Comparison

Vactics vs Close Cities

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

Close Cities

Build beautiful cities on diverse worlds by solving unique puzzles. This relaxing game guides you through 160 levels with a simple tap or drag interface, requiring no architectural knowledge. Conquer each world's challenges and travel through time with its calming soundtrack.

Highlights
  • Build cities on empty maps
  • Solve 160 unique puzzle levels
  • Intuitive tap and drag controls
  • No architectural knowledge needed
  • Travel through different worlds
  • Relaxing music and pace
Features
Read full description

Close Cities is a relaxing logic puzzle: build cities along the roads and give every road exactly the cities it needs. Easy to learn, hard to put down. HOW TO PLAY • The number next to each road shows how many cities it needs. • Every city must touch a road, and it can't be on two roads at once. • Cities can't touch side by side; diagonally is fine. • Tap or drag to build. When a city is valid, it lights up in color. 480 LEVELS, TWO MODES • Kingdoms: travel through different eras of history and build each king's empire. • Empires: cities of different sizes and roads that ask for new combinations. AT YOUR OWN PACE • No timer, no rush: think every move through calmly. • Relaxing music and a clean, charming art style. • Play offline: on the subway, while traveling or before bed. • Stuck? Ask for a hint. FOR EVERYONE • A quick tutorial teaches you the rules in a minute. • If you like sudoku and logic puzzles, you'll love it. • Free, with a one-time purchase to remove ads. Close Cities is made by The Pangry, the creators of Broki.

Screenshots

Vactics4 screens
Close Cities4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Close Cities at 4.8 against Vactics's 4.0. Close Cities also leads on ratings volume (365 vs 56). Vactics's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.0). On price, review sentiment, 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 Close Cities sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Close Cities holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Close Cities has 365 ratings behind it against 56, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 71% of Vactics's written reviews are positive against 69% of Close Cities'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, Close Cities monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Vactics versus Close Cities: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVacticsClose Cities
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (56 ratings)4.8 (365 ratings) — better
Positive reviews70.9% of reviews — better69.4% of reviews
Number of ratings56365 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size309 MB165 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperGerard DelaneyJuan Manuel Altamirano Argudo

Customer experience

Vactics

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

Close Cities

All ratings365 ratings
Positive94.8%
Neutral2.2%
Negative3.0%
Written reviews36 reviews
Positive69.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative30.6%

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

Close Cities

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
4 purchases

Close Cities

One-time4
  • Hints - Small Pack$0.99
  • Hints - Medium Pack$2.99
  • Remove Ads + Hints$4.99
Show 1 more
  • Hints - Big Pack$5.99

Questions

Is Vactics free?
Vactics is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Close Cities free?
Close Cities is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Vactics or Close Cities?
Close Cities is rated higher. Vactics averages 4.0 out of 5 from 56 ratings, while Close Cities averages 4.8 from 365 ratings.
Do Vactics or Close Cities have ads?
Close Cities shows ads; Vactics does not.
Which is updated more often, Vactics or Close Cities?
Vactics ships an update every 3 weeks, and Close Cities monthly. Most recently, Vactics was updated on November 3, 2026 and Close Cities on November 8, 2026.

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