Comparison

Drop Duchy vs Hold the Tile!

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

Head to head
About

Drop Duchy

Experience a unique blend of deckbuilding, puzzle, and rogue-lite gameplay. Build a realm by strategically placing tiles, gather resources, and lead your troops to reclaim enemy territory. Each run offers a fresh challenge with procedural generation and meta-progression.

Highlights
  • Deckbuilding, puzzle, and rogue-lite gameplay mix
  • Strategic tile placement for resource maximization
  • Real-time strategy combat and territory reclamation
  • Procedurally generated game experiences
  • Meta-progression with over 90 challenges
  • Over 110 unique cards for deck building
  • Three playable factions: The Duchy, The Order, The Republic
Features
Read full description

[TRY BEFORE YOU BUY!] A beloved PC game, now coming to mobile. Metacritic: 83. Very Positive on STEAM - 90%. Drop Duchy takes the iconic geometric puzzle gameplay we all know and love and gives it a fresh perspective: instead of simply clearing lines, you build a realm. A mix of deckbuilding, puzzle and rogue-lite, designed to hone your appetite as a block-stacking tactician. Place tile pieces as you would in a block-dropping game, but align them to maximize their activation rules. Set the right structures next to lush forests, wild rivers and grassy plains to pull out maximum resources and units. Then gather your troops, reclaim the regions under enemy control, and storm the enemy fortress along branching, decision-filled paths. Let your castle take too much damage and the run ends - but defeat is not the end: jump straight back in with a new strategy, and use the experience gained to unlock even more content. Grow in power with over 110 unique cards, trade with markets and guilds, and climb a meta progression of over 90 missions tied to three playable factions: The Duchy, The Order and The Republic. Adapt, conquer, and keep the action moving! FEATURES * An original mix of puzzle gameplay and real-time strategy * A brand new game experience with each run thanks to procedural generation * Play with Factions: The Duchy, The Order, The Republic * Meta progression: over 90 challenges designed to help you through your journey * Build the perfect deck with over 110 unique cards * An elegant and charming art direction to please your eyes * An engaging and ever-evolving soundtrack to please your ears * Choose your path between lakes, glades, forests, villages, guilds… and more!

About

Hold the Tile!

Engage in real-time strategy battles in a medieval world. Build your base, command legendary generals with customizable skills, and lead diverse units in tactical squad combat. Explore dynamic battlefields, gather resources, and unleash devastating magic to conquer your opponents.

Highlights
  • Real-time 1v1 strategy battles
  • Base building and defense
  • Customizable legendary generals
  • Squad-based tactical combat
  • Resource gathering and upgrades
  • Devastating magic spells
Features
Read full description

◉ LEAD YOUR ARMY TO VICTORY! Step into a captivating low-poly medieval world where strategy, base-building, and tactical combat collide. Face off in intense, fast-paced 1v1 real-time strategy battles and fight for dominance across ever-changing lands! ◉ EXPLORE & CONQUER DYNAMIC BATTLEFIELDS: No two matches are the same. Explore maps full of tactical opportunities and hidden dangers divided into strategic regions. The entire world is shrouded in the Fog of War - you must scout the unknown terrain to discover resources, locate enemy bases, and plan deadly ambushes. But beware! Ferocious Barbarians guard the map's most valuable, uncharted territories. Defeat these camps to claim rare resources and fuel your war machine. ◉ COMMAND & CUSTOMIZE LEGENDARY GENERALS: Lead your forces with distinct classes of Generals - the Warrior, the Builder, and the Mage. Between matches, earn Skill Points and dive into deep, RPG-style Talent Trees. Customize your playstyle by unlocking powerful abilities. Want to try a new strategy? Reset your skill points at any time to experiment with entirely different builds and adapt to your growing army! ◉ TACTICAL SQUAD-BASED COMBAT: Recruit a diverse roster of units - from steadfast spearmen and swift archers to massive orcs and powerful mages. Group them into squads and march into battle. Manage your troops manually for precise micro-control, or let the auto-battle system handle the frontline. ◉ BUILD, DEFEND AND UPGRADE: A strong army needs a strong economy. Gather wood, iron, and gold to establish your base. Fortify your territory with walls, towers, and strategic bridges to hold off enemy raids. Use your hard-earned coins to permanently upgrade your units and structures. ◉ UNLEASH DEVASTATING MAGIC: Turn the tide of war with powerful spells! Rain down fireballs, summon living trees, or slow your enemies to a crawl. But magic comes at a cost: expand your borders, capture more land, and overwhelm your opponent with arcane supremacy!

Screenshots

Drop Duchy4 screens
Hold the Tile!4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Hold the Tile! at 100% against Drop Duchy's 61%. Hold the Tile! also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and rating (5.0 vs 4.6). Drop Duchy's advantage is ratings volume (36 vs 6). On price, ads, monetization model 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. Drop Duchy sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Hold the Tile! asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Hold the Tile! holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drop Duchy has 36 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 61% of Drop Duchy's written reviews are positive against 100% of Hold the Tile!'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drop Duchy ships an update weekly, Hold the Tile! every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Drop Duchy versus Hold the Tile!: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrop DuchyHold the Tile!
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (36 ratings)5.0 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews60.9% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings36 — better6
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size1.1 GB279 MB
Age rating9+12+
DeveloperDoghowl Games Ltd.Mikhail Vartanov

Customer experience

Drop Duchy

All ratings36 ratings
Positive86.1%
Neutral5.6%
Negative8.3%
Written reviews23 reviews
Positive60.9%
Neutral8.7%
Negative30.4%

Hold the Tile!

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Drop Duchy

One-time2
  • Base Game Offer$8.99
  • Base Game$9.99
None

Hold the Tile!

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Drop Duchy free?
Drop Duchy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Hold the Tile! free?
Hold the Tile! is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Drop Duchy or Hold the Tile!?
Hold the Tile! is rated higher. Drop Duchy averages 4.6 out of 5 from 36 ratings, while Hold the Tile! averages 5.0 from 6 ratings.
Do Drop Duchy or Hold the Tile! have ads?
Neither Drop Duchy nor Hold the Tile! shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Drop Duchy or Hold the Tile!?
Drop Duchy ships an update weekly, and Hold the Tile! every 3 days. Most recently, Drop Duchy was updated on October 21, 2026 and Hold the Tile! on October 7, 2026.

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