Comparison

Warlands vs Empire_mobile

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

Head to head
About

Warlands

Engage in turn-based strategic combat to conquer territories and achieve global domination. Deploy diverse units across varied terrains and challenge up to seven opponents locally or online.

Highlights
  • Turn-based strategy gameplay
  • World domination objective
  • Multiplayer (local & online)
  • Two unit types (attack/defense)
  • Six territory types
  • Multiple map styles and sizes
Features
Read full description

Warlands is a turn-based strategy game where your goal is to destroy your enemies and take over the map until you achieve total world domination. You can play up to 7 other people or computers, either on the same device or over the internet. You are able to place two different types of units (one that is better at attacking, and one that is better at defending), and there are six different types of territory: plains, impassable mountains, treacherous water, defensive towers, cunning forests, and unit production centers. The free base game comes with three styles of maps in three sizes each. Additional map packs can be purchased for 99 cents. Purchase of any map pack removes advertisements. Full instructions at WarlandsGame.com --------- Map Packs: The Divided Lands - Includes spiral, layers, and cubes maps The High Seas - Includes fire-islands, whirlpool, and water-world maps The Desolate Country - Includes bases, rapid-growth, and continents maps

About

Empire_mobile

Engage in a turn-based strategy war game on a computer-generated map. Capture cities to produce units for offense and defense, aiming to eliminate your opponent. Games can be lengthy and saved across sessions.

Highlights
  • Turn-based strategy gameplay
  • Computer-generated maps
  • City capture and production
  • Unit production (armies, fighters, ships)
  • Exploration and tactical combat
  • Save and resume games
Features
Read full description

Empire is a strategy and tactics war game, pitting you against the computer. The game is played on a computer generated map that contains land areas, sea areas, and cities. The object of the game is to eliminate the opponent by capturing cities and destroying the enemy forces. Cities once captured have production capability, and can produce units such as armies, fighters, destroyers, submarines, or carriers for offense or defense. Of course, the computer is trying to crush your forces and take over the world, as are you. Early in the game, exploration is most predominant, followed later by planned offensives and holding actions, till eventual victory or defeat. Warning, typical games can take as long as ten hours, and some people find the game addictive. The program keeps the game state in a disk file, and a single game usually takes multiple computer sessions. Since you can store the game on some cloud service (e.g. iCloud) you may also continue a game with the Mac version of Empire (https://apps.apple.com/de/app/empire/id1287139467?mt=12) and vice versa. Special credit goes to the author of the original game, Walter Bright.

Screenshots

Warlands4 screens
Empire_mobile4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Empire_mobile at none against Warlands's 3. Empire_mobile also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (4.3 vs 4.1). Warlands's advantage is ratings volume (197 vs 6). On price, review sentiment, update cadence 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

Both are free to download. Warlands sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Empire_mobile asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Empire_mobile holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Warlands has 197 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 67% and 67% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Warlands versus Empire_mobile: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWarlandsEmpire_mobile
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (197 ratings)4.3 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews67.4% of reviews — better66.7% of reviews
Number of ratings197 — better6
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better12.1
Further details — not scored
Size23 MB10 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperW-Cubed Studios, LLCFrank-Peter Poschmann

Customer experience

Warlands

All ratings167 ratings
Positive73.7%
Neutral9.0%
Negative17.4%
Written reviews92 reviews
Positive67.4%
Neutral12.0%
Negative20.7%

Empire_mobile

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Warlands

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • Game freezes on home screen at startup
  • Buttons unresponsive on launch screen
  • App crashes 30 seconds after opening
  • Troop placement lag and loading delays
  • Screen flashing during enemy turns causing headaches
Show 7 more
  • Camera launching into blank space when zooming
  • Fog of war causing performance issues
  • Game crashes when changing match settings
  • Hexes not accepting troop placement
  • In-app purchase system not working
  • DLC maps unable to be purchased
  • Notifications not working properly

Requested features

16 requests
  • Custom map creation tool
  • Additional unit types (cavalry, faster units)
  • Castle and bridge construction mechanics
  • Team/alliance gameplay modes
  • Campaign mode or story progression
Show 11 more
  • More maps and game modes
  • Faster AI turn speed options
  • Real-world map packs (continents, countries)
  • Better damage system explanation
  • Improved graphics and textures
  • Battle music and sound effects
  • Discord integration for finding opponents
  • Ability to freely move camera during AI turns
  • Remove ads option or ad-free purchase
  • Team battle functionality
  • Larger map sizes

Empire_mobile

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Warlands

One-time3
  • Map Pack - The Divided Lands$0.99
  • Map Pack - The High Seas$0.99
  • Map Pack - The Desolate Country$0.99
None

Empire_mobile

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Warlands free?
Warlands is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Empire_mobile free?
Empire_mobile is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Warlands or Empire_mobile?
Empire_mobile is rated higher. Warlands averages 4.1 out of 5 from 197 ratings, while Empire_mobile averages 4.3 from 6 ratings.
Do Warlands or Empire_mobile have ads?
Warlands shows ads; Empire_mobile does not.
Which is updated more often, Warlands or Empire_mobile?
Warlands ships an update every 2 months, and Empire_mobile every 2 months. Most recently, Warlands was updated on October 23, 2026 and Empire_mobile on October 24, 2026.

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