Comparison

Hero Realms vs Summoner Wars Online

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

Head to head
About

Hero Realms

Engage in strategic deckbuilding combat, recruit powerful champions, and level up your heroes. Enjoy PvP, co-op against AI bosses, or a single-player campaign. The free version offers core gameplay with optional expansions.

Highlights
  • Deckbuilding combat
  • Recruit champions
  • Hero leveling system
  • Online PvP
  • Cooperative play vs AI
  • Single-player campaign
  • Multiple character classes
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.

About

Summoner Wars Online

Engage in strategic fantasy battlefield combat by summoning units and outmaneuvering opponents. Build custom decks with countless unit types and spells to challenge players online or play through single-player campaigns.

Highlights
  • Online multiplayer matches
  • Custom deck builder
  • Single-player story campaigns
  • AI opponent challenges
  • Summoning units
  • Fantasy battlefield combat
Features
Read full description

Summoner Wars is the exciting card game of fantasy battlefield combat that puts you in the role of a powerful summoner. Display your tactical prowess by summoning units to your gates, outmaneuvering your opponent, and cutting down the enemy summoner. Countless unit types, a wide variety of spells and abilities, and the option to build your own decks, all make for a game sure to entertain, play after play. • Challenge other players in online matches. • Create custom decks using the deck builder. • Play your way through single-player story campaigns. • Hone your skill against an AI opponent. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Hero Realms4 screens
Summoner Wars Online4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Summoner Wars Online at 4.7 against Hero Realms's 4.3. Summoner Wars Online also leads on review sentiment (80% vs 60%). Hero Realms's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.6). 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. Hero Realms sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Summoner Wars Online sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Summoner Wars Online holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 219 and 112 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 60% of Hero Realms's written reviews are positive against 80% of Summoner Wars Online's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hero Realms ships an update every 2 weeks, Summoner Wars Online every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Hero Realms versus Summoner Wars Online: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHero RealmsSummoner Wars Online
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (219 ratings)4.7 (112 ratings) — better
Positive reviews60.2% of reviews79.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings219 — better112
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 4 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size435 MB252 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperWhite Wizard GamesPlaid Hat Games LLC

Customer experience

Hero Realms

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

Summoner Wars Online

All ratings112 ratings
Positive91.1%
Neutral2.7%
Negative6.3%
Written reviews64 reviews
Positive79.7%
Neutral3.1%
Negative17.2%

User reviews

Hero Realms

From 219 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great game mechanics
  • 🚀 Smooth and polished app
  • 💡 Diverse game modes (PvP, co-op, campaign)
  • 👍 Faithful adaptation of the physical card game
  • 💡 Character progression and leveling system

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Bugs and crashes
  • 🔒 Lack of local multiplayer (pass-and-play)
  • 💰 Expensive in-app purchases for additional content
  • 🌐 Lack of language support (e.g., no French, Spanish)
  • 🔍 Unclear tutorial and explanations of game mechanics

Summoner Wars Online

From 112 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ♟️ Deep tactical gameplay with chess-like strategy
  • 🎨 Well-designed factions with unique playstyles
  • ⚖️ Excellent faction balance and asymmetric design
  • 🎮 Engaging asynchronous multiplayer gameplay
  • 🆓 Free-to-play model with reasonable pricing

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Menu navigation traps (can't exit shop/deck editor)
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
  • 🐛 AI gets stuck during single-player games
  • 🐛 Tutorial crashes before completion
  • 🐛 Server connection losses

Bugs and 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

Summoner Wars Online

Reported bugs

10 issues
  • Menu navigation traps - unable to exit shop or deck editor without closing app
  • Game crashes to main menu during gameplay
  • Story mode crashes and deletes campaign progress
  • Tutorial crashes before completion
  • AI freezes and becomes unresponsive mid-game
Show 5 more
  • Server connection losses during matches
  • No sound output on some devices
  • Dynamic Island screen coverage on iPhone 15
  • Sign in with Apple authentication failure
  • Occasional random crashes with ability to continue from same point

Requested features

12 requests
  • Russian language translation
  • Hard difficulty level for AI
  • Difficulty scaling for single-player AI
  • Ability to resign from matches
  • Offline mode support
Show 7 more
  • Bundle deals for in-app purchases
  • Improved matchmaking system with lobby
  • Win/loss-based ranking progression
  • More single-player story content
  • Better forum/community support outside Discord
  • Local multiplayer support
  • Improved UI intuitiveness for menu navigation

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Hero Realms

One-time10
  • 80 Gems$0.99
  • 200 gems$2.29
  • Four Journeys Campaign$3.99
Show 7 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
10 purchases

Summoner Wars Online

Subscriptions1
  • 1 Month Subscription$2.991 Month
One-time9
  • Vanguards Faction$3.99
  • Eternal Council Faction$3.99
  • Crimson Order Faction$3.99
Show 6 more
  • Cave Goblins Faction$3.99
  • Polar Dwarves Faction$3.99
  • Cloaks Faction$3.99
  • Savanna Elves Faction$3.99
  • Fallen Kingdom Faction$3.99
  • Deepwood Groaks Faction$3.99

Questions

Is Hero Realms free?
Hero Realms is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Summoner Wars Online free?
Summoner Wars Online is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Hero Realms or Summoner Wars Online?
Summoner Wars Online is rated higher. Hero Realms averages 4.3 out of 5 from 219 ratings, while Summoner Wars Online averages 4.7 from 112 ratings.
Do Hero Realms or Summoner Wars Online have ads?
Neither Hero Realms nor Summoner Wars Online shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Hero Realms or Summoner Wars Online?
Hero Realms ships an update every 2 weeks, and Summoner Wars Online every 4 weeks. Most recently, Hero Realms was updated on November 2, 2026 and Summoner Wars Online on November 3, 2026.

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