Comparison

Starbase Orion vs Warbits

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

Head to head
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.

About

Warbits

Engage in turn-based strategic combat in a galactic war simulator. Battle through a story-driven campaign, test your skills in challenge modes, and utilize powerful upgrades. Compete online or locally against friends and AI.

Highlights
  • Turn-based strategy gameplay
  • 20-mission campaign
  • 30 challenge missions
  • 16 power-ups
  • Online and local multiplayer
  • Asynchronous gameplay
Features
Read full description

“Possibly the best online multiplayer game ever released for iOS.” -PocketTactics.com Warbits, a war simulator for a better tomorrow. Give peace a fighting chance by settling your differences casualty free. Don't agree with your fellow factions? You don't have to! Put those blasters down, load up Warbits, and virtually crush the opposition! --TURN-BASED STRATEGY-- CAMPAIGN - Battle through 20 missions across 5 unique environments as you unravel the story of a dysfunctional galaxy and the war simulator designed to save it. CHALLENGE MODE - Test your grit against 30 challenging missions at your own pace. 10 Skirmish, 10 Puzzle and 10 unlockable Veteran missions. POWERS - Supercharge your army with 16 game changing power-ups. ONLINE OR LOCAL - Take the fight online with Game Center or play locally against friends and AI opponents. TAG MATCHES - Automatically get matched against players based on the modes you like to play. INSTRUCTION MANUAL - Harken back to the golden age of cracking open a new game with this classic instruction manual: http://riskylab.com/WarbitsManual OTHER FEATURES • Asynchronous gameplay • 40 Custom versus maps • 15 Game Center achievements • Replays & in game messaging • Sync campaign progress with iCloud "Comforted a 4-year-old who was nervous on a flight." -Twitter Follower “I haven't laughed at a game in a long time and this has touched my heart.” -Beta Tester “Is it out yet?” -Twitter Follower 2012 "C'est incroyable." -NeoGAF Member “looks so incredibly generic from the trailer...” -YouTube Comment Follow Risky Lab: https://twitter.com/RiskyLab https://www.facebook.com/warbitsgame

Screenshots

Starbase Orion4 screens
Warbits4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Warbits at $0.99 against Starbase Orion's $7.99. Warbits also leads on iOS requirement (6.0 vs 11.2). 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

Starbase Orion costs $7.99 and Warbits $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Starbase Orion against 4.7 for Warbits. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 329 and 643 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 81% of Starbase Orion's written reviews are positive against 87% of Warbits's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Starbase Orion versus Warbits: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStarbase OrionWarbits
Price$7.99$0.99 — better
Rating4.7 (329 ratings)4.7 (643 ratings)
Positive reviews81.2% of reviews87.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings329643 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.26.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size239 MB178 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperChimera Software, LLCRisky Lab Inc

Customer experience

Starbase Orion

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

Warbits

All ratings643 ratings
Positive92.4%
Neutral2.6%
Negative5.0%
Written reviews365 reviews
Positive87.4%
Neutral3.8%
Negative8.8%

Bugs and requests

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

Warbits

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Starbase Orion

No in-app purchases

None

Warbits

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Starbase Orion free?
Starbase Orion costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Warbits free?
Warbits costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Starbase Orion or Warbits?
Starbase Orion and Warbits are both rated 4.7 out of 5 on the App Store, from 329 and 643 ratings respectively.
Do Starbase Orion or Warbits have ads?
Neither Starbase Orion nor Warbits shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Starbase Orion or Warbits?
Starbase Orion ships an update every 3 months, and Warbits every 3 months. Most recently, Starbase Orion was updated on September 25, 2026 and Warbits on September 29, 2026.

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