Comparison

Sonoran CAD vs Backburn

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

Head to head
About

Sonoran CAD

This application provides a comprehensive dispatching and records management system for gaming communities. It offers real-time connections, extensive customization options, and integration with in-game features and Discord notifications.

Highlights
  • Cross-platform compatibility
  • Real-time connections
  • In-depth customization
  • Voice commands
  • In-game integration
  • Discord WebHook notifications
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Sonoran CAD is a state of the art, cross-platform, computer automated dispatching and records management system for gaming communities. Sonoran CAD comes complete with real time connections, in-depth customization, voice commands, in-game integration, Discord WebHook notifications and more!

About

Backburn

This offline strategy game lets you plan up to six turns ahead in wildfire scenarios. Compare different decisions, manage resources, and learn from your choices in a fictional environment. Rehearse before advancing to make every turn count.

Highlights
  • Plan six turns ahead
  • Compare strategy branches
  • Manage resources and crews
  • Offline gameplay
  • Thirty authored incidents
  • After-action reports
Features
Read full description

NEW IN 5.0: SEE THE NEXT TURN, UNDO A MISTAKE, TAKE A DAILY INCIDENT • Forecast: the map outlines every cell the fire will reach on your next Advance, and rings any structure that turn would lose. Change an order and the forecast redraws. It is exact for one turn because the game is deterministic. • Undo: step back any order placed since the last Advance, from a single line cell to a burnout. Undo never rerolls the fire. • Daily Incident: one new incident per date, generated on your device. An authored map with the wind turned 30 to 60 degrees and a fresh random sequence, the same for everyone that day. Your first finished attempt counts; practise as often as you like. Build a streak and share a plain-text result card. • Recruit, Standard or Veteran: Recruit slows the fire for learning, Standard is the campaign as you know it, Veteran spreads faster, spots more and makes engines work within two cells of their water target. • Service Record: nineteen commendations, from regime specialist to seven-day streaks, computed on your device. • Field Training that waits for you to act, briefings that introduce each new resource, iPad keyboard shortcuts, VoiceOver map summaries and high-contrast overlays. Make the next turn count. Backburn is an offline wildfire incident-command strategy game for iPhone and iPad, with thirty authored incidents and tools for trying, reviewing and learning from your decisions. COMMAND THE MAP Select and move resources, build line, place water or retardant, burn out from completed line and evacuate housing groups. Each Advance passes twenty minutes. Working crews tire; HOLD lets them recover. An authored weather schedule shows when winds shift, gust fronts arrive, inversions lift and spotting pressure rises. REHEARSE BEFORE ADVANCING Decision Desk resolves the next turn in two copies: your current orders, or crews held in place. Strategy Lab explores up to six turns of three fixed policies. Neither changes your incident or its random sequence. PICK UP WHERE YOU LEFT OFF Every campaign incident and the Daily Incident save their map, orders, weather, clock and random state. Resume from the menu, briefing or Daily screen. Completed incidents can be reopened to review the report. COMPARE YOUR ATTEMPTS A restart keeps one previous attempt per scenario. Compare both recorded timelines and their acres, structures lost and line completed at the same turn. LEARN FROM ACTUAL RESULTS After-action reports state recorded growth, losses, injuries and score, plus any commendation earned. Passing a scenario and extinguishing all fire are different outcomes. The Field Guide explains the real rules, including the forecast, difficulty and Daily Incident. Thirty incident maps across grassland, chaparral, conifer, peat and interface fuels, with seeded spread and spotting, resource rosters and housing groups. Play in landscape on iPhone or iPad. No account, advertising, subscription or in-app purchases; gameplay works offline and progress stays on your device. Backburn is a fictional strategy game with a surface-fire model adapted for play. It is not a real-world fire forecast, emergency tool or professional training. The in-game forecast predicts only this game's next turn. There is no live weather feed, online leaderboard or app-managed cloud synchronization.

Screenshots

Sonoran CAD4 screens
Backburn4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Sonoran CAD at 44% against Backburn's 0%. Sonoran CAD also leads on chart position (#186 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). Backburn's advantage is price ($0.99 vs $2.99). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases 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

Sonoran CAD costs $2.99 and Backburn $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sonoran CAD ships an update every 3 days, Backburn every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Sonoran CAD versus Backburn: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSonoran CADBackburn
Price$2.99$0.99 — better
Rating3.9 (58 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews44.1% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings58 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 4 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
Best chart rank#186 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size404 MB118 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperSonoran Software Systems LLCRobert Corbin

Customer experience

Sonoran CAD

All ratings58 ratings
Positive67.2%
Neutral12.1%
Negative20.7%
Written reviews34 reviews
Positive44.1%
Neutral20.6%
Negative35.3%

Backburn

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

None

Sonoran CAD

No in-app purchases

None

Backburn

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Sonoran CAD free?
Sonoran CAD costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Backburn free?
Backburn costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Sonoran CAD or Backburn have ads?
Neither Sonoran CAD nor Backburn shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sonoran CAD or Backburn?
Sonoran CAD ships an update every 3 days, and Backburn every 4 days. Most recently, Sonoran CAD was updated on October 19, 2026 and Backburn on October 6, 2026.

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