# Pointless Wars vs Dragon River

The clearest difference is ads: Pointless Wars at none against Dragon River's shown. Pointless Wars also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). Dragon River's advantage is update cadence (every 10 days vs every 22 months). On price, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Pointless Wars sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Dragon River sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Pointless Wars ships an update every 22 months, Dragon River every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Pointless Wars | Dragon River |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[5.0 (10 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pointless-wars/id6451341413/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **10** | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Every 22 months | **Every 10 days** |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Size | 249 MB | 53 MB |
| Requires iOS | **13.0** | 15.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 9+ | 12+ |
| Developer | [Peter Brumbach](https://appshunter.io/developer/1697628835) | [Haosheng Li](https://appshunter.io/developer/1437181734) |

## What reviewers say

### Pointless Wars

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pointless-wars/id6451341413)

Engage in strategic battles against friends or AI in this multiplayer and single-player war game. Choose your troops and defend your castle across 20 unique levels, or compete in an 8-player tournament. The objective is to have fun battling for no reason.

**Highlights:** Two-player mode, Single-player campaign, 20 unique levels, 8-player tournament mode, Troop selection, Castle defense

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Remove Ads | $1.99 | one-time |


### Dragon River

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/dragon-river-xiangqi/id6803572238)

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Permanent Ad Removal | $4.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Pointless Wars free?

Pointless Wars is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Dragon River free?

Dragon River is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Do Pointless Wars or Dragon River have ads?

Dragon River shows ads; Pointless Wars does not.

### Which is updated more often, Pointless Wars or Dragon River?

Pointless Wars ships an update every 22 months, and Dragon River every 10 days. Most recently, Pointless Wars was updated on October 24, 2026 and Dragon River on October 7, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*