Comparison

Star Traders vs Northgard

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

Head to head
About

Star Traders

Command your own starship and crew in a vast, procedurally generated open universe. Forge your path as a pirate, merchant, bounty hunter, or explorer, influencing factions and shaping your crew through your choices in this epic sci-fi RPG.

Highlights
  • Open universe exploration
  • Multiple captain careers (26 jobs)
  • Spaceship customization (350+ upgrades)
  • Crew assembly and talent management
  • Dynamic narrative and faction influence
  • Crew molding based on player choices
  • Varied difficulty options including permadeath
Features
Read full description

You are the captain of a starship venturing through a massive open universe. Customize your crew and take command at the helm of your very own ship as you explore a galaxy torn apart by internal strife, alien threats, and political intrigue. Command your ship and crew as a space pirate, merchant, bounty hunter, and more in Star Traders: Frontiers – an epic space RPG from Trese Brothers Games. Venture forth into a massive open universe, rich with adventure and the lore of the Star Traders. Choose your path by assembling and commanding your custom crew and spaceship in a constantly evolving galaxy torn by internal strife, political intrigue, and alien threats. Will you fly as a pirate terrorizing shipping lanes, join the solar wars as a military captain, or track targets across the stars as a fearsome bounty hunter? - Explore a rich, open universe: Discover endless procedurally-generated galactic maps, meet unique characters, and take on enemies to conquer the galaxy! - Become an intergalactic captain: Take on the role of a spy, smuggler, explorer, pirate, merchant, bounty hunter, and more (26 jobs total)! - Customize your own spaceship: Choose from more than 350 upgrades and 45 ship hulls to build your very own vessel to venture across the vast reaches of space. - Assemble and tailor a loyal crew: Assign talents and equip specialized gear for every spaceship crew member. - Experience an ever-changing narrative: Decide to make friends or foes with other factions and influence political, economic, and personal vendettas. - Mold the crew by your choices: As you make decisions and set the tone for your ship, your crew will grow and change to match. Destroy enemy ships with all hands on deck and your crew will become more bloodthirsty and savage. Explore distant worlds and loot dangerous wastelands and your crew will become intrepid and clever ... or scarred and half-mad. - Varied Difficulty Options! play with save slots to try out different builds or storylines or turn on character permadeath and enjoy classic roguelike experience - Achievement Unlocks: accomplish story and challenge goals to unlock additional optional (but not better) content like new starting ships and new starting contacts First there was the Exodus – when survivors of a great war left the ruins of the Galactic Core behind in search of a new home in the stars. Scattered worlds were claimed on the fringe of the galaxy. Each pocket of survivors held on to an isolated set of worlds while trying to rebuild under the great law of Shalun. Three centuries later, technology has brought them back together again. Discovery of the hyperwarp has bridged what was once an unimaginable distance between far-flung colonies, long-lost families, and political factions. With that reunification has come great economic prosperity. The hyperwarp reestablished the transportation of cargo, goods, and technologies between the quadrants – but it has also brought great strife. Political rivalries have been rekindled, blood has been shed in age-old feuds, and the fires of war have been stoked. Amidst the political infighting, a ruthless revolution is rising – and the fervent explorers of the hyperwarp have awoken something that was better left asleep. Our very first game, Star Traders RPG, took hundreds of thousands of gamers on an interstellar adventure. Star Traders’ success and overwhelmingly positive reception helped to launch Trese Brothers Games. It was the adventures of our community’s star-crossed captains that put us on a trajectory to share more of our worlds, ideas, and dreams. We set out to capture the loneliness, bravery, and camaraderie of people living together in a spaceship sailing across the stars. It is with great pride that after releasing four other games in the Star Traders universe, we’ve created a sequel to the original Star Traders RPG. Step onto the bridge of your starship, take to the stars, and create your own story in Star Traders: Frontiers.

About

Northgard

Lead a Viking clan to explore, settle, and conquer a mysterious new continent. Manage resources, assign jobs, and survive harsh winters and dangerous foes. Choose your clan's path to victory through conquest, trade, or devotion.

Highlights
  • Build and manage settlements
  • Assign Vikings to jobs
  • Resource management and survival
  • Territory expansion and discovery
  • Multiple victory conditions
  • Story mode campaign
  • Multiplayer modes
Read full description

Northgard is a strategy game based on Norse mythology in which you control a Clan of Vikings fighting for the control of a mysterious newfound continent. After years of tireless explorations, brave Vikings have discovered a new land filled with mystery, danger and riches: NORTHGARD. The boldest Northmen have set sail to explore and conquer these new shores, bring fame to their Clan and write history through conquest, trading, or devotion to the Gods. That is, if they can survive the dire Wolves and Undead Warriors roaming the land, befriend or defeat the giants, and survive the harshest winters ever witnessed in the North. FEATURES • Build your settlement on the newly discovered continent of Northgard • Assign your vikings to various jobs (Farmer, Warrior, Sailor, Loremaster...) • Manage your resources carefully and survive harsh winters and vicious foes • Expand and discover new territory with unique strategic opportunities • Achieve different victory conditions (Conquest, Fame, Lore, Trading...) STORY MODE: RIG’S SAGA The Viking High King is murdered and his Regal Horn is stolen by a man named Hagen. This event kickstarts a saga that will take Rig, his son and heir accompanied by his right-hand man Brand through the new continent of Northgard. The continent where he will make new friends and foes and discover a much greater threat than Hagen, and the reasons behind his father’s assassination. MULTIPLAYER • Play with or against other Mobile players with up to 6 players • Includes Duel, Free for All and Teamplay modes CHOOSE YOUR CLAN In order to complete the 11 campaign chapters, the player will have to master the specificities of the 6 first clans and tame the unforgiving wilderness of Northgard. More clans are joining the fight for Northgard! • Clan of the Snake: Act from the shadows and take the lead with cunning guerilla tactics • Clan of the Dragon: Embrace the old ways and please the gods with sacrifices • Clan of the Kraken: Harness the bounty of the sea and unleash its brutal might You can unlock the clans of the Snake, Dragon and Kraken separately by buying the DLCs, or together with the Scale Bundle. • Clan of the Horse: Devote yourself to the art of blacksmithing and craft powerful Relics • Clan of the Ox: Equip ancestral equipment and prove the might of your forefathers • Clan of the Lynx: Adopt Nature’s way and lure mythical preys into ambushes You can unlock the Clans of the Horse, Ox and Lynx separately by buying the DLCs, or together with the Fur Bundle. • Clan of the Squirrel: Gather ingredients to prepare special recipes and survive the harsh winters • Clan of the Rat: Embrace the way of the Shamans and work for the clan • Clan of the Eagle: Occupy a large territory, venture outside and gather resources Unlock the clans of the Squirrel, Rat and Eagle separately by buying the DLCs, or together with the Winter Bundle. Carefully redesigned for mobile • Revamped interface • Game Center achievements • iCloud - Share your progress between iOS devices If you experience any issue with Northgard, please contact our customer support at support@playdigious.mail.helpshift.com and give us as much as possible information on your problem.

Screenshots

Star Traders4 screens
Northgard4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Star Traders at none against Northgard's 12. Star Traders also leads on review sentiment (73% vs 61%) and price ($6.99 vs $7.99). Northgard's advantage is ratings volume (3.7K vs 674) and chart position (#14 vs #49). On rating, update cadence, ads 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

Star Traders costs $6.99 and Northgard $7.99 up front. Northgard sells 12 one-off in-app purchases. Star Traders asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Star Traders against 4.6 for Northgard. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Northgard has 3.7K ratings behind it against 674, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 73% of Star Traders's written reviews are positive against 61% of Northgard's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Star Traders ships an update every 3 weeks, Northgard every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Star Traders versus Northgard: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStar TradersNorthgard
Price$6.99 — better$7.99
Rating4.6 (674 ratings)4.6 (3.7K ratings) — better
Positive reviews73.0% of reviews — better61.4% of reviews
Number of ratings6743.7K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#49#14 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.1 — better13.6
Further details — not scored
Size316 MB892 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperTrese BrothersPlaydigious

Customer experience

Star Traders

All ratings668 ratings
Positive88.8%
Neutral2.7%
Negative8.5%
Written reviews222 reviews
Positive73.0%
Neutral6.8%
Negative20.3%

Northgard

All ratings3,606 ratings
Positive90.2%
Neutral3.2%
Negative6.6%
Written reviews1,052 reviews
Positive61.4%
Neutral11.5%
Negative27.1%

User reviews

Star Traders

From 674 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🌟 Impressive depth and complexity
  • 🌍 Vast open-world with endless possibilities
  • 🔍 Engaging story and lore
  • 🤖 Diverse gameplay options (trading, exploration, combat, etc.)
  • 🕹️ Satisfying ship and crew management

Room to improve

  • 🤔 Steep learning curve, lacks clear tutorials
  • 🔍 Repetitive or tedious aspects in late game
  • 📱 UI/UX issues on smaller mobile devices
  • 🎲 Frustrating RNG elements and difficulty spikes
  • 🔒 Lack of cloud save functionality

Northgard

From 3.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great game
  • 👍 Fantastic strategy game
  • 👍 Challenging and fun
  • 👍 Excellent port to mobile
  • 👍 Lots of replayability

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes
  • 🐛 Buggy menus and UI
  • 🔋 Battery draining
  • 🐛 Glitchy audio
  • 🐛 Saves getting deleted

Bugs and requests

Star Traders

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crew combat screen UI issues causing accidental input
  • Reputation/faction system bugs leading to unexpected outcomes
  • Crashes and freezes when navigating certain screens
  • Inconsistent behavior with ship component upgrades

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to customize ship colors and appearances
  • Option to command/control multiple ships as a fleet
  • More end-game content and progression systems
  • Improved UI scaling and optimization for larger screens
  • Cloud save/sync functionality across devices

Northgard

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Game crashes frequently
  • Menus and UI are buggy
  • Audio glitches and cuts out
  • Saves get deleted unexpectedly
  • Multiplayer is unreliable
Show 1 more
  • Achievements are not working properly

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add multiplayer mode
  • Improve tutorial and instructions
  • Add controller support
  • Optimize performance and stability
  • Add Chinese language support
Show 1 more
  • Improve clan/unit selection and management

In-app purchases

None

Star Traders

No in-app purchases

12 purchases

Northgard

One-time12
  • Clan of the Rat$2.95
  • Clan of the Squirrel$2.99
  • Clan of the snake$2.99
Show 9 more
  • Clan of the Dragon$2.99
  • Clan of the Horse$2.99
  • Clan of the Ox$2.99
  • Clan of the Kraken$2.99
  • Clan of the Lynx$2.99
  • Clan of the Eagle$2.99
  • Scale Bundle$6.99
  • Fur Bundle$6.99
  • Winter Bundle$6.99

Questions

Is Star Traders free?
Star Traders costs $6.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Northgard free?
Northgard costs $7.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Star Traders or Northgard?
Northgard is rated higher. Star Traders averages 4.6 out of 5 from 674 ratings, while Northgard averages 4.6 from 3.7K ratings.
Do Star Traders or Northgard have ads?
Neither Star Traders nor Northgard shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Star Traders or Northgard?
Star Traders ships an update every 3 weeks, and Northgard every 6 weeks. Most recently, Star Traders was updated on October 29, 2026 and Northgard on October 31, 2026.
Which is more popular, Star Traders or Northgard?
Star Traders currently peaks at #49 in the App Store charts, and Northgard at #14. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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