69 ratings
Positive81.2%
Neutral11.6%
Negative7.2%
Written reviews60 reviews
Positive71.7%
Neutral10.0%
Negative18.3%

In-app purchases

8 purchases

The Samurai Wars

One-time8
  • Stone 100$0.99
  • Available Samurai +14 variants$3.99
  • Scenario pack - Honnoji no Hen$3.99
Show 5 more
  • Scenario pack - Sekigahara$3.99
  • Remove ADs$6.99
  • Stone 1000$8.99
  • Stone 5000$39.99
  • Stone 12000$89.99
34 purchases

KR 1

Subscriptions4
  • 7-Day Subscription7 Days trial$0.997 Days
  • Crystal subscription7 Days trial$1.997 Days
  • Gold subscription7 Days trial$1.997 Days
Show 1 more
  • Weekly subscription$4.997 Days
One-time30
  • Uprisings$0.49
  • Premium$0.49
  • +500 000 gold$0.99
Show 27 more
  • 600 crystals$0.99
  • Chief Tribute Collector$0.99
  • Commander-in-Chief$0.99
  • Disable ads$0.99
  • Land Forces Commander$0.99
  • Head of construction$0.99
  • Head of trade$0.99
  • Pack2 variants$0.99
  • Fleet Commander$0.99
  • Accelerated Time$0.99
  • +1 000 000 gold$1.99
  • +5 000 gold per day$1.99
  • +10 000 gold per day$2.99
  • Head of construction$2.99
  • 3 940 crystals$4.99
  • Easy start for any state$4.99
  • All ministers and commanders$4.99
  • +5 000 000 gold$4.99
  • +10 000 000 gold$7.99
  • +50 000 gold per day$9.99
  • Top 3 Sales3 variants$9.99
  • Royal set$9.99
  • Invincible Army$9.99
  • 8 250 crystals$9.99
  • Gem Madness$9.99
  • +100 000 gold per day$14.99
  • 17 250 crystals$19.99

Questions

Is The Samurai Wars free?
The Samurai Wars is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is KR 1 free?
KR 1 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, The Samurai Wars or KR 1?
KR 1 is rated higher. The Samurai Wars averages 4.1 out of 5 from 63 ratings, while KR 1 averages 4.4 from 70 ratings.
Do The Samurai Wars or KR 1 have ads?
Both The Samurai Wars and KR 1 show ads.
Which is updated more often, The Samurai Wars or KR 1?
The Samurai Wars ships an update fortnightly, and KR 1 every 3 weeks. Most recently, The Samurai Wars was updated on October 23, 2026 and KR 1 on October 30, 2026.

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