Comparison

Vactics vs Critical

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

Head to head
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/

About

Critical

Manage a reactor to prevent it from becoming critical by delivering water. Earn money over time to unlock permanent upgrades and improve your survival capabilities. Invest wisely to extend your runs and uncover secrets.

Highlights
  • Reactor management
  • Incremental income generation
  • Permanent upgrades
  • Research and secrets
  • Survival gameplay
Features
Read full description

Stop the reactor from going critical by delivering water. Robots are expensive though, so we use cheap expendable personnel instead. Money earned ramps up incrementally the longer you last. Survive as long as possible to maximize your income! Spend your hard earned cash to unlock permanent upgrades. Invest wisely to make each new run longer than the last. Tons of upgrades to buy, research to be done, and secrets to uncover. Give it a try! The longer you can keep the reactor from exploding, the more money you’ll make. Start small and watch your income grow exponentially as you survive longer and longer. Delay the inevitable cataclysm as long as possible and watch your cashflow go through the roof.

Screenshots

Vactics4 screens
Critical4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Vactics at 71% against Critical's 18%. Vactics also leads on ads (none vs shown). Critical's advantage is rating (4.4 vs 4.0). On price, ratings volume, update cadence 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Vactics sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 3 months and Critical sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Critical holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 56 and 147 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 71% of Vactics's written reviews are positive against 18% of Critical's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Vactics ships an update every 3 weeks, Critical fortnightly. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Vactics versus Critical: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVacticsCritical
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (56 ratings)4.4 (147 ratings) — better
Positive reviews70.9% of reviews — better18.2% of reviews
Number of ratings56147 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size309 MB99 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperGerard DelaneyWaffleStack Studio LLC

Customer experience

Vactics

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

Critical

All ratings125 ratings
Positive84.0%
Neutral4.8%
Negative11.2%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive18.2%
Neutral18.2%
Negative63.6%

Bugs and requests

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

Critical

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Vactics

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

Critical

One-time10
  • 100 Gems$4.99
  • Starter Pack$9.99
  • Remove All Ads$9.99
Show 7 more
  • 225 Gems$9.99
  • Pro Pack$9.99
  • Pro Pack$14.99
  • New Player Sale$14.99
  • 500 Gems$14.99
  • 800 Gems$19.99
  • 3000 Gems$39.99

Questions

Is Vactics free?
Vactics is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Critical free?
Critical is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Vactics or Critical?
Critical is rated higher. Vactics averages 4.0 out of 5 from 56 ratings, while Critical averages 4.4 from 147 ratings.
Do Vactics or Critical have ads?
Critical shows ads; Vactics does not.
Which is updated more often, Vactics or Critical?
Vactics ships an update every 3 weeks, and Critical fortnightly. Most recently, Vactics was updated on November 3, 2026 and Critical on November 3, 2026.

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