Cell Expansion Wars vs Strain
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Cell Expansion Wars
Engage in strategic cellular warfare with simple controls. Defend your cells, counterattack enemy territory, and utilize unique abilities like multiplying tentacles and healing allies. Explore mini-games and compete on leaderboards.
- Simple controls
- Line multiplying cells
- Attacking and defensive cells
- Supportive items
- Unique mini-games
- Achievements and leaderboards
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With the simplest control, players can operate various strategies (Attack, Defense, Heal). Defend your cells from enemy attacks then counterattack to take control of enemies' cells. [Features] - Easy controls - With line multiplying cells, Players can stretch more tentacles. - Attacking cells can give more damage to enemies. - Defensive cells can regain the health of allies cells. - Various supportive items that help players - Various and unique mini-games. - 16 languages supported. - Achievement& leaderboard supported. - Tablet PC devices supported. Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/mobirixplayen YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/user/mobirix1
Strain
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Spread your strain. Infect every cell. Conquer the host. Strain is a fast, gorgeous strategy game played in bite-sized matches. Tap your cells and swipe to send swarms. Capture neutral cells to grow faster, overwhelm rival strains and finish the job before the immune response wipes you out. EASY TO PLAY, HARD TO MASTER • Tap to select, swipe to send. Matches take just a few minutes • Reactors replicate twice as fast, bunkers resist capture, relays fling swarms across the map • Dodge antibodies that eat your units in transit A LONG CAMPAIGN • Dozens of hand-tuned strains with smarter, perk-powered rivals • Boss hosts every five levels • Rank up from Spore to Pandemic and unlock permanent perks POWER UP & CUSTOMIZE • Pre-match boosts like Adrenal Shot and Time Dilation • Mid-match injections to stall rivals or surge your cells • Colors, cell spines and wave trails to make your strain unique PLAY ANYWHERE • Daily rewards and missions • Works fully offline, no account needed Strain is free to play. Optional in-app purchases are available for Plasma and the Founder Pack.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Strain at none against Cell Expansion Wars's shown. Strain also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 5 weeks). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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
Both are free to download. Cell Expansion Wars sells 6 one-off in-app purchases and Strain sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Cell Expansion Wars ships an update every 5 weeks, Strain daily. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Cell Expansion Wars | Strain |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (1.7K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 59.2% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1.7K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | Daily — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 154 MB | 13 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | MOBIRIX | Wisdom Entertainment LTD |
Bugs and requests
Cell Expansion Wars
Reported bugs
4 issues- Freezing issues
- Disappearing cell connections
- Unfair level scaling
- Crashes at certain levels
Requested features
4 requests- Level editor
- Multiplayer mode
- Rewards for completing levels
- Better progression system
Strain
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Cell Expansion Wars
- 300 Gold item$2.99
- 500 Gold item$4.99
- 1100 Gold item$9.99
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- 3600 Gold item$29.99
- 6500 Gold item$49.99
- 15000 Gold item$99.99
Strain
- Vial of Plasma$1.99
- Flask of Plasma$4.99
- Founder Pack$4.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Tank of Plasma$9.99








