# Total War vs THE MACHINE

The clearest difference is price: THE MACHINE at Free against Total War's $14.99. THE MACHINE also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 2 months). Total War's advantage is ratings volume (7.4K vs 1) and chart position (#59 vs unranked). On rating, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

THE MACHINE is free to download; Total War costs $14.99 up front. Total War sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and THE MACHINE sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Total War against 5.0 for THE MACHINE. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Total War has 7.4K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

Total War ships an update every 2 months, THE MACHINE daily. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Total War | THE MACHINE |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $14.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | [4.9 (7.4K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/total-war-medieval-ii/id1477203766/reviews) | **[5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-machine-assembly/id6808324017/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **7.4K** | 1 |
| Positive reviews | 77.4% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Daily** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | **#59** | — |
| Size | 1.9 GB | 12 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 16.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Feral Interactive Ltd](https://appshunter.io/developer/402470125) | [IAN FABIAN FAGERSTROM](https://appshunter.io/developer/6808324019) |

## What reviewers say

### Total War

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/total-war-medieval-ii/id1477203766)

**Currently charting:** #59 Top Paid · Strategy, #177 Top Paid · Games (US App Store)

Experience grand strategy and massive real-time battles set in the Middle Ages. Lead one of 17 playable factions to conquer continents through diplomacy, trade, or warfare. An expansion adds more factions and campaigns across diverse regions.

**Highlights:** Massive real-time battles, Intricate turn-based strategy, 17 playable factions, Diplomacy, trade, and subterfuge, Kingdoms expansion with new campaigns, Asynchronous multiplayer campaigns

**Features:** Family Sharing

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kingdoms Expansion | $6.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Best Total War Game
- 👍 Wonderful game!
- 👍 Creative Assembly's Masterpiece Goes Mobile
- 👍 Top tier mobile game
- 👍 Brilliant game

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes every other battle on IPad Pro
- 🐛 Glitchy
- 🐛 Crashes often
- 🐛 Naw it needs mad fixing
- 🐛 Troop placement bugs

**Reported bugs**

- Crashes every other battle on IPad Pro
- Glitchy
- Crashes often
- Naw it needs mad fixing
- Troop placement bugs

**Requested features**

- Bring back titles
- New Feature : Civil War
- DLC
- Expansion
- Need more units


### THE MACHINE

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-machine-assembly/id6808324017)

Engage with a mechanical puzzle box focused on experimentation and understanding cause and effect. Install and reorder parts to observe signal flow and solve objectives. Discover new hardware and deeper systems as the machine awakens.

**Highlights:** Mechanical puzzle box gameplay, Experimentation and cause/effect mechanics, 34 unique mechanism families, Stateful, order-sensitive puzzles, Tuning and Fusion systems, Offline play, Single optional purchase for full content

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| THE MACHINE | $4.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Total War free?

Total War costs $14.99, and also offers in-app purchases.

### Is THE MACHINE free?

THE MACHINE is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Total War or THE MACHINE?

THE MACHINE is rated higher. Total War averages 4.9 out of 5 from 7.4K ratings, while THE MACHINE averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.

### Do Total War or THE MACHINE have ads?

Neither Total War nor THE MACHINE shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Total War or THE MACHINE?

Total War ships an update every 2 months, and THE MACHINE daily. Most recently, Total War was updated on November 1, 2026 and THE MACHINE on September 29, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*