Comparison

Colony Master vs Starward

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

Head to head
About

Colony Master

Manage an ant colony by adding new ants, merging them to improve efficiency, and directing them to gather food. Tap to accelerate their actions and clear obstacles.

Highlights
  • Add new ants
  • Merge ants
  • Increase ant speed
  • Gather food
  • Destroy obstacles
Features
Read full description

Add new ants, merge them and make them work faster to access food. Tap tap to speed them up, destroy earth and food.

About

Starward

Features
Read full description

Fling glowing orbs around a gravity well, merge nine celestial tiers, and chase a Supernova — without letting the well breach the horizon. Drag around the launcher ring, release to fire, and collide matching orbs. Dust becomes Sparks, then Comets, Moons, Planets, Giants, Stars, Novas, and Quasars. Bring two Quasars together to trigger a Supernova. PLACEMENT MATTERS The well is not a passive container. Reusing one launch sector builds dangerous strain, crowded orbits get harder to control, and a careless shot can end the run. Cross-orbit merges score more and relieve pressure, so moving around the ring beats tapping from one safe spot. BUILD MOMENTUM Merges charge a timed Star Rush for double score. Starting a Rush banks an Orbit Shift — a limited rescue that repositions the pile without deleting any pieces. A three-orb lookahead queue and Swap make every launch a decision. WHAT'S INSIDE • Endless runs you can pause and resume • A ranked Daily with a mission, leaderboard, and streak — every player gets the same board • Reach Nova and Reach Quasar goal modes • Gravity Well, Twin Suns, and Pulsar arenas, each with its own physics • A nine-tier Star Atlas, achievements, and arena mastery • Flight School tutorial, replayable How to Play, and a clear reason every time a run ends • Sound, haptics, and result sharing • No ads, ever FREE AND PRO The ranked Daily is always free for everyone. Free players also get three casual runs a day, and those runs can use any mode or arena — Endless, both goal modes, and all three arenas — with the full Star Atlas, achievements, and the standard orb palettes included. GO PRO Unlimited casual runs with no daily cap (Pro), the premium Nebula, Prism, and Obsidian orb palettes (Pro), and a cumulative prestige rank on your menu (Pro). Unlock Starward with a one-time purchase, or take the StackForge Play Pass subscription to unlock Pro in every StackForge game, plus One Good Thing. Prices and terms are shown before you buy, and you can manage or cancel a subscription anytime in your Apple ID settings. Terms: https://stackforgestudios.com/terms Privacy: https://stackforgestudios.com/privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Colony Master3 screens
Starward4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Starward at none against Colony Master's shown. Colony Master's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs fortnightly) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). On price, in-app purchases 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. Colony Master sells 18 one-off in-app purchases and Starward sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Colony Master ships an update every 4 days, Starward fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Colony Master versus Starward: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterColony MasterStarward
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (427 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews5.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings427 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterFortnightly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size140 MB52 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperUpperpik Oyun Yazilim ve Pazarlama Ticaret Anonim SirketiStackForge Studios

Bugs and requests

Colony Master

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Ads cannot be skipped or disabled
  • Game crashes or becomes unplayable due to ads

Requested features

2 requests
  • Remove forced ads
  • Improve gameplay to make it more engaging

Starward

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

18 purchases

Colony Master

One-time18
  • Kickstart Pack$1.99
  • 10 Tickets!$1.99
  • Manager$2.99
Show 15 more
  • Engineer$2.99
  • Money Fountain Pack$2.99
  • 20 Tickets$2.99
  • Financier$3.99
  • Big Deal Pack$3.99
  • Royal Treasury Pack$4.99
  • 50 Tickets$4.99
  • No Ads$4.99
  • Bundle$5.99
  • Treasury Trove Pack$5.99
  • 30 Tickets & No Ads$5.99
  • Mega Bundle$7.99
  • Big Vault Pack$8.99
  • Ultra Bundle$10.99
  • Big Chest Treasure$11.99
3 purchases

Starward

Subscriptions2
  • StackForge Play Pass Monthly$2.991 Month
  • StackForge Play Pass Annual$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Starward Full Game Unlock$4.99

Questions

Is Colony Master free?
Colony Master is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Starward free?
Starward is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Colony Master or Starward have ads?
Colony Master shows ads; Starward does not.
Which is updated more often, Colony Master or Starward?
Colony Master ships an update every 4 days, and Starward fortnightly. Most recently, Colony Master was updated on October 22, 2026 and Starward on October 25, 2026.

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