Downing Draft vs Instigator
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Downing Draft
Lead your nation as Prime Minister in this replayable political strategy game. Draft a cabinet, set national priorities, and make impactful decisions to shape your legacy. See how your choices play out and compare your performance to historical leaders.
- Draft a cabinet from a deck of candidates
- Assign ministers to government offices
- Set national priorities and economic approach
- Commit to a signature pledge
- Receive a full verdict on your performance
- Share your results easily
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You're the new Prime Minister. A recession is already underway, the public is restless, and the only thing standing between you and history is the government you build. Downing Draft is a quick, replayable political strategy game. Draw your ministers, assign them to the right briefs, set your priorities, and pick the signature pledge that will define your time in office - then watch how your choices play out. HOW IT PLAYS - Name your Prime Minister and party - Draft a cabinet from a rolling deck of candidates - re-roll if you don't like the hand you're dealt - Match ministers to the jobs that suit them across eight great offices of state - Choose your economic approach, governing style and three national priorities - Commit to a signature pledge and live with the consequences YOUR LEGACY When the dust settles you get a full verdict: how many years you survived, your exit approval, your election result, a scorecard across government performance, political capital, cabinet cohesion and your signature policy - plus how you compare to real prime ministers. Share your result with a single tap. Pick up and play in minutes. Optional sign-in with Apple or Google lets you save your progress and personalise your profile. For entertainment only. Player ratings and outcomes are fictional game mechanics, not factual assessments of any real person, party or government.
Instigator
Engage in a satirical strategy game where you manipulate global powers to start wars and conquer nations. Use espionage, sabotage, and propaganda to achieve victory, but beware of the devastating consequences, including nuclear conflict. Build your empire and survive the chaos you unleash.
- Global power manipulation
- Espionage and sabotage
- Nuclear war simulation
- Empire building
- Diplomatic deception
- Multiple game scenarios
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Pick a country. Start a world war. Make sure everyone thinks it was somebody else. Instigator is a satirical war strategy game about the world's worst diplomat: you. Turn the great powers against each other with leaked "private messages", spy balloons, forged dossiers and very suspicious rocket tests, then sell arms to both sides. You win by being the last country standing. Every rival, big or small, has to fall. STIR UP TROUBLE • More than a dozen dirty tricks, from a whispered rumour to The Big Stitch-Up • Cheap plots backfire more often. Deniable ones rarely do, but when they do it's a disaster: sanctions, retaliation strikes and wars you didn't order • Plant moles, leak secrets, sabotage armies and raid treasuries. Your rivals are planting moles in you, too • Pick on the same country too often and its spies start to notice PRESS THE BIG RED BUTTON • Lift the cover, hold to launch, and watch it land: mushroom clouds, shockwaves and the next morning's front page • Every power has nuclear warheads, from a nervous ten to several thousand. Nuclear winter comes for everyone BUILD AN EMPIRE • Invade your neighbours. Every country is worth something different, every game: soldiers, money, warheads, reach • A bigger empire soaks up the damage aimed at your homeland, but conquered land gets restless SURVIVE WHAT YOU STARTED • Shelters, missile shields, decoy capitals and a strategic bean reserve • Wreck the peace talks: pop the doves, seat sworn enemies side by side and swap the summit fondue for squeezy cheese before the Peace Accord reaches 100% SUPER-WEAPONS (optional purchase) • An Orbital Space Laser (slightly wobbly), a Weather Machine, a Robot Army, a Mind-Control Radio and The Dome • New in the Shipping Container: the Evil Twin, who tears up every treaty and picks a fight with its best friend, and the Forget-Me Fog, which makes the whole world forget what you did • Every one has a catch, and it gets worse each time you use it MORE WAYS TO PLAY • Daily Doom: a new country and a new twist every day, the same for everyone • Peacekeeper (optional purchase): the reverse game, and a whodunit. Somebody is starting all these wars. Find the evidence and unmask the Instigator before the Doomsday Clock strikes midnight • Fat Finger, Land Grab and Post-Truth scenarios (optional purchases) • Free seasonal specials: Night of the Living Nations at Halloween, and Season's Beatings from 1 December, where you pelt Santa's sleigh with sprouts A WORLD THAT FIGHTS BACK • 19 great powers and more than 150 smaller countries, each with its own friends, protectors and grudges • Small countries feud and swallow their neighbours, and new world powers rise right in front of you • Erratic leaders, comic incidents and a new intelligence briefing every game, so no two games play the same COME BACK FOR MORE • A Chaos Rating and 60 ranks, from Innocent Bystander to The Instigator • 38 medals (some of them secret) and free warhead skins, including a rubber duck • Three difficulties, and a star for every country you win with Every leader is fictional. Any resemblance is plausibly deniable. Contains ads. Optional purchases: Remove Ads, the Full Pass (every scenario and no ads), individual scenarios, and Weapons Crates and Shipping Containers of super-weapons.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Downing Draft at 5.0 against Instigator's 4.5. Instigator's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 83%). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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
Both are free to download. Downing Draft sells 6 one-off in-app purchases and Instigator sells 8 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Downing Draft holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 2 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 83% of Downing Draft's written reviews are positive against 100% of Instigator's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Downing Draft ships an update every 5 days, Instigator every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Downing Draft | Instigator |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better | 4.5 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 83.3% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 37 MB | 24 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 17+ |
| Developer | NEUROCHAMPS LTD | Steve North |
Customer experience
Downing Draft
Instigator
In-app purchases
Downing Draft
- Starter Points Pack$0.99
- Small Points Pack$0.99
- Parliament Week Pass$2.99
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- Medium Points Pack$2.99
- Large Points Pack$4.99
- Parliament Pass$9.99
Instigator
- Weapons Crate$0.99
- Fat Finger Scenario$1.99
- Land Grab Scenario$1.99
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Post-Truth Scenario$1.99
- Peacekeeper$2.99
- Shipping Container$3.99
- Remove Ads$3.99
- Full Pass$5.99
Questions
Is Downing Draft free?
Is Instigator free?
Which has better reviews, Downing Draft or Instigator?
Do Downing Draft or Instigator have ads?
Which is updated more often, Downing Draft or Instigator?
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