Comparison

Subterfuge vs Achikaps

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

Head to head
About

Subterfuge

Engage in a week-long real-time strategy and diplomacy game. Gather intelligence, coordinate with others, and issue orders to influence the game's outcome. Master both strategic planning and player negotiation to achieve victory.

Highlights
  • Week-long real-time gameplay
  • Strategy and diplomacy mechanics
  • Intelligence gathering
  • Order issuance
  • Player coordination
  • Unlimited scheduled orders (with IAP)
  • Private game creation (with IAP)
Features
Read full description

• Multiplayer Game of the Year 2015 by Pocket Tactics * • Best Mobile Games of 2015 by CNET * Subterfuge is a week-long multiplayer game of strategy, diplomacy, and betrayal that plays out in real time. Check in for ten minutes, a few times a day: read the sonar, schedule your orders, and reply to the ally who insists the fleet massing on your border is "purely defensive." Then close the game and get on with your day while your plans execute. BUY ONCE, PLAY ANYWHERE Buying the game on mobile gives you full access to the Steam version. DRIVE THE TIME MACHINE Drag the Time Machine forward and watch tomorrow unfold. See where every visible sub will be, how combat resolves, and what your factories will have produced by Thursday. Then, schedule your own orders to execute at any moment, hours or days ahead. Launch the invasion at 4:12 a.m. without setting an alarm but remember everyone else has a Time Machine too. DEPTH THAT FITS AROUND YOUR LIFE A game of Subterfuge lasts a week or more, but a session lasts minutes. It was designed by two new parents who wanted Diplomacy-grade scheming without giving up their evenings. The strategy happens in your head and on your schedule. THE REAL MAP IS THE OTHER PLAYERS Every alliance, border pact, joint strike, and deception in Subterfuge happens in chat. None of it is enforced by the game. A treaty is worth exactly as much as the person who signed it, intel is worth exactly as much as its source, and the player feeding you sonar reports may be feeding your rival the same. Winning means reading people as sharply as you read the map. NO DICE. NO LUCK. ONLY PEOPLE. The Time Machine can show you tomorrow because there is no randomness. Every battle can be forecast down to the last driller before it happens. Recruit powerful specialists to tilt the math and bend the rules. The only truly unknowable variable in Subterfuge is human intention. COMMUNITY CROSSPLAY SINCE 2015 Join a cross-platform player pool that has kept Subterfuge alive and updated for over a decade. Play the same game from your desk and your phone. Open the war room on a second monitor at work, then answer a treacherous counter-offer from the school pickup line. A TYPICAL WEEK • Day 1: Nine polite introductions. Four proposed alliances. One of them is sincere. • Day 2: You and your neighbor agree to keep borders demilitarized. You both start counting drillers. • Day 4: Your ally proposes a joint strike on the olive. Olive has just proposed the same about your ally. • Day 5: Drill a mine. Sonar picks up a "defensive" fleet drifting towards it, thirty hours out. Plenty of time. You schedule your counter, draft two very different messages, and head to lunch. • Day 6: The trap you scheduled yesterday ago springs mid-meeting, exactly as planned. You watch it from your desk and say nothing. • Day 7: Trap closed. Olive's mine captured. • Day 8: Victory. Your former ally sends a simple message: "Well played. Rematch?"

About

Achikaps

Engage in a straightforward economic strategy game. Explore both a story-driven campaign and a freeform sandbox mode. Enjoy a user-friendly interface and fluid animations.

Highlights
  • Easy to learn
  • Campaign mode
  • Sandbox mode
  • Simple UI
  • Smooth animations
Features
Read full description

Achikaps is a simple economic strategy. Features: - Easy to learn - Campaign and sandbox modes - Simple UI - Smooth animations

Screenshots

Subterfuge4 screens
Achikaps4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Achikaps at none against Subterfuge's 5. Achikaps also leads on iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.0). Subterfuge's advantage is update cadence (every 10 days vs every 3 months) and rating (4.7 vs 4.4). On price, review sentiment, ads 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. Subterfuge sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Achikaps asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Subterfuge holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 586 and 185 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 87% and 88% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Subterfuge ships an update every 10 days, Achikaps every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Subterfuge versus Achikaps: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSubterfugeAchikaps
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (586 ratings) — better4.4 (185 ratings)
Positive reviews87.0% of reviews88.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings586 — better185
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size47 MB54 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSecret Plan LLCIvan Yakovliev

Customer experience

Subterfuge

All ratings585 ratings
Positive93.2%
Neutral1.2%
Negative5.6%
Written reviews300 reviews
Positive87.0%
Neutral3.3%
Negative9.7%

Achikaps

All ratings184 ratings
Positive85.3%
Neutral4.9%
Negative9.8%
Written reviews158 reviews
Positive88.0%
Neutral6.3%
Negative5.7%

User reviews

Subterfuge

From 586 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great game
  • 👍 Awesome strategy game
  • 👍 Brilliant game
  • 👍 Fantastic game
  • 👍 Best strategy game

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy
  • 🐛 Crashes too much
  • 🐛 Unplayable
  • 🐛 Crashes
  • 🐛 Chat freezes

Achikaps

From 185 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Simple yet engaging gameplay
  • 🚀 Smooth and responsive controls
  • 💎 High-quality game with no ads or IAPs
  • 🎨 Appealing minimalist art style

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Grey screen glitch when switching apps
  • 🤔 Unclear tutorial and lack of in-game information

Bugs and requests

Subterfuge

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • Queen randomly loses hire points
  • Win conditions don't trigger
  • Login screen freezes
  • Game crashes on launch
  • Notifications arrive late
Show 2 more
  • Unable to delete subs on iOS
  • Touchscreen issues (not centered, wrong button presses)

Requested features

13 requests
  • Accelerated gameplay
  • Shorter game modes
  • Alliance feature
  • More specialists
  • New game modes
Show 8 more
  • Ability to view player profiles during game
  • Option to privately tag players
  • Refresh button
  • Ability to delete subs on iOS
  • NAP Breaker medal
  • Customizable backgrounds and items
  • Dark mode option
  • Advanced analytics dashboard

Achikaps

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Screen turns grey when opening notifications
  • Buttons and UI elements become unresponsive

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add multiplayer mode
  • Improve enemy AI difficulty scaling
  • Provide more building and unit options
  • Allow renaming of saved files

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Subterfuge

Subscriptions1
  • Patron (L3)$4.991 Month
One-time3
  • Medal$0.99
  • Pack of 5 Medals$4.99
  • Level 2 Security Clearance2 variants$9.99
None

Achikaps

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Subterfuge free?
Subterfuge is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Achikaps free?
Achikaps is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Subterfuge or Achikaps?
Subterfuge is rated higher. Subterfuge averages 4.7 out of 5 from 586 ratings, while Achikaps averages 4.4 from 185 ratings.
Do Subterfuge or Achikaps have ads?
Neither Subterfuge nor Achikaps shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Subterfuge or Achikaps?
Subterfuge ships an update every 10 days, and Achikaps every 3 months. Most recently, Subterfuge was updated on October 24, 2026 and Achikaps on October 20, 2026.

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