Comparison

Slay vs Starbase Orion

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

Head to head
About

Slay

Engage in a turn-based strategy game set in medieval times. Conquer enemy territories, expand your own, and strategically upgrade your units from peasants to powerful barons. Balance resource management to avoid bankruptcy and achieve victory.

Highlights
  • Territory capture and expansion
  • Unit upgrades (Peasants to Barons)
  • Strategic combat and castle sieges
  • Resource management and bankruptcy risk
  • Turn-based multiplayer
  • AI opponents
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Slay is a simple to learn game of strategy and cunning set in medieval times. The island is divided up between the six players, and you must try to capture your enemies' land and link up your own territories to create larger and stronger ones. You begin capturing land by attacking with your peasants. Once your territories become richer you can combine peasants to make stronger and stronger people (Spearmen, Knights and then Barons) who can kill weaker enemy troops, or knock down their castles. Just be careful that you don't create too many expensive men or the territory will go bankrupt! "This game is pure strategy! It's a work of genius. Brilliant AI. Engaging turn-based multiplayer strategy. Sid Meier, eat your heart out!" - GameSpy.com "I love this game! I play it all the time, and when I'm not, I think about wanting to play it." - PocketNow.com "At first glance, Slay looks elementary, but hidden beneath are cunning strategy elements that must be finely balanced for success" - PC Magazine "Deceptively delightful. The graphics are simple, but the strategy is complex." - Download.com For the latest news on all my games follow @SeansGames on Twitter!

About

Starbase Orion

Engage in a deep 4X space strategy experience. Explore, expand, and conquer the galaxy by colonizing worlds, designing ships, and outmaneuvering opponents in turn-based combat. Features a robust AI and multiplayer options for galactic domination.

Highlights
  • Explore new worlds
  • Expand your empire
  • Exterminate rivals
  • Design custom ships
  • Engage in turn-based combat
  • Diplomacy and espionage
  • Multiplayer via GameCenter
Features
Read full description

"The best 4X game currently available for mobile" - PocketTactics.com "This one is geek heaven" - AppAdvice.com "Master of Orion in Your Pocket” - GamePro.com "Starbase Orion has an epic-feeling" - TouchArcade.com "Starbase Orion is here, and it's glorious." - TUAW.com Explore. Expand. Exterminate. Can you defeat your friends and become the ruler of the galaxy? Starbase Orion is an old-school 4X space strategy game that draws inspiration from titles such as Master of Orion and Galactic Civilizations. Lead your empire from the birth of its space age; colonize new worlds, explore new horizons, and discover other players attempting to do the same. It is a race to the stars where only one empire can declare victory over the galaxy. New to 4X Strategy Games? No Problem Starbase Orion includes a hand tailored tutorial mission perfect for those new to the genre. It features high-quality voice acting provided by the very talented Maurice Thomas. Aged like a Fine Wine With nearly a five year life span the dedicated community of Starbase Orion players and the developer have produced twenty-four fantastic updates. Each update has introduced new features and player suggested functionality to make the game better, more strategic, and more immersive. Strong Single-Player Experience Compete against a battle-tested artificial intelligence. Our AI was derived from our entry into to 2010 Google AI contest, where it placed in the top 15% of thousands of competing intelligences. Go head-to-head against a single AI opponent, or ramp up the carnage with a 4 way free-for-all. GameCenter Multiplayer Turn-Based Games Starbase Orion was designed to provide a fantastic multiplayer experience. Launch the game, sign into GameCenter, and start a new multiplayer game. No need to coordinate play times or seek out other players. Just go play, when you want and on your terms. Choose Your Race, Or Create Your Own There are five uniques races included; Human, Draske, Vass, Cyban, and Isather. You can also create your own custom race by picking and choosing between different race characteristics. Intense Space Combat Design your ships from a variety of weapons, hull, and systems. Send them into battle against the enemy. Give them orders, then watch the battle in unfold as they duke it out in the dark expanses of space. Diplomacy, Espionage, Free Agents Direct confrontations not your cup of tea? Negotiate your way to victory through diplomatic endeavors. Confound your enemies with an army of spies. Contract one of the many power and unique leaders to help you to victory. iCloud Support Starbase Orion is built from the ground up for iOS 5. It supports iCloud so that your saved games are instantly available on all of your devices. Start a game at home on your iPad, then pick it up again the next day on your iPhone. Simple, streamlined, fantastic. Universal - You Bought the Cool Gadgets, Go Play on Them Full support for iPad, iPhone, iPod, standard and Retina displays. Play when you want, where you want. Guaranteed Pricing While it is quite common for apps to become “free for a day”, Starbase Orion is not one of those apps. The standard price for Starbase Orion is $7.99 USD; it will never run a “free for a day” campaign. Tens of thousands of players have placed their confidence in us by purchasing Starbase Orion, and this is our guarantee to you. Guaranteed Free Updates We have a lot more planned for Starbase Orion. We plan to release all updates for free, without any hidden fees or In-App Purchases.

Screenshots

Slay4 screens
Starbase Orion4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Starbase Orion at none against Slay's 13. Slay's advantage is price ($4.99 vs $7.99) and chart position (#140 vs unranked). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence 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

Slay costs $4.99 and Starbase Orion $7.99 up front. Slay sells 12 one-off in-app purchases. Starbase Orion asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Slay against 4.7 for Starbase Orion. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 266 and 329 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 74% of Slay's written reviews are positive against 81% of Starbase Orion's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 months. Both last shipped on October 16, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Slay versus Starbase Orion: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSlayStarbase Orion
Price$4.99 — better$7.99
Rating4.6 (266 ratings)4.7 (329 ratings) — better
Positive reviews74.5% of reviews81.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings266329 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#140 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.011.2 — better
Further details — not scored
Size26 MB239 MB
Age rating9+12+
DeveloperSean O'ConnorChimera Software, LLC

Customer experience

Slay

All ratings266 ratings
Positive90.6%
Neutral2.3%
Negative7.1%
Written reviews537 reviews
Positive74.5%
Neutral6.7%
Negative18.8%

Starbase Orion

All ratings329 ratings
Positive91.2%
Neutral4.9%
Negative4.0%
Written reviews239 reviews
Positive81.2%
Neutral7.1%
Negative11.7%

User reviews

Slay

From 266 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ⭐ Classic and timeless game
  • 🕹️ Simple yet engaging gameplay
  • 🧠 Challenging and strategic
  • ⏱️ Great for quick play sessions
  • 🔁 High replayability with many maps

Room to improve

  • 🎨 Dislike for recent graphical updates
  • 🔍 Difficulty distinguishing territories
  • 🔊 Annoying sound effects
  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs

Starbase Orion

From 329 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent 4x strategy game
  • 👍 Faithful recreation of Master of Orion
  • 🚀 Continuously updated with new features
  • 👍 Vibrant player community
  • 🚀 Smooth gameplay and intuitive controls

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
  • 🔍 Limited diplomacy and foreign relations
  • 🔍 Automated combat lacks depth
  • 🔍 Repetitive late-game experience
  • 🔍 Outdated visuals

Bugs and requests

Slay

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Multiplayer not working
  • Progress not saving in custom levels
  • Graphical issues on newer devices

Requested features

6 requests
  • Option to revert to classic graphics
  • Ability to choose starting color
  • Larger/randomized map sizes
  • Online/multiplayer mode
  • Level editor or custom map creation
Show 1 more
  • Stats tracking and achievements

Starbase Orion

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes and save file corruption
  • UI issues with overlapping text and unresponsive controls
  • Multiplayer matchmaking and connectivity problems

Requested features

5 requests
  • More ship classes and customization options
  • Expanded tech tree and research system
  • Deeper diplomacy and espionage mechanics
  • Manual control of ship combat
  • Improved end-game content and victory conditions

In-app purchases

12 purchases

Slay

One-time12
  • Snowflakes$0.99
  • Countries 1$0.99
  • Countries 2$0.99
Show 9 more
  • Patterns 1$0.99
  • Patterns 2$0.99
  • Patterns 3$0.99
  • Patterns 4$0.99
  • US States$0.99
  • Mythical Creatures$0.99
  • Whole row of 18 pages$9.99
  • Whole 3rd row$9.99
  • Whole 4th row$9.99
None

Starbase Orion

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Slay free?
Slay costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Starbase Orion free?
Starbase Orion costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Slay or Starbase Orion?
Starbase Orion is rated higher. Slay averages 4.6 out of 5 from 266 ratings, while Starbase Orion averages 4.7 from 329 ratings.
Do Slay or Starbase Orion have ads?
Neither Slay nor Starbase Orion shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Slay or Starbase Orion?
Slay ships an update every 3 months, and Starbase Orion every 3 months. Most recently, Slay was updated on October 16, 2026 and Starbase Orion on October 16, 2026.

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