Comparison

Hoplite vs Forward

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

Head to head
About

Hoplite

Engage in challenging turn-based tactical combat on small maps. Strategize your moves carefully to overcome procedurally generated levels and unlock upgrades. Compete with friends on leaderboards and test your skills in daily challenges.

Highlights
  • Turn-based tactical movement
  • Procedurally generated levels
  • Quest mode with upgrades
  • Challenge mode with daily challenges
  • Leaderboard rankings
  • Hard but fair gameplay
Features
Read full description

"Blanket recommendation for this one." - Pocket Tactics (5 stars) "It's very simple to learn, but there's a huge amount of depth to the game" - Touch Arcade (5 stars) Hoplite is a turn-based strategy game focusing on tactical movement around small maps. This game is designed to be hard, yet fair. You'll need to think before you act if you hope to win. Every move counts! Quest Mode: • Make strategical choices to upgrade your abilities as you dive deeper into the underworld. • Earn achievements and unlock access to new upgrades. • Procedurally generated levels give a new experience every play. • Challenge your friends and see how you rank on the leaderboard. Challenge mode: • Jump straight into the action with a randomized set of upgrades. • Try to beat the daily challenge or play predetermined challenges at two difficulty levels.

About

Forward

Embark on a card-based roguelike dungeon crawl. Choose a champion, collect items to enhance abilities, and strategically move through procedurally generated levels. Each decision is critical to defeating monsters and clearing the dungeon.

Highlights
  • Card-based dungeon crawling
  • Procedurally generated levels
  • Item collection and combinations
  • Unique playable characters
  • Turn-based strategic movement
  • Resource management
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

FORWARD: Escape the Fold was created to be the perfect bitesized roguelike dungeon crawler. Choose your champion and face a relentless crawl through the card-based dungeons, collect items to power your abilities and defeat the gruesome monsters facing you. But keep going FORWARD! **2022 Megamigs Award Winner** **2022 Tiny Teams Fest Nominee** **2022 DemoNight Nominee** Forward is an innovative game in which you will progress through a procedurally-generated dungeon in the form of cards. Move your character from one card to another and keep going forward while avoiding attacking enemies. However be careful, each card will have specific effects making each move important and strategic. Your goal is to clear the 8 levels of a dungeon, each level getting increasingly difficult. In order to succeed, you will have to choose which move to make, which item to pick and use your skills. Each choice is critical. Take advantage of many items combinations and build the best character possible based on your goal and the cards you’ll come across. Features: - 100+ item cards to improve your characters - 9 playable characters with unique skills and game mechanics - 27 unique active competencies - 3 game modes As Forward is a rogue-like inspired game, the features you’ll be able to find are : - Death ends the game ‌ - Procedurally-generated dungeons - Turn-based movements - Resource management (health, armor, mana, gold etc) - Many randomly drawn items The game is based on the 2022 PC game Forward: Escape the Fold which was received very positively. Developed by Two Tiny Dice, its success prompted the developer to bring the game to mobile.

Screenshots

Hoplite3 screens
Forward4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Forward at every 4 days against Hoplite's every 3 months. Forward also leads on price ($1.99 vs $3.99). Hoplite's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.5) and review sentiment (91% vs 75%). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model and chart position 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

Hoplite costs $3.99 and Forward $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Hoplite holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hoplite has 791 ratings behind it against 117, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 91% of Hoplite's written reviews are positive against 75% of Forward's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hoplite ships an update every 3 months, Forward every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Hoplite versus Forward: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHopliteForward
Price$3.99$1.99 — better
Rating4.7 (791 ratings) — better4.5 (117 ratings)
Positive reviews90.8% of reviews — better75.0% of reviews
Number of ratings791 — better117
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#88#80 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size39 MB103 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperDouglas CowleyChristophe Coyard

Customer experience

Hoplite

All ratings787 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral3.4%
Negative3.3%
Written reviews238 reviews
Positive90.8%
Neutral2.9%
Negative6.3%

Forward

All ratings116 ratings
Positive86.2%
Neutral3.4%
Negative10.3%
Written reviews80 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral8.8%
Negative16.3%

Bugs and requests

Hoplite

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Crashes on launch with certain OS versions
  • Agility upgrade not functioning properly

Requested features

4 requests
  • More game modes or levels
  • Customization options for the character
  • Landscape mode support
  • Ability to start at higher levels

Forward

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Hoplite

No in-app purchases

None

Forward

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Hoplite free?
Hoplite costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Forward free?
Forward costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Hoplite or Forward?
Hoplite is rated higher. Hoplite averages 4.7 out of 5 from 791 ratings, while Forward averages 4.5 from 117 ratings.
Do Hoplite or Forward have ads?
Neither Hoplite nor Forward shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Hoplite or Forward?
Hoplite ships an update every 3 months, and Forward every 4 days. Most recently, Hoplite was updated on October 29, 2026 and Forward on October 27, 2026.
Which is more popular, Hoplite or Forward?
Hoplite currently peaks at #88 in the App Store charts, and Forward at #80. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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