Lead Wars vs Planes Control!
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Lead Wars
Experience a turn-based strategy game that recreates the tactile fun of pencil-and-paper war games. Control units by flicking a virtual pencil on a hand-drawn battlefield, employing strategic moves and precise shots to outwit opponents. Enjoy solo campaigns, multiplayer battles, and map creation.
- Online multiplayer (async/real-time)
- 2-player pass 'n' play
- Single-player vs-CPU
- Single-player campaign
- Map creator
- Instant replays
- Visual 'MoveAid' system
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Lead Wars is a turn-based strategy game requiring smart thinking and physical skill. It simulates the real life paper war games played in the days before portable gaming devices which needed only a pencil, some paper and lots of imagination! • Charted #1 Strategy Game in 60 countries! Control a fleet of planes, tanks and artillery units by taking turns to flick a pencil around a hand-drawn battlefield on a piece of paper, making long curve shots and strategic moves to try and outwit and out-skill your opponent. Reviews: • "The execution is what makes Lead Wars shine. Startlingly unique, a fabulous little game." 4.5/5 - MacReview.com • "Surprisingly deep … from a strategic perspective, Lead Wars is a beautiful achievement” 4/5 - iOS Game Of The Day, GamePro.com • "Some battle are easily solved puzzles, while other start to feel more like chess games." 4/5 - PadGadget Recommended! PadGadget.com • "You'll definitely love this game." 4/5 - TouchReviews.net • If you're looking for a great game to play with friends, we suggest grabbing this one … it really shines on the iPad” - Amber Neely, MacNN.com • “A brilliantly implemented game" - iPhone-Experience.com • iTunes review - djflippy: "Lead Wars has a rare quality; the simulation is actually better than that which it simulates." 5/5 Note this is not your typical path-drawing game - this is a simulation of the real life game played with a real pencil. The flick mechanic works just like it does in real life (try it!): Point a pencil straight down onto some paper, holding it by the top with just one finger. While pressing down firmly, slowly tilt the top of the pencil - beyond a critical angle the tip will suddenly slip away leaving a line drawn on the paper. This line determines your move or shot on the battlefield. Lead Wars simulates this mechanic using the touch-screen as if you're touching the top of a real pencil. See videos of the real life game and Lead Wars in action: http://www.youtube.com/DemonStudiosOfficial Main Features: • Online Multiplayer - battle asynchronously or live real-time • 2-player tabletop / pass 'n' play • Single-player vs-CPU • Single-player Campaign - rise up through the Army ranks • Map Creator - create your own battlefields • Instant Replays - replay all moves and shots in latest turn • 27 Game Center Achievements • Game Center Leaderboards • Training missions and 250+ Campaign missions • Visual 'MoveAid' system and tips for beginners • 16 built-in battlefields, store up to 75 custom maps • Have up to 25 local games on the go at once • Have up to 30 Asynchronous online games on the go • Highly configurable Game Setup • Choice of 4 paper styles + 3 pencil leads • Doodle graphics and verbal sounds - just like the real game! Technical Features: • Universal app supporting Retina Display • Share maps via the system Clipboard • Game Center turn alert push notifications* • Auto-rotating interface - play in any orientation • Allows iPod music in the background * Turn alert sounds and settings can be controlled in Settings | Notifications | Game Center The best thing about playing Lead Wars on your iOS device though is you're not having to rub out your previous moves, there's no arguments whether a shot hit or not and no dangerous flying pencils! The physical dexterity required to make your move makes the game challenging but ultimately more fun and rewarding, particularly when you make that near-impossible curve shot around a wall to win the battle!
Planes Control!
Guide aircraft to safe landings while avoiding hazards like storms and enemy attacks. Control over 60 different planes and helicopters across 13 challenging levels. Engage in aerial combat, fight wildfires, and manage air traffic in this addictive simulation game.
- Draw flight paths for aircraft
- Avoid collisions and environmental hazards
- Pilot over 60 types of planes and helicopters
- Engage in aerial combat
- Fight wildfires with air tankers
- Navigate diverse and challenging levels
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Take control of the sky and land your planes avoiding collisions and enemies. Guide your planes to ensure safe landing in this incredibly easy to learn yet surprisingly addictive game! Get an adrenalin rush while avoiding dangerous collisions, blazing storms and tornadoes, put out forest fire, get ready to repel an attack of enemy fighters and fight off an alien invasion! GAMEPLAY Planes Control is an game with simple controls. Draw lines with your fingers to determine the path each plane will follow as they find their way to land or to engage the enemy. This sounds easy? You will need fast fingers and strategy to manage all your planes and keep the sky under control. AIRCRAFTS You can navigate more than 60 different planes and helicopters including airliners, WWII fighters, jet planes and tilt rotors while playing Planes Control. Beside this, you will enjoy flying the SR-71 Black Bird (the world's fastest plane), the Antonov 225 (the largest aircraft in the world to fly multiple times) and famous combat planes like the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, the F-14 Tomcat or the Apache AH-64 combat helicopter. LEVELS Planes Control has 13 awesome levels for mobile devices plus 6 new levels full of challenges created for tablets. More levels are on the way. • Earn your wings on a holiday resort, guiding your planes and helicopters. • Aerial combat! Shoot down hostile planes and helicopters over the scorching desert. • Air Tankers: Fight wildfires by dropping water with your planes and helicopters. • Storm Carrier landings: Command your military fighters and helicopters between the clouds and rain. • Navigate canyons in the Arizona’s Desert. • Successfully land your Aircraft during a tornado outbreak. • Night landings: Switch your landing lights on and find your way around the airfield. • Keep an eye on emergency calls and give priority landing to the planes that are running out of fuel. • Avoid cargo planes flying around your air space. • Land your planes in the middle of an alien invasion ! READY FOR A CHALLENGE? Earn new and different achievements in every level and challenge yourself to the limit. Please sit back, fasten your seatbelt and enjoy taking control of the sky – download Planes Control now! ⓘ For the latest inside information from Rarepixels: ► Like us at https://www.facebook.com/planesApp ► Visit us at http://rarepixels.com/games/planes-control/ ► Follow us at https://www.twitter.com/planes_control
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Planes Control! at Free against Lead Wars's $2.99. Planes Control! also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.3) and ratings volume (6.8K vs 48). Lead Wars's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and ads (none vs shown). On device support and iOS requirement 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
Planes Control! is free to download; Lead Wars costs $2.99 up front. Planes Control! sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Lead Wars asks for nothing beyond the download.
Planes Control! holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Planes Control! has 6.8K ratings behind it against 48, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 60% of Lead Wars's written reviews are positive against 79% of Planes Control!'s.
Lead Wars ships an update every 2 months, Planes Control! monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Lead Wars | Planes Control! |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.3 (48 ratings) | 4.7 (6.8K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 59.6% of reviews | 79.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 48 | 6.8K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 23 MB | 40 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | DemonStudios | Antonio Calvino Esquer |
Customer experience
Lead Wars
Planes Control!
User reviews
Lead Wars
From 48 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great game!
- 👍 Reminds me of my childhood
- 👍 Fantastic strategy game with a twist
- 👍 Awesome little game
- 👍 Excellent in-depth game
Room to improve
- 🐛 Absolutely Impossible
- 🐛 AI is too good. Unfair
- 🐛 Horrid controls
- 🐛 Waste of money
- 🐛 The way you move units and shoot is just bad
Planes Control!
From 6.8K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fun game
- 👍 Simple yet challenging
- 🚀 Addictive gameplay
- 👍 Good variety of levels
- 🚀 Responsive controls
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and bugs
- 🔋 Drains battery quickly
- 🐛 Progress not saved
- 🐛 Collision detection issues
- 🐛 Planes spawning off-screen
Bugs and requests
Lead Wars
Reported bugs
5 issues- Freezes on second shot
- Game often crashes when restarting a level
- Inconsistent behavior when moving over water
- Occasional crashes
- Incompatible with older devices
Requested features
10 requests- Add more stuff like people
- Add boats, cargo planes, soldiers, and helicopters
- Add a random map option for multiplayer
- Add more units like ships and helicopters
- Add ability to resize sprites in map editor
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- Add stats screen showing wins/losses, total units destroyed, etc.
- Add a full map view and the ability to instant replay the last turn of action
- Add more game types (Capture The Flag, destroy enemy HQ, etc.)
- Add asynchronous online play
- Add ability to flip in-game menu buttons upside down for hotseat play
Planes Control!
Reported bugs
4 issues- Game freezes on iOS 14
- High score not recorded correctly
- Planes colliding off-screen
- Notification bar interfering with gameplay
Requested features
5 requests- More level options and customization
- Ability to pause and resume games
- Improved tutorial and instructions
- Difficulty settings for each level
- Leaderboards and achievements
In-app purchases
Lead Wars
No in-app purchases
Planes Control!
- Pack of 5× Rescue Teams.$0.99
- Unlock all HD Levels$0.99
- Classic levels$0.99
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Unlock "Time Machine" levels!$0.99
- Unlock "10th Anniversary" levels!$0.99
- Three crashes per game.$1.99
- Classic levels and no ads$2.99
- Pack of 20× Rescue Teams.$2.99
- No Ads.$2.99
- Pack of 50× Rescue Teams.$4.99
Questions
Is Lead Wars free?
Is Planes Control! free?
Which has better reviews, Lead Wars or Planes Control!?
Do Lead Wars or Planes Control! have ads?
Which is updated more often, Lead Wars or Planes Control!?
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