Comparison

Ascension vs Subterfuge

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

Head to head
About

Ascension

A skill-based physics puzzle platformer where players navigate a cube through increasingly difficult stages to reach the top. Earn stars to unlock new chapters, characters, and cosmetic items. Compete with others on leaderboards and challenge friends.

Highlights
  • Skill-based physics puzzles
  • Four challenging chapters
  • Star reward system
  • Unlockable avatars and characters
  • Global and weekly leaderboards
  • Player challenges
  • In-game store for resources
Features
Read full description

ASCENSION HAS RETURNED! Just like the original, “It’s Hard, You’ve Been Warned!” A skill based challenge that provides endless hours of fun! Who can reach the top? Is it you? There's only one way to find out! After a long break, that was way too long, the much anticipated platform game is available once again on the App Store. This unique physics based puzzle platformer will challenge you to skillfully ASCEND TO THE TOP! Chapter 1 is where it all begins; as you navigate your cube through stages of increasing difficulty and funky colored platforms, you will be challenged to discover unique and exciting ways to clamber to the top, at least at first. Remember, there may be more ways than one to ascend! Earn three stars in every stage and unlock a super duper secret never before seen, special stage (SDSNBSSS). ;D GAMEPLAY: With four brand new chapters, this challenging platformer is guaranteed to teach you new ways to look at puzzles and discover methods you never thought possible to reach the top. Utilizing a traditional star reward system you will unlock 84 unique and challenging stages, the better your time the more stars you earn. Our goal to keep a clutter free gameplay screen has been achieved with a minimalistic HUD for maximum views in this fun and exciting tactical jumpmaster game. REPLAYABLE: As you increase your skill and learn new techniques you can easily return to previous levels to use those skills and achieve better Ascension times earning more stars and better rewards. CONTROLS: Utilizing standard mobile joystick controls you can create unique, face smashing, movements to optimize your timing with endless jump patterns. The ability to adjust your movements mid air will help you perfect those spot-on landings. PATH TO ASCENSION: This is our player progression reward system. As you gain experience and complete each level you are rewarded with unique Avatars, Visual Packs (V-Packs), Chests, Coins, Gems, Luck, and Characters. The final reward is a very sought after EPIC Character, all you have to do is play. CUSTOM VISUALS: While you play through, do so in style! With distinctive, consistently updated avatars and characters you can show your friends and family how much you have accomplished and complete your collection. LEADERBOARDS: Show off your best time and try to ascend to the top. Can you reach number one on the weekly leaderboard or are you the ultimate competitive person and strive for the top of the all time leaderboards? ACHIEVEMENTS: Bragging rights! If you have the skill to put forth the effort to achieve these goals you will be able to show off your points and challenge friends and family. Collect all achievement cards before anyone you know. CHALLENGES: Challenges allow you to challenge other players to beat your leaderboard score or complete a specific achievement. Challenge others by long pressing their name and selecting 'Send a Challenge'. STORE: A place where you can purchase in-game resources, Chests, V-Packs, Avatars, Characters, daily specials and other fancy things to make your experience special. LUCK SYSTEM: ?? We don’t know how this got here or what it does, but it must be a good thing...right? Good Luck...see what I did there? How can we improve your Ascension? Have your voice heard: ideas@piqued.studio PLANNED ADDITIONS: MISSIONS: Quick daily challenges to help boost your level and put some special rewards in your pocket. MORE ACHIEVEMENTS: More bragging rights! FOLLOW US: @PiquedStudio on Twitter and Instagram u/PiquedStudio on Reddit Please rate us 5 stars to keep updates coming! We appreciate your support! If you find a bug or something isn’t quite right or you just need a friend to talk to, PLEASE contact us: support@piqued.studio or at https://Piqued.Studio/contact-us THANK YOU: If you have read this far you deserve a reward, please enter this code in the Promo Code section in settings and receive an exclusive avatar: BECAUSEIREADTHISWHOLETHINGIGOTANAVATAR...COOL

About

Subterfuge

Engage in a week-long real-time strategy and diplomacy game. Gather intelligence, coordinate with others, and issue orders to influence the game's outcome. Master both strategic planning and player negotiation to achieve victory.

Highlights
  • Week-long real-time gameplay
  • Strategy and diplomacy mechanics
  • Intelligence gathering
  • Order issuance
  • Player coordination
  • Unlimited scheduled orders (with IAP)
  • Private game creation (with IAP)
Features
Read full description

• Multiplayer Game of the Year 2015 by Pocket Tactics * • Best Mobile Games of 2015 by CNET * Subterfuge is a week-long multiplayer game of strategy, diplomacy, and betrayal that plays out in real time. Check in for ten minutes, a few times a day: read the sonar, schedule your orders, and reply to the ally who insists the fleet massing on your border is "purely defensive." Then close the game and get on with your day while your plans execute. BUY ONCE, PLAY ANYWHERE Buying the game on mobile gives you full access to the Steam version. DRIVE THE TIME MACHINE Drag the Time Machine forward and watch tomorrow unfold. See where every visible sub will be, how combat resolves, and what your factories will have produced by Thursday. Then, schedule your own orders to execute at any moment, hours or days ahead. Launch the invasion at 4:12 a.m. without setting an alarm but remember everyone else has a Time Machine too. DEPTH THAT FITS AROUND YOUR LIFE A game of Subterfuge lasts a week or more, but a session lasts minutes. It was designed by two new parents who wanted Diplomacy-grade scheming without giving up their evenings. The strategy happens in your head and on your schedule. THE REAL MAP IS THE OTHER PLAYERS Every alliance, border pact, joint strike, and deception in Subterfuge happens in chat. None of it is enforced by the game. A treaty is worth exactly as much as the person who signed it, intel is worth exactly as much as its source, and the player feeding you sonar reports may be feeding your rival the same. Winning means reading people as sharply as you read the map. NO DICE. NO LUCK. ONLY PEOPLE. The Time Machine can show you tomorrow because there is no randomness. Every battle can be forecast down to the last driller before it happens. Recruit powerful specialists to tilt the math and bend the rules. The only truly unknowable variable in Subterfuge is human intention. COMMUNITY CROSSPLAY SINCE 2015 Join a cross-platform player pool that has kept Subterfuge alive and updated for over a decade. Play the same game from your desk and your phone. Open the war room on a second monitor at work, then answer a treacherous counter-offer from the school pickup line. A TYPICAL WEEK • Day 1: Nine polite introductions. Four proposed alliances. One of them is sincere. • Day 2: You and your neighbor agree to keep borders demilitarized. You both start counting drillers. • Day 4: Your ally proposes a joint strike on the olive. Olive has just proposed the same about your ally. • Day 5: Drill a mine. Sonar picks up a "defensive" fleet drifting towards it, thirty hours out. Plenty of time. You schedule your counter, draft two very different messages, and head to lunch. • Day 6: The trap you scheduled yesterday ago springs mid-meeting, exactly as planned. You watch it from your desk and say nothing. • Day 7: Trap closed. Olive's mine captured. • Day 8: Victory. Your former ally sends a simple message: "Well played. Rematch?"

Screenshots

Ascension4 screens
Subterfuge4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Subterfuge at none against Ascension's shown. Subterfuge also leads on update cadence (every 10 days vs every 19 months) and ratings volume (586 vs 6). Ascension's advantage is iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.0). On price, rating, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Both are free to download. Ascension sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Subterfuge sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Ascension against 4.7 for Subterfuge. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Subterfuge has 586 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ascension ships an update every 19 months, Subterfuge every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Ascension versus Subterfuge: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAscensionSubterfuge
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (6 ratings) — better4.7 (586 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings6586 — better
Update frequencyEvery 19 monthsEvery 10 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS11.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size822 MB47 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPiqued SolutionsSecret Plan LLC

Customer experience

Ascension

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Subterfuge

All ratings585 ratings
Positive93.2%
Neutral1.2%
Negative5.6%

Bugs and requests

Ascension

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Subterfuge

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • Queen randomly loses hire points
  • Win conditions don't trigger
  • Login screen freezes
  • Game crashes on launch
  • Notifications arrive late
Show 2 more
  • Unable to delete subs on iOS
  • Touchscreen issues (not centered, wrong button presses)

Requested features

13 requests
  • Accelerated gameplay
  • Shorter game modes
  • Alliance feature
  • More specialists
  • New game modes
Show 8 more
  • Ability to view player profiles during game
  • Option to privately tag players
  • Refresh button
  • Ability to delete subs on iOS
  • NAP Breaker medal
  • Customizable backgrounds and items
  • Dark mode option
  • Advanced analytics dashboard

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Ascension

One-time10
  • Remove Ads$2.99
  • Star Key - Chapter 1$2.99
  • Star Key - Chapter 2$2.99
Show 7 more
  • Star Key - Chapter 3$2.99
  • Star Key - Chapter 4$2.99
  • Starter Pack$9.99
  • Welcome Pack$19.99
  • Season's Spoils$24.99
  • Vault of Gems$99.99
  • Completionist$149.99
4 purchases

Subterfuge

Subscriptions1
  • Patron (L3)$4.991 Month
One-time3
  • Medal$0.99
  • Pack of 5 Medals$4.99
  • Level 2 Security Clearance2 variants$9.99

Questions

Is Ascension free?
Ascension is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Subterfuge free?
Subterfuge is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Ascension or Subterfuge?
Ascension is rated higher. Ascension averages 4.8 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while Subterfuge averages 4.7 from 586 ratings.
Do Ascension or Subterfuge have ads?
Ascension shows ads; Subterfuge does not.
Which is updated more often, Ascension or Subterfuge?
Ascension ships an update every 19 months, and Subterfuge every 10 days. Most recently, Ascension was updated on October 23, 2026 and Subterfuge on October 22, 2026.

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