Comparison

Subterfuge vs Strad.io

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

Strad.io

Features
Read full description

A small world. A big plan. Your next conquest. Strad.io is a real-time territory-control game. Pick your starting land, build your army and decide where to strike. Commit too many troops and leave your borders exposed; hold too much back and miss your chance. CONQUER THE MAP Claim connected territories, move troops through your own land and attack neighboring rivals. Hold continents for extra reinforcements. In Classic World, victory means conquering the whole map or being the last player after your opponents surrender. PICK YOUR BATTLEFIELD Play offline Skirmish against bots on a selection of maps. Choose a calmer or faster bot pace, full Conquest or 70% Landrush, and an optional five- or ten-minute limit. Offline games do not award rating or XP. COMPETE IN RANKED Play human-only 1v1 duels or four-player free-for-all battles. Each format has its own seasonal rating and leaderboard, starting with five placement games. Ranked needs other players to join the queue; Casual does not change your ranked rating. BRING YOUR FRIENDS Create a private room and share its code or invite link. Quick Match offers a casual online battle with AI commanders filling available seats. BUILD YOUR RECORD Track your profile, level, XP and match history. See your progress after an online match, compare standings and jump into another game. LEARN BY PLAYING A guided tutorial introduces claiming land, sending troops, moving across your territory and conquering the board. Start as a guest and get straight to the map. One more territory. One more chance to turn it around.

Screenshots

Subterfuge4 screens
Strad.io4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Strad.io at none against Subterfuge's 5. Strad.io also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). Subterfuge's advantage is update cadence (every 10 days vs every 2 months). On price, 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. Strad.io asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Subterfuge ships an update every 10 days, Strad.io every 2 months. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Subterfuge versus Strad.io: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSubterfugeStrad.io
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (586 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews87.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings586 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size47 MB35 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperSecret Plan LLCFinn Klapper

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

Strad.io

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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

Strad.io

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Subterfuge free?
Subterfuge is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Strad.io free?
Strad.io is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Subterfuge or Strad.io have ads?
Neither Subterfuge nor Strad.io shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Subterfuge or Strad.io?
Subterfuge ships an update every 10 days, and Strad.io every 2 months. Most recently, Subterfuge was updated on October 24, 2026 and Strad.io on October 24, 2026.

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