Comparison

Strategery vs Hexsweeper 3D

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

Head to head
About

Strategery

Engage in a rapid world domination game on your iOS device. Compete against AI or friends in strategic battles with customizable options and randomly generated maps for endless replayability.

Highlights
  • Offensive and defensive strategy gameplay
  • Play for short or long sessions
  • Four difficulty settings
  • Online battles with matchmaking
  • Pass-and-play multiplayer
  • Automatically saves games
  • Randomly generated maps
  • Customizable gameplay options
Features
Read full description

Dominate the world. One blob at a time. World domination isn't a very fashionable ambition these days, but that doesn't mean you can't pretend. Strategery is a battle between your pegs and the green, orange, blue, and red blobs that dare to stand in your way. It's also a little bit of App Store history. Strategery first launched in 2008, back when the App Store was barely a few months old. Macworld named it the Best Strategy Game of 2009. Slate called it their latest iPhone gaming habit. Daring Fireball said the gameplay had a great feel. And a Macworld reviewer named Lex Friedman wrote that there was no game he played on his iPhone more. That reviewer now makes Strategery. Life is funny. HOW IT'S PLAYED The world is made of blobs. Every blob holds pegs — your pegs, ideally. Pick a blob you own, point at a neighboring blob you don't, and roll. More pegs, better odds. Win the roll and the blob changes color. Lose it and, well, you still have your other blobs. Keep going until the whole map is your color and everyone else is looking for the rematch button. Your turn, your dice, your questionable decisions Bigger stacks of pegs win more rolls. Usually. Every blob you hold earns you more pegs Last color standing dominates the world. Politely. THREE WAYS TO CONQUER Solo: Play against the computer. It has no friends, no feelings, and no plans this evening. It will happily lose to you all night. (Or not. You choose how clever it gets to be.) Online: Play against your friends. Take turns from wherever you are. A push notification lets you know when it's your move, or when someone has done something regrettable to your blobs. Pass and play: One phone, one couch, several rivals. Hand it over, let them try, and try not to gloat. CLASSIC OR CHAOS Classic is the game you remember: dice, blobs, and your own poor judgment. Chaos adds starred blobs. Capture one and the wheel spins. Your conquest has consequences. Either way, you pick how much world there is to dominate. A WAR WITH NO CASUALTIES Blobs don't bleed. Pegs don't feel pain. Nothing explodes, nobody gets hurt, and the only thing that ever gets conquered is a colorful shape on a map. Somebody's pride may be wounded when you take their last blob, but that's between the two of you. For iPhone and iPad. Contains no violence, several dice, a healthy number of blobs, and a reasonable amount of whimsy. Strategery was originally designed by Sumul Shah, Courtland Idstrom, and Peter Ju. This version comes from Lex Friedman, who is one person and would be delighted by a rating or review. It's not strategy. It's Strategery.

About

Hexsweeper 3D

Experience a classic puzzle game on a unique spherical hexagonal grid. Navigate a 3D globe, deduce mine locations based on numbered faces, and clear the board. Enjoy a visually stunning and completely offline gameplay experience with multiple themes.

Highlights
  • Hexagonal grid on a 3D sphere
  • Tap to clear, long-press to flag
  • Numbers count up to six
  • Spin and zoom controls
  • Multiple visual themes
  • Offline play
  • Autosave progress
Features
Read full description

Minesweeper you already know, on a board you have never seen: a hexagonal grid wrapped around a 3D sphere. Spin the globe, read the numbers, and clear every safe face. There are no edges to hide against and no corners to save you. HOW IT PLAYS • Tap to clear a face. Long-press to place a flag where you think a mine is. Your first clear is always safe. • Every face touches six neighbors, so numbers count up to six — cleaner deduction than squares. • Drag to spin, pinch to zoom. The board is a closed Goldberg sphere: five sizes from a quick 162 faces to a 2,252-face slog. • Undo a bad tap. Progress autosaves; close the app mid-game and pick it up where you left it. NINE LOOKS, ONE TAP AWAY Light and Dark for a clean read, then a set of mirrored materials rendered live: Stratosphere (a sky drifting across the shell), Mercury (smoked liquid metal with gilded flags), Ion Storm, Aurora, Galaxy, Gilded Ribbon, and Heat Lightning. Cleared faces open onto the material beneath. QUIET BY DESIGN • Entirely offline. No account, no ads, no analytics, nothing to accept. • A quiet bar — undo, new sphere, flag — and one settings sheet for theme, board size, warning style, drag inversion and effects. Nothing else on screen but the sphere. • Share card of your finished board. Free and complete. Just minesweeper, with better geometry.

Screenshots

Strategery4 screens
Hexsweeper 3D4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Hexsweeper 3D at Free against Strategery's $4.99. Hexsweeper 3D also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.9) and in-app purchases (none vs 2). Strategery's advantage is ratings volume (342 vs 1) and chart position (#38 vs unranked). On update cadence, 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

Hexsweeper 3D is free to download; Strategery costs $4.99 up front. Strategery sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Hexsweeper 3D asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Hexsweeper 3D holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Strategery has 342 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly daily. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Strategery versus Hexsweeper 3D: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStrategeryHexsweeper 3D
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating3.9 (342 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews68.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings342 — better1
Update frequencyDailyDaily
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#38 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size53 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLex FriedmanLanguageCraft

Customer experience

Strategery

All ratings342 ratings
Positive71.6%
Neutral2.6%
Negative25.7%
Written reviews478 reviews
Positive68.2%
Neutral7.1%
Negative24.7%

Hexsweeper 3D

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Strategery

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Game freezes when opponent is eliminated
  • Armies disappear after switching apps
  • Cannot log in or create account
  • Game crashes on newer iOS versions

Requested features

8 requests
  • Pinch to zoom for maps
  • More map options and sizes
  • Ability to redeploy armies
  • Online multiplayer with random opponents
  • Ability to play more than 2 players online
Show 3 more
  • Stats and leaderboards
  • Automatic army placement option
  • Ability to skip replay at end of game

Hexsweeper 3D

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Strategery

One-time2
  • $3 tip$2.99
  • War Chest$9.99
None

Hexsweeper 3D

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Strategery free?
Strategery costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Hexsweeper 3D free?
Hexsweeper 3D is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Strategery or Hexsweeper 3D?
Hexsweeper 3D is rated higher. Strategery averages 3.9 out of 5 from 342 ratings, while Hexsweeper 3D averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Strategery or Hexsweeper 3D have ads?
Neither Strategery nor Hexsweeper 3D shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Strategery or Hexsweeper 3D?
Strategery ships an update daily, and Hexsweeper 3D daily. Most recently, Strategery was updated on October 2, 2026 and Hexsweeper 3D on September 28, 2026.

Other comparisons