Tempire vs Reef Encounter
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Tempire
Experience a unique blend of chess and real-time strategy. Compete against friends or AI in fast-paced matches. This game offers an ad-free, free-to-play experience.
- Chess variation
- Real-time action
- Online multiplayer
- AI opponent
- Ad-free gameplay
- Free to play
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Tempire is a variation on chess that brings tense real-time action to the classic turn-based board game. Play online with friends or against challenging AI, all for free and without ads. Tempire was made by Greg March and Matthew Jee, with music by Jacob Rhein.
Reef Encounter
Grow the largest corals and feed them to your parrotfish to score points. Strategically place coral larvae, defend against attacks, and use algae to strengthen your corals. The game ends when coral hierarchies are set or a player's parrotfish consumes four corals.
- Grow and strengthen corals
- Feed corals to parrotfish for points
- Place coral larvae
- Defend corals from attacks
- Recycle defeated polyps
- Use algae to strengthen corals
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In Reef Encounter the aim is to grow the largest and strongest corals on the reef and then to feed these to your parrotfish in the brief time available. Points are awarded at the end of the game for the number and type of polyps that your parrotfish has consumed. Each turn new coral larvae drift into the game. Larva cubes allow players to play their polyp tiles onto the boards and create new and larger corals. Shrimps will then colonize these corals and protect the corals from attack. A coral consists of one or more connected polyp tiles. Corals that are two or more polyps in size may attack other weaker types of coral. Polyps from a defeated coral can be recycled as new polyps or alternatively used to obtain alga cylinders or larva cubes. It is the alga cylinders, which will strengthen some types of corals relative to the other types. An alga cylinder can also fix the hierarchy between two particular types of coral for the remainder of the game. Reef Encounter will usually end once the hierarchy of all the corals is established or once one player's parrotfish has consumed four corals.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Tempire at Free against Reef Encounter's $2.99. Tempire also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.0). On ratings volume, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
Tempire is free to download; Reef Encounter costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Tempire holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively.
Tempire ships an update every 23 months, Reef Encounter every 25 months. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Tempire | Reef Encounter |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $2.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | 3.0 (1 ratings) |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 23 months — better | Every 25 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 13 MB | 78 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Matthew Jee | ycyclop games |
Customer experience
Tempire
Reef Encounter
In-app purchases
Tempire
No in-app purchases
Reef Encounter
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Tempire free?
Is Reef Encounter free?
Which has better reviews, Tempire or Reef Encounter?
Do Tempire or Reef Encounter have ads?
Which is updated more often, Tempire or Reef Encounter?
Other comparisons
