Comparison

Reef Encounter vs Summoner Wars Online

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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.

About

Summoner Wars Online

Engage in strategic fantasy battlefield combat by summoning units and outmaneuvering opponents. Build custom decks with countless unit types and spells to challenge players online or play through single-player campaigns.

Highlights
  • Online multiplayer matches
  • Custom deck builder
  • Single-player story campaigns
  • AI opponent challenges
  • Summoning units
  • Fantasy battlefield combat
Features
Read full description

Summoner Wars is the exciting card game of fantasy battlefield combat that puts you in the role of a powerful summoner. Display your tactical prowess by summoning units to your gates, outmaneuvering your opponent, and cutting down the enemy summoner. Countless unit types, a wide variety of spells and abilities, and the option to build your own decks, all make for a game sure to entertain, play after play. • Challenge other players in online matches. • Create custom decks using the deck builder. • Play your way through single-player story campaigns. • Hone your skill against an AI opponent. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Reef Encounter4 screens
Summoner Wars Online4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Summoner Wars Online at Free against Reef Encounter's $2.99. Summoner Wars Online also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.0) and update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 25 months). Reef Encounter's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.6). On ads 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

Summoner Wars Online is free to download; Reef Encounter costs $2.99 up front. Summoner Wars Online sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Reef Encounter asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Summoner Wars Online holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Summoner Wars Online has 112 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Reef Encounter ships an update every 25 months, Summoner Wars Online every 4 weeks. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Reef Encounter versus Summoner Wars Online: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReef EncounterSummoner Wars Online
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating3.0 (1 ratings)4.7 (112 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—79.7% of reviews
Number of ratings1112 — better
Update frequencyEvery 25 monthsEvery 4 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size78 MB252 MB
Age rating4+9+
Developerycyclop gamesPlaid Hat Games LLC

Customer experience

Reef Encounter

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%

Summoner Wars Online

All ratings112 ratings
Positive91.1%
Neutral2.7%
Negative6.3%
Written reviews64 reviews
Positive79.7%
Neutral3.1%
Negative17.2%

Bugs and requests

Reef Encounter

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Summoner Wars Online

Reported bugs

10 issues
  • Menu navigation traps - unable to exit shop or deck editor without closing app
  • Game crashes to main menu during gameplay
  • Story mode crashes and deletes campaign progress
  • Tutorial crashes before completion
  • AI freezes and becomes unresponsive mid-game
Show 5 more
  • Server connection losses during matches
  • No sound output on some devices
  • Dynamic Island screen coverage on iPhone 15
  • Sign in with Apple authentication failure
  • Occasional random crashes with ability to continue from same point

Requested features

12 requests
  • Russian language translation
  • Hard difficulty level for AI
  • Difficulty scaling for single-player AI
  • Ability to resign from matches
  • Offline mode support
Show 7 more
  • Bundle deals for in-app purchases
  • Improved matchmaking system with lobby
  • Win/loss-based ranking progression
  • More single-player story content
  • Better forum/community support outside Discord
  • Local multiplayer support
  • Improved UI intuitiveness for menu navigation

In-app purchases

None

Reef Encounter

No in-app purchases

10 purchases

Summoner Wars Online

Subscriptions1
  • 1 Month Subscription$2.991 Month
One-time9
  • Vanguards Faction$3.99
  • Eternal Council Faction$3.99
  • Crimson Order Faction$3.99
Show 6 more
  • Cave Goblins Faction$3.99
  • Polar Dwarves Faction$3.99
  • Cloaks Faction$3.99
  • Savanna Elves Faction$3.99
  • Fallen Kingdom Faction$3.99
  • Deepwood Groaks Faction$3.99

Questions

Is Reef Encounter free?
Reef Encounter costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Summoner Wars Online free?
Summoner Wars Online is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Reef Encounter or Summoner Wars Online?
Summoner Wars Online is rated higher. Reef Encounter averages 3.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Summoner Wars Online averages 4.7 from 112 ratings.
Do Reef Encounter or Summoner Wars Online have ads?
Neither Reef Encounter nor Summoner Wars Online shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Reef Encounter or Summoner Wars Online?
Reef Encounter ships an update every 25 months, and Summoner Wars Online every 4 weeks. Most recently, Reef Encounter was updated on November 3, 2026 and Summoner Wars Online on November 3, 2026.

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