Comparison

Back Wars vs Dummynation

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

Head to head
About

Back Wars

Lead a historical resistance against a time-traveling army. Command hundreds of warriors from diverse cultures, focusing on individual heroes or vast armies. Experience strategic world domination combined with interactive battles.

Highlights
  • Lead diverse warrior armies
  • Command individual units or entire armies
  • Interactive real-time battles
  • Territory conquest and defense
  • Customizable controls (1-handed, dual wield)
  • Fantasy battle mode
  • Character editing
Features
Read full description

When an army travels back in time to rule the world 1,000 years in advance, they get more than they bargained for from their primitive counterparts! Lead the resistance with hundreds of warriors from different cultures all over the world. Focus on one individual or step back to command an entire army at your fingertips. Combining world-dominating strategy with fully interactive battles, this game offers the best of both worlds! And just when you think it's over, history might just repeat itself... UPGRADES The game is mostly free to play, but you can upgrade to take control of your experience - choosing which side and how much territory to start with. You can also blow off steam with fantasy battles between any 2 cultures - and as many warriors as your device can handle! For what it's worth, you can also edit every character in the world - but please note that this game uses up to 1,000 of them that are regularly replaced. CONTROLS When controlling a specific character, this game offers either the "Classic" 1-handed control system or "Dual Wield" where each hand is controlled separately. If you are not already familiar with these from previous games in the series, you can pause the action at any time by hitting the dateline and then study the "Controls" guide. Also look out for in-game hints from scrolls or books that you can read. In this game, you can change which member of the team you are controlling at any time by either tapping the health meter or literally pointing to them on the battlefield. By tapping the arrows at the bottom of the screen, you can also activate "Commander" mode where you step back and direct any active member of your team by simply swiping from their location to another. Whether you intend them to relocate, fight an enemy, or pick up an object, they will try to make sense of your instructions. But please bear in mind that they can only do so at their convenience and may have other priorities! Whatever device or control method you are using, you can always zoom in or out by pinching at the centre of the screen. MAP The main "Campaign" game mode requires you to increase your territory by moving units from one area to any connected one. You can either "fortify" an existing territory or attempt to seize a rival territory. Note that only 50% of the units in a territory will be available to travel - which necessarily makes it harder to invade than it is to defend. The population of any inhabited territory may grow after each round, so it is important to control as many as possible. Notice that units will also gradually heal over time, so it is a good idea to work with different locations each turn. PERFORMANCE Please note that this is the largest scale game I have made yet, and may require a high-end device to run at 100%. Consider keeping the "Population" low to reduce the number of characters on screen, or tone down other features in the "Display" options. I regret there is more to this game than I could ever explain here, so I hope you enjoy figuring some things out for yourself!

About

Dummynation

Lead a nation to global dominance through strategic military expansion, careful diplomatic maneuvering, and robust economic management. Balance resource allocation for research and military campaigns while fostering economic growth to outpace rivals. The path to world domination is yours to forge.

Highlights
  • Military expansion
  • Diplomatic relations
  • Resource management
  • Economic policy
  • Research and development
Features
Read full description

You are given unlimited power over a country, with a single promise to fulfill: world domination. How you manage to achieve it is up to you. • Expand your territory by military occupation to gain more power, but do not spread too thin too fast or your empire will crumble even faster. • Analyze and manipulate diplomatic relations to invade countries while avoiding creating too many powerful enemies. • Use your country's resources to sustain your research and military campaigns, but if you spend too much your land will be impoverished and you will fall behind your rivals in the balance of power. • Determine your country's economic policy and reach a high economic growth, which might allow you to outpace your rivals in the power race even without using military force.

Screenshots

Back Wars4 screens
Dummynation4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Back Wars at none against Dummynation's shown. Back Wars also leads on iOS requirement (10.0 vs 15.0). Dummynation's advantage is update cadence (every 8 days vs every 13 months) and rating (3.9 vs 3.6). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support 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. Back Wars sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Dummynation sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Dummynation holds the better App Store score, 3.9 against 3.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 768 and 3.2K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Back Wars's written reviews are positive against 61% of Dummynation's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Back Wars ships an update every 13 months, Dummynation every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on September 8, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Back Wars versus Dummynation: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBack WarsDummynation
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.6 (768 ratings)3.9 (3.2K ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews60.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings7683.2K — better
Update frequencyEvery 13 monthsEvery 8 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS10.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size80 MB329 MB
Age rating17+9+
DeveloperMDickie LimitedALEJANDRO HERNANDEZ FERRERO

Customer experience

Back Wars

All ratings768 ratings
Positive60.9%
Neutral8.1%
Negative31.0%
Written reviews190 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral13.2%
Negative36.8%

Dummynation

All ratings3,215 ratings
Positive72.3%
Neutral6.9%
Negative20.7%
Written reviews965 reviews
Positive60.6%
Neutral12.4%
Negative26.9%

User reviews

Back Wars

From 768 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Fun and challenging gameplay
  • 💡 Unique concept with past, present, and future factions
  • 🚀 Engaging campaign mode

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Glitches and bugs
  • 🔢 Unbalanced difficulty progression
  • ⚔️ Unfair weapon advantages for certain factions
  • 🐅 Annoying animal attacks
  • ⏱️ Slow character recovery time

Dummynation

From 3.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great game, simple yet complex
  • 🚀 Minimal ads, not pay-to-win
  • 💡 Potential for more features
  • 👍 Challenging and entertaining

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
  • 🔒 Diplomacy and alliance system issues
  • 🐛 Unrealistic AI behavior and war dynamics
  • 🐛 Bugs with saving progress

Bugs and requests

Back Wars

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Game takeover by AI during battles
  • Inability to customize characters
  • Disappearing weapons and items
  • Forced retreats due to map boundaries

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to choose faction
  • Improve weapon and character balance
  • Reduce dialogue interruptions during battles
  • Implement friendly fire option
  • Optimize performance and reduce lag

Dummynation

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes and freezes during gameplay
  • Issues with saving and loading progress
  • Incorrect map representation of territories
  • Glitches with the recruitment and military systems

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add historical game modes (WW1, WW2, etc.)
  • Implement custom map and country creation
  • Improve ally system to allow for more cooperation
  • Add more economic and diplomatic mechanics
  • Expand military options (navy, air force, etc.)

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Back Wars

One-time1
  • King Upgrade$2.99
5 purchases

Dummynation

One-time5
  • Buy influence$0.29
  • Buy influence$0.99
  • VIP Pass2 variants$4.99
Show 2 more
  • Buy influence$8.99
  • Buy influence$79.99

Questions

Is Back Wars free?
Back Wars is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Dummynation free?
Dummynation is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Back Wars or Dummynation?
Dummynation is rated higher. Back Wars averages 3.6 out of 5 from 768 ratings, while Dummynation averages 3.9 from 3.2K ratings.
Do Back Wars or Dummynation have ads?
Dummynation shows ads; Back Wars does not.
Which is updated more often, Back Wars or Dummynation?
Back Wars ships an update every 13 months, and Dummynation every 8 days. Most recently, Back Wars was updated on September 8, 2026 and Dummynation on September 24, 2026.

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