Comparison

Strategery vs Nonogame

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
Currently charting
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

Nonogame

Solve logic puzzles by filling in squares based on number clues to reveal a hidden picture. Offers daily puzzles of varying difficulty, competitive features with friends, and customization options. An optional subscription unlocks archives, curated collections, and endless play.

Highlights
  • Daily logic puzzles (small, medium, large)
  • Picture reveals as you solve
  • Competitive features with friends
  • Customizable themes and modes
  • Offline play available
  • Optional subscription for more content
Features
Read full description

Nonogame is a clean, quiet place to play nonograms (also called picross or griddlers): the logic puzzles where the numbers along the edges tell you which squares to fill, and a picture appears as you solve. THREE PUZZLES A DAY Every day brings a small, a medium, and a large puzzle. They start gentle at the beginning of the week and get harder toward the weekend. Finish all three and the day is done, with your total time and how you compared with everyone else who played. BUILT FOR SOLVING A board that feels like paper. Drag to fill a whole run of squares, switch to cross mode to mark what cannot be filled, and let the app cross out finished lines for you. Turn on confirm mode to pencil in a guess before you commit. Hints when you are stuck, mistakes shown if you want them, and haptics and sound you can turn off. Full support for iPad, including Apple Pencil hover. STREAKS AND FRIENDS Keep a streak for each size and for the day as a whole. Add friends to see who finished today and who was fastest. Twice a week, the Brain Teaser sets one big puzzle for everyone to race. ACHIEVEMENTS More than a hundred achievements to chase, from your first solve to the long streaks. MAKE IT YOURS Four themes, light and dark modes, and seven colours for the app icon. A home screen widget shows today's puzzles and your streak, and Siri shortcuts open the puzzle you ask for. PLAY ANYWHERE Your progress lives in your Nonogame account, so you can pick up on the website exactly where you left off. No account is needed to play the daily puzzles. NONOGAME PLUS Members also get the Archive of every past day, curated Collections to play in any order, and Endless mode for as many puzzles as you like. Subscribe in the app, monthly or yearly. Plus belongs to your Nonogame account, so it works on nonogame.app too. Payment is charged to your Apple Account when you confirm the purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless you cancel it at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel it in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://nonogame.app/privacy

Screenshots

Strategery4 screens
Nonogame4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Nonogame at Free against Strategery's $4.99. Nonogame also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.9) and review sentiment (100% vs 67%). Strategery's advantage is update cadence (daily vs every 5 days) and ratings volume (359 vs 8). On ads, in-app purchases 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

Nonogame is free to download; Strategery costs $4.99 up front. Strategery sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Nonogame sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Nonogame holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Strategery has 359 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Strategery's written reviews are positive against 100% of Nonogame's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Strategery ships an update daily, Nonogame every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Strategery versus Nonogame: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStrategeryNonogame
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating3.9 (359 ratings)5.0 (8 ratings) — better
Positive reviews67.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings359 — better8
Update frequencyDaily — betterEvery 5 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationPaidFreemium — better
Best chart rank#159 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size53 MB51 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLex FriedmanMatt Birchler

Customer experience

Strategery

All ratings348 ratings
Positive71.6%
Neutral2.9%
Negative25.6%
Written reviews498 reviews
Positive67.3%
Neutral7.4%
Negative25.3%

Nonogame

All ratings8 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
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

Nonogame

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
2 purchases

Nonogame

Subscriptions2
  • Plus - Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Plus - Yearly$19.991 Year

Questions

Is Strategery free?
Strategery costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Nonogame free?
Nonogame is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Strategery or Nonogame?
Nonogame is rated higher. Strategery averages 3.9 out of 5 from 359 ratings, while Nonogame averages 5.0 from 8 ratings.
Do Strategery or Nonogame have ads?
Neither Strategery nor Nonogame shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Strategery or Nonogame?
Strategery ships an update daily, and Nonogame every 5 days. Most recently, Strategery was updated on November 1, 2026 and Nonogame on October 31, 2026.

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