Comparison

Sword & Glory vs Gladiator Manager

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

Head to head
About

Sword & Glory

Embark on a text-based adventure where every choice matters, leading to glory or a swift end. Experience permadeath, challenging combat, and deep character customization. Define your legacy by the causes you champion and the opponents you defeat.

Highlights
  • Permadeath with legacy titles
  • Branching text adventures
  • Challenging combat system
  • Character customization
  • Home village upgrades
  • GameCenter leaderboards and achievements
Features
Read full description

What would you be willing to die for? Live life by the sword. Defend the honor of you clan, amass fortunes or seek glory through defeating worthy opponents. Live your life to the fullest, for one day, as all men must, you will heed the raven's call... Permadeath You WILL die, the only question is what for. At death, your actions will be judged and you'll be awarded a title, such as “the Brave”, “the Greedy” or “the Silver King”, and more. Choose Your Cause Branching text adventures let you choose the causes for which you fight. Simple but challenging combat system The combat is a form of rock, paper and scissors combined with timing and judging the relative strenghts and weaknesses of the combatants. Customization Character creation, perks, equipment and home village upgrades provide plenty of opportunities to customize your character, your story, and your fighting style. Includes GameCenter leaderboards and achievements ***** "Sword & Glory delivers what it promises: glory to be had, and life and death by the sword." - toucharcade.com, 4.5/5 Stars "Go get Sword & Glory immediately" - PocketTactics

About

Gladiator Manager

Manage, train, and battle gladiators in ancient Rome. This turn-based simulation game focuses on strategic decisions, resource management, and tactical combat. Ascend to become Rome's finest lanista by winning matches, unlocking gear, and navigating a corrupt arena system.

Highlights
  • Manage and train gladiators
  • Turn-based tactical auto-battles
  • Strategic resource and roster management
  • Bribe, scout, sabotage rivals
  • Customize gear, techniques, and traits
  • Grow estate and influence skill tree
Features
Read full description

Level up your gladiators and dominate the arena! Manage, battle, bribe, and ascend to become Rome’s finest Lanista. Free to play. No ads. In-app purchases for more content. No pay-to-win. Gladiator Manager is a turn-based management sim set in ancient Rome, where tactical auto-battles reward smart decisions over reflexes. Hire and train gladiators with unique traits. Handle injuries, develop skills, balance egos, and survive in a corrupt arena system full of intrigue and betrayal. Win matches to gain influence, unlock better gear, and enter tougher tournaments. Lose, and your best fighters may be gone forever. - Bribe, scout, sabotage, or assassinate your rivals - Die, restart, and ascend to insane difficulties - Plan technique-based combat - Strategic resource, influence, and roster management - Customize gear, techniques, traits, and loyalty - Grow your estate and build out your influence skill tree - Undertake quests, survive raids, make hard calls Earn gems by completing in-game achievements. Use them to unlock new weapons, tournaments, buildings, quests, and features. If you’d like to speed things up, there are two optional in-app purchases: Pouch of Gems and Chest of Gems. Need help or want to share tactics? Join 9,000+ lanistas on Discord: https://discord.gg/H95dyTHJrB

Screenshots

Sword & Glory4 screens
Gladiator Manager4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Gladiator Manager at every 2 weeks against Sword & Glory's every 6 months. Sword & Glory's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.3) and ratings volume (971 vs 260). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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. Sword & Glory sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and Gladiator Manager sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sword & Glory holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 971 and 260 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 83% of Sword & Glory's written reviews are positive against 81% of Gladiator Manager's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sword & Glory ships an update every 6 months, Gladiator Manager every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Sword & Glory versus Gladiator Manager: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSword & GloryGladiator Manager
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (971 ratings) — better4.3 (260 ratings)
Positive reviews83.5% of reviews — better80.7% of reviews
Number of ratings971 — better260
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size194 MB44 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperIfelse Media Ltd.Rene Slump

Customer experience

Sword & Glory

All ratings962 ratings
Positive92.7%
Neutral2.6%
Negative4.7%
Written reviews242 reviews
Positive83.5%
Neutral7.0%
Negative9.5%

Gladiator Manager

All ratings260 ratings
Positive81.5%
Neutral6.9%
Negative11.5%
Written reviews161 reviews
Positive80.7%
Neutral8.7%
Negative10.6%

User reviews

Sword & Glory

From 971 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great game
  • 👍 Unique and interesting
  • 👍 Addictive gameplay
  • 👍 Challenging combat
  • 👍 Immersive atmosphere

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Bugs and glitches
  • 🔋 Crashes and freezes
  • 🔒 Progression loss on death
  • 🔒 Unfair enemy difficulty
  • 🔒 Repetitive quests

Gladiator Manager

From 260 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Fun gameplay
  • 🚀 Addictive and engaging
  • 💎 Great value for free-to-play
  • 🎨 Beautiful visuals

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Bugs and crashes
  • ⚠️ Unbalanced difficulty
  • 🔍 Missing features compared to Android version
  • 🕹️ Clunky UI/UX

Bugs and requests

Sword & Glory

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Outfit/equipment glitches
  • Enemies clipping through terrain
  • Progression loss on crashes
  • Unresponsive combat controls

Requested features

7 requests
  • More content updates
  • New weapons and armor
  • Difficulty settings
  • Checkpoint system
  • Clan/faction expansion
Show 2 more
  • Character customization
  • Multiplayer/co-op mode

Gladiator Manager

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Disappearing gladiators
  • Aqueduct construction issue
  • Crashes when viewing battle reports
  • Scaling issues on larger devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Multiplayer mode
  • More content updates
  • Ability to customize gladiators
  • Better progression system
  • Improved balance and difficulty scaling

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Sword & Glory

One-time4
  • 800 Epic Points$2.99
  • 3000 Epic Points$7.99
  • 10000 Epic Points$19.99
Show 1 more
  • 18000 Epic Points$29.99
2 purchases

Gladiator Manager

One-time2
  • Pouch of gems$3.99
  • Chest of gems$7.99

Questions

Is Sword & Glory free?
Sword & Glory is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Gladiator Manager free?
Gladiator Manager is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Sword & Glory or Gladiator Manager?
Sword & Glory is rated higher. Sword & Glory averages 4.7 out of 5 from 971 ratings, while Gladiator Manager averages 4.3 from 260 ratings.
Do Sword & Glory or Gladiator Manager have ads?
Neither Sword & Glory nor Gladiator Manager shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sword & Glory or Gladiator Manager?
Sword & Glory ships an update every 6 months, and Gladiator Manager every 2 weeks. Most recently, Sword & Glory was updated on October 21, 2026 and Gladiator Manager on October 25, 2026.

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