Comparison

Stormbound vs Nova Island

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

Head to head
About

Stormbound

Engage in strategic turn-based tactical battles by building a powerful deck of collectible cards. Outsmart opponents worldwide in real-time PVP, customize your profile, and compete for seasonal rewards.

Highlights
  • Deck building
  • Collectible cards
  • Turn-based tactical battles
  • Real-time PVP
  • Four distinct kingdoms
  • Seasonal events and rewards
  • Profile customization
Features
Read full description

Stormbound: PVP Card Battle - Where deck building for Collectible Cards and Strategic gameplay collide in unique PVP Turn-based Tactical battles. Embark on an epic journey in Stormbound, where the clash of four kingdoms unfolds in a strategic battle for dominance. Craft and build a powerful deck, engage in real-time PVP card battles against players worldwide! Ultimate Card Battle: Watch Your Deck Shine Dive into the thrill of collecting dozens of cards to craft your powerful deck! Experience the magic as each card transforms the board into the battle on a battlefield! Strategically play your cards to outsmart your opponent in this tactical card battle. Dominate the board Discover the powers of four mighty kingdoms, each with its own cool advantages and playstyles. Uncover the strengths that set them apart, and shape your effective strategy accordingly to dominate the board. Real-time PVP Card Battle Battle players across the globe in electrifying head-to-head PVP battles! Forge your path to victory through various challenges awaiting you on the game board. Unlock a bounty of valuable resources to enhance your card and deck collection. Master your deck building skills to conquer the card battle ladder. Customize your profile Unleash your emotions with fun and personalized emotes that let you truly express yourself in the heat of the PVP battle. Spice up your customized profile by choosing a cool avatar from our diverse collection, making your account uniquely yours. Battle your way to the top league Battle for seasonal ranking and great rewards, try your best in confronting diverse challenges across various card battle game modes. Upgrade your cards, master your deck building skills and tactics to conquer the battle and get to the top league. Seasonal Events Enjoy seasonal battle events and unlock special rewards, enriching your collection of cards, decks and resources. Use your collection of cards to build strategic decks tailored for seasonal battles. Claim victory in challenging battles where the worlds of strategy and collectible cards collide in tactical gameplay! Terms of Service: https://stormboundgames.com/terms

About

Nova Island

Engage in strategic card battles with cute anime-inspired characters. Collect friends, powers, and skins while competing in PvP matches or embarking on an adventure. Build decks and master unique playstyles.

Highlights
  • Collectible card battles
  • Strategic deck building
  • PvP and PvE modes
  • Character collection
  • Cosmetic customization
  • Daily challenges
  • Draft mode
Features
Read full description

Discover friends and card duels in this exciting strategic adventure game! Nova Island is an anime inspired card game with cute characters, amazing strategy, and an engaging adventure!  And totally ad free! Looking for a unique collectible card game that combines strategy & chance? On Nova Island, you can take on challenges, play quick matches with friends, or compete against players from around the world to climb the leaderboard. Play cards to gain strength, deal damage, plan ahead, and disrupt opponents in ways they’ll never see coming. It’s fun! Try it out for free and discover its complete strategic freedom! Alert!  A new Nova Researcher has arrived on the island!  With your help and the various Pros by your side, collect all of the Friends, Powers, and customizable Skins found on this colorful island.  Go out on an adventure of a lifetime and see all of the fun in store for you! Quick PvP Matches in Every Mode Compete in fast online Ranked Matches versus players around the world.  Try out your strategic thinking in a unique single-player experience with new themes popping in the Daily Challenges. The Best of Your Favorite TCG and CCG Experiences Train your skills with the Turbo Chaos Draft Challenge against players around the world in a fast-paced draft mode. Challenge yourself with a PVE singleplayer journey around the island and tricky limited time game modes. Level up on Research Road and collect over 100 cards and over 1500 cosmetics, including: - 8 Pros, each with a thematic soundtrack and unique playstyle. - Over 70 Friends with cute animations, sound effects, and custom skins to change their look! So get in there and build your deck with strategy and style! Pick Your Prize or Try Your Luck: Use your winning Tokens on the Vending Machines to collect rewards, level up your favorite strategies, and unlock new cards. You’ll learn more about Nova Island, the Pros and Friends inhabiting the districts, and the challenges that await you as you explore! We have a growing community who love to chat! Discuss tips and tricks with some real Nova Island Pros!  Join in for all fun things NOVA ISLAND! Discord: https://play.novaisland.com/discord Need SUPPORT? Visit our Website: https://novaisland.com or Email us: hello@thirteengames.com Just some important legal information: PRIVACY POLICY: https://novaisland.com/privacy-policy TERMS OF SERVICE: https://novaisland.com/terms-of-service

Screenshots

Stormbound4 screens
Nova Island4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Nova Island at none against Stormbound's shown. Stormbound's advantage is ratings volume (9.1K vs 237) and rating (4.5 vs 4.3). On price, review sentiment, update cadence 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. Stormbound sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and Nova Island sells 66 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Stormbound holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Stormbound has 9.1K ratings behind it against 237, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 63% of Stormbound's written reviews are positive against 60% of Nova Island's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Stormbound versus Nova Island: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStormboundNova Island
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (9.1K ratings) — better4.3 (237 ratings)
Positive reviews63.5% of reviews — better60.4% of reviews
Number of ratings9.1K — better237
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size526 MB262 MB
Age rating9+9+
DeveloperStormbound Games Sp. z o.o.Thirteen Games, LLC

Customer experience

Stormbound

All ratings9,043 ratings
Positive89.6%
Neutral3.1%
Negative7.3%
Written reviews1,591 reviews
Positive63.5%
Neutral11.2%
Negative25.3%

Nova Island

All ratings237 ratings
Positive79.3%
Neutral7.2%
Negative13.5%
Written reviews96 reviews
Positive60.4%
Neutral16.7%
Negative22.9%

User reviews

Stormbound

From 9.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Better than Clash Royale
  • 🔒 No ads
  • 👍 Fantastic game
  • 👍 Fun and creative cards
  • 👍 Cohesive combat

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Pay to win
  • 🐛 Unbalanced cards
  • 🐛 Unfair matchmaking
  • 🐛 Slow progression for F2P
  • 🐛 Frustrating level caps

Nova Island

From 237 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Unique gameplay mechanics
  • 🎨 Appealing art style and animations
  • 💰 Completely free-to-play, no pay-to-win
  • 🕹️ Engaging strategic depth
  • 🌟 Underrated and deserves more attention

Room to improve

  • 🎲 Excessive reliance on RNG
  • 🔁 Repetitive and swingy gameplay
  • 🕰️ Slow progression and grindy unlock system
  • ⚖️ Unbalanced card/character power levels
  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and connectivity issues

Bugs and requests

Stormbound

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Login/loading issues
  • Card placement bugs
  • Deck editing problems
  • Inconsistent card rotation

Requested features

7 requests
  • Offline mode
  • Clan/guild system
  • Chat functionality
  • Spectate mode
  • Leaderboard/ranking display
Show 2 more
  • More PvE content
  • Improved social features

Nova Island

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Soft-locking tutorial
  • Inconsistent performance on some devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Offline mode or paid full version
  • Ability to play with friends
  • More character/card customization options
  • Improved tutorial and onboarding experience

In-app purchases

13 purchases

Stormbound

Subscriptions1
  • Premium pass$7.991 Month
One-time12
  • Daily resources$1.99
  • Daily cards$1.99
  • Welcome Pack$4.99
Show 9 more
  • Handful of Rubies$4.99
  • Premium Pass$4.99
  • Generic package 7$$6.99
  • Premium Pass$7.99
  • Shredded Journal$9.99
  • Tribal Tome$9.99
  • Bunch of Rubies$9.99
  • Weekly cards$9.99
  • Heap of Rubies$19.99
66 purchases

Nova Island

One-time66
  • 90 Island Credits$0.99
  • Researcher’s Starter Bundle$0.99
  • Circuit Boiz Bundle 2$0.99
Show 63 more
  • Circuit Boiz Bundle 1$0.99
  • 4th Anniversary Emotes Bundle1$0.99
  • Halloween Juice Emote$0.99
  • Max Halloween Emote$0.99
  • Artillery Pack$0.99
  • Doodle Branehart Emote$0.99
  • 75 Island Credits2 variants$1.99
  • Welcome Bundle$1.99
  • Power Outage Pack$1.99
  • Researcher's Starter Bundle2 variants$1.99
  • Circuit Boiz Pack$1.99
  • Rerun Activate$1.99
  • Sprynk Activate$1.99
  • Hackmaster Activate$1.99
  • Escape Pod Activate$1.99
  • Novas Special BF$1.99
  • Food Emote Bundle$1.99
  • Cosmicosi Legendary Skin$1.99
  • Cannonball Level Up$1.99
  • Welcome Party Bundle$2.99
  • Mage Rerun$2.99
  • Oddball Filthy Clean Skin$2.99
  • Giving Tree Unlock$2.99
  • Giving Tree Level Up$2.99
  • New Season Novium Special$2.99
  • Greenhouse Pack$2.99
  • Daily Login Bonus$3.99
  • Rainbow Gemma Skin$3.99
  • Gemma Activate$3.99
  • EOY Winter Skins 2024$3.99
  • Unlock Sparki$3.99
  • Nova Tree Giving Tree$3.99
  • Cosmicosi Activate$3.99
  • Crystal Kitten$3.99
  • Arcade Pack$3.99
  • Ghost Blazer$3.99
  • Candy Weade$3.99
  • Frankenjazzy$3.99
  • 575 Island Credits$4.99
  • ULTIMATE Welcome Bundle$4.99
  • Welcome Party Bundle$4.99
  • Bloom King BC Special$4.99
  • 80s Sparki$4.99
  • Observatory Pack$4.99
  • 225 Island Credits$4.99
  • Intranet Pack$5.99
  • Activation Starter Bundle$5.99
  • One Cent and IP$6.99
  • Khrys and Flutter$6.99
  • Crystal Cats$8.99
  • 1175 Island Credits$9.99
  • Nova Tree Bundle$9.99
  • Welcome Bundle 5$9.99
  • Boost Pack C$9.99
  • Hooligan Bundle$9.99
  • Boost Pack B$9.99
  • 480 Island Credits$9.99
  • Ancient 9 Skins$14.99
  • EOY Credits Special 2024$14.99
  • 2400 Island Credits$19.99
  • Super Boost Pack C$19.99
  • 1020 Island Credits$19.99
  • 2155 Island Credits$39.99

Questions

Is Stormbound free?
Stormbound is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Nova Island free?
Nova Island is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Stormbound or Nova Island?
Stormbound is rated higher. Stormbound averages 4.5 out of 5 from 9.1K ratings, while Nova Island averages 4.3 from 237 ratings.
Do Stormbound or Nova Island have ads?
Stormbound shows ads; Nova Island does not.
Which is updated more often, Stormbound or Nova Island?
Stormbound ships an update every 3 weeks, and Nova Island every 3 weeks. Most recently, Stormbound was updated on October 29, 2026 and Nova Island on October 22, 2026.

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