Comparison

Despot's Game vs Vactics

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

Head to head
About

Despot's Game

Build a dystopian army and guide them through a challenging labyrinth. This roguelike strategy game focuses on item and mutation choices, with automatic combat. Permadeath means starting over, but a secret multiplayer mode awaits those who conquer the game.

Highlights
  • Army building
  • Item and mutation customization
  • Automatic combat
  • Roguelike/roguelite gameplay
  • Permadeath with world regeneration
  • Secret multiplayer mode
Features
Read full description

Available for free: 4 levels of the game and 10 attempts per day in Brawl mode. The full version can be unlocked with one payment in the game. *Supported Devices: iPhone 8 Plus, Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (2015) and above. iPod Touches are not supported. Let's play a game: I'll give you some puny humans, and you try to help them make it through my labyrinth. No, you won't be controlling them in battles - they'll fight automatically! My game is about strategy and praying to RNGesus, not mashing buttons. You can buy items for the humans: swords, crossbows, coffins, stale pretzels. Plus, I'll let you give them cool mutations! A few Topochlorians in the blood and some Crocodile Skin never hurt anyone. There's one catch, though: if you die, you have to start over entirely, and the whole world will be generated again from scratch. Yes, my game is a roguelike game. Well, roguelite, if you're a nerd who loves compartmentalizing us creators into strict genres. I almost forgot: my game has a multiplayer mode, too! But I'm not going to tell you anything about it, because King of the Hill is a special secret multiplayer mode that only unlocks once you beat the game. * sincerely, with disrespect for puny humans, your local evil AI: d'Spot

About

Vactics

Engage in tactical, chess-like combat by building powerful mechs to battle robotic enemies. Face randomly generated challenges and fight for a better future in this strategic warfare game.

Highlights
  • Mech building
  • Tactical chess-like combat
  • Randomly generated challenges
  • Mech and tech upgrades
  • Extended campaign
  • Leaderboard competition
Features
Read full description

Build the mech to fight against robotic Vactics in tactical chess-like combat. The war is already over and the heroes of the city have fallen. Take on a new randomly generated challenge every time you play and join with the citizens to fight for a better future. Vactics is designed to let you play as much as you like and upgrade to the full version at any time. Unlocking the pro version of the game provides: • Access to all 18 mech types and dozens of additional tech modifiers. • Access to the full 24 colour palettes to choose from with custom app icons each. • An extended campaign with additional enemy types and areas to fight through. • An additional phase to the campaign with the true ending and all the co-pilots. • The daily district challenge where you can compete with others on the leaderboards. • Much more to discover.... -- Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Despot's Game4 screens
Vactics4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Vactics at 4.0 against Despot's Game's 3.4. Vactics also leads on review sentiment (71% vs 36%) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 13.0). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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

Both are free to download. Despot's Game sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Vactics sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 3 months. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Vactics holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 119 and 56 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 36% of Despot's Game's written reviews are positive against 71% of Vactics's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Despot's Game ships an update monthly, Vactics every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Despot's Game versus Vactics: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDespot's GameVactics
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.4 (119 ratings)4.0 (56 ratings) — better
Positive reviews36.4% of reviews70.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings119 — better56
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size456 MB309 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperTINYBUILD LLCGerard Delaney

Customer experience

Despot's Game

All ratings119 ratings
Positive59.7%
Neutral8.4%
Negative31.9%
Written reviews198 reviews
Positive36.4%
Neutral8.6%
Negative55.1%

Vactics

All ratings56 ratings
Positive73.2%
Neutral8.9%
Negative17.9%
Written reviews55 reviews
Positive70.9%
Neutral12.7%
Negative16.4%

User reviews

Despot's Game

From 119 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Epic game, epic difficulty
  • 🚀 Fun without end!
  • 👍 Great game, different
  • 👍 Nice game

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes around level 7-8
  • 🐛 Crashes frequently, losing progress
  • 🐛 Crashes on start
  • 🐛 Crashes, can't save progress
  • 🐛 Crashes, unplayable

Vactics

From 56 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💡 Innovative gameplay mechanics
  • 👍 Deep tactical gameplay
  • 🎨 Gorgeous art style
  • 🎶 Excellent synthwave score
  • ✨ Well-balanced gameplay

Room to improve

  • 💰 High price for pro version
  • 💸 Expensive subscription options
  • 😩 Frustrating paywall
  • ❓ Lacking tutorial explanations
  • 🐌 Slow restart function

Bugs and requests

Despot's Game

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes on start
  • Crashes during gameplay
  • Crashes, losing progress

Requested features

3 requests
  • Add save/continue option
  • Fix crashes
  • Lower the price

Vactics

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Combo attack bonus cancelled by heavy landing
  • "Restore purchases" not working after update
  • Cannot equip more than one ability
  • Inconsistent combat: adjacent Vactic not hitting
  • Cannot mount one tech in Chassis and one in Engine
Show 1 more
  • Line-of-sight for ranged enemies unclear

Requested features

20 requests
  • Add more upgrades
  • Add more game modes
  • Add online co-op
  • Add infinite wave competition
  • Add diverging paths on map like FTL
Show 15 more
  • Add small story elements at decisions
  • Add new enemies and technologies
  • Add a big boss
  • Add Russian language support
  • Improve tutorial clarity
  • Faster restart function
  • Option to confirm selection before moving
  • More customization options for mechs
  • Unlock more mechs for free
  • Add wallpapers in the art style
  • Support for lowercase game text
  • Option to change palettes easily
  • Save progress on runs
  • Adjustable difficulty settings
  • Add more content

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Despot's Game

One-time1
  • Despot's Game: Full Version$9.99
2 purchases

Vactics

Subscriptions1
  • Subscribe to Vactics Pro$2.993 Months
One-time1
  • Vactics Pro$8.99

Questions

Is Despot's Game free?
Despot's Game is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Vactics free?
Vactics is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Despot's Game or Vactics?
Vactics is rated higher. Despot's Game averages 3.4 out of 5 from 119 ratings, while Vactics averages 4.0 from 56 ratings.
Do Despot's Game or Vactics have ads?
Neither Despot's Game nor Vactics shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Despot's Game or Vactics?
Despot's Game ships an update monthly, and Vactics every 3 weeks. Most recently, Despot's Game was updated on October 20, 2026 and Vactics on October 24, 2026.

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