Comparison

Rules! vs Tiny Armies

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

Head to head
About

Rules!

Engage in a fast-paced, challenging, and fun puzzle game with a hundred levels. Features a daily brain workout for Apple Watch and animated stickers. Offers multiple game modes and unique mechanics.

Highlights
  • Daily Apple Watch brain workout
  • Animated sticker pack
  • Beginner, Expert, or Timeless game modes
  • Multi-touch interface
  • Color perception assistance
  • Surprising new game mechanics
Features
Read full description

• Includes a daily brain workout mini-game for Apple Watch • Includes animated sticker pack • App Store – Best Apple Watch Game of 2015 • App Store – Best of 2014 • German Developer Award 2014 – Best mobile Game • German Video Game Award 2015 – Best mobile Game • Pocket Gamer Awards 2015 Finalist Best Casual/Puzzle Game & Most Innovative Game RULES! is a cute puzzle game that's challenging, fast-paced and fun. • Choose your preferred type of game: Beginner, Expert or Timeless • “What’s presented here is a stylish, original, clever puzzle game that I’m having trouble putting down long enough to write this review.” ~ Gamezebo “A delightfully constructed memory test that grows in complexity and appeal the deeper in you go.” ~ Pocket Gamer “The Coding Monkeys have never released anything that wasn’t utterly brilliant, therefore Rules shall almost certainly be brilliant.” ~ Pocket Tactics Follow RULES! into a hundred level-deep maze of cuteness and order: • Multi-touch interface at its finest • Color perception assistance mode • Whales, Unicorns, Robots and Squirrels! • A plethora of surprising new game mechanics

About

Tiny Armies

Engage in fast-paced conquest battles with tiny armies. Strategize your moves across various terrains and challenge opponents solo, locally, or globally via iMessage. Enjoy quick gameplay sessions with a visually striking presentation.

Highlights
  • Fast-paced conquest gameplay
  • Strategic unit movement
  • Terrain-based challenges
  • Solo and multiplayer modes
  • iMessage battles
  • Quick gameplay sessions
Features
Read full description

Epic battles of tiny proportions! Tiny Armies is a fast-paced game of conquest. Swipe your units to conquer the enemy and strategize as you encounter lakes, mountains, and forests along the way. Play handcrafted levels, endless random maps, or battle your friends face-to-face in local multiplayer for gloriously tiny bragging rights! Quick bursts of gameplay with a striking presentation, designed for Apple Watch, iPhone, and iPad. Invade your friends' message threads with the Tiny Armies iMessage Sticker Pack featuring brave knights and animated tiles! - Reviews - "Tiny Armies is a fast, lightweight, easy-to-play, game of conquest. This one's worth buying on your iOS device." - Pocket Tactics "Tiny Armies should be standard issue for all Apple Watch owners. It places an effortless punch right on the button that delivers a knockout." - The Zarf "This is the type of game you'd expect to play on a watch. Once you start playing - oh my gosh - it's like wait, they're attacking me! I'm not just swiping. It's not passive. These guys are moving trying to eliminate me. It's actually quite fun." - Apple WatchCast "One level of Tiny Armies takes a mere minute which makes it perfect for short play sessions. The game is fun and fairly challenging, you’ll need some good tactics to play a couple moves ahead and take down Red." - 5 Minute Games

Screenshots

Rules!4 screens
Tiny Armies4 screens

Verdict

The call

Rules! and Tiny Armies both sit at 4.2 stars, but that hides the real split: 69% of Rules!'s written reviews are positive against 55% of Tiny Armies's. Tiny Armies's advantage is chart position (#140 vs unranked) and price ($0.99 vs $2.99). On rating, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

Rules! costs $2.99 and Tiny Armies $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.2 for Rules! against 4.3 for Tiny Armies. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 67 and 310 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 69% of Rules!'s written reviews are positive against 55% of Tiny Armies's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Rules! versus Tiny Armies: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRules!Tiny Armies
Price$2.99$0.99 — better
Rating4.2 (67 ratings)4.3 (310 ratings) — better
Positive reviews68.5% of reviews — better54.7% of reviews
Number of ratings67310 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#140 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS15.2 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size25 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer137bBrothers Flint

Customer experience

Rules!

All ratings67 ratings
Positive73.1%
Neutral14.9%
Negative11.9%
Written reviews181 reviews
Positive68.5%
Neutral14.9%
Negative16.6%

Tiny Armies

All ratings310 ratings
Positive81.0%
Neutral6.8%
Negative12.3%
Written reviews86 reviews
Positive54.7%
Neutral14.0%
Negative31.4%

User reviews

Rules!

From 67 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Challenging and fun game
  • 👍 Gorgeous design and smooth UI
  • 👍 Great brain workout
  • 👍 Addictive gameplay
  • 👍 Fair monetization with no ads or IAPs

Room to improve

  • 🕰️ Very short time limit
  • 🔁 Having to restart from level 1 after losing
  • 🎨 Colorblind-unfriendly
  • 🤔 Repetitive gameplay with same rule order

Tiny Armies

From 310 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎮 Simple and intuitive gameplay mechanics
  • ⌚ Excellent Apple Watch integration
  • 👥 Fun local multiplayer/pass-and-play mode
  • 💰 Fair monetization with no ads or IAP
  • 🎨 Minimalist and elegant visual design

Room to improve

  • 🎲 Excessive reliance on RNG and randomization
  • 🤖 Weak and predictable AI behavior
  • 📊 Unbalanced map generation causing unfair matches
  • ⏱️ Very short campaign (under 1 hour)
  • 😴 Repetitive gameplay becomes boring quickly

Bugs and requests

Rules!

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Freezing and crashing issues, especially on Apple Watch
  • Unresponsive tapping on certain tiles

Requested features

5 requests
  • Option to save progress and continue from last level
  • Randomized rule order
  • Difficulty settings with longer time limits
  • Colorblind accessibility options
  • More game modes and challenges

Tiny Armies

Reported bugs

8 issues
  • Stuck on initial 'Swipe Up' screen on newer iPhones
  • iMessage version doesn't register certain swipe directions
  • Apple Watch swipe input not detected
  • App crashes or fails to install on some devices
  • Swipe controls unresponsive on iPhone 15
Show 3 more
  • Characters trapped in spawn zones by mountains
  • Fog of war reveals AI knowledge of hidden tiles
  • Game occasionally uninstalls itself

Requested features

12 requests
  • Level/map editor for custom gameplay
  • Online multiplayer functionality
  • Additional campaign levels and content
  • Difficulty settings (Easy/Normal/Hard)
  • Dark mode option
Show 7 more
  • Customizable game settings for skirmish mode
  • Random player start order toggle
  • Power-ups or special abilities
  • Improved AI with multiple difficulty levels
  • Music and sound effects
  • Better obstacle placement logic
  • Replay/undo functionality

In-app purchases

None

Rules!

No in-app purchases

None

Tiny Armies

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Rules! free?
Rules! costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Tiny Armies free?
Tiny Armies costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Rules! or Tiny Armies?
Tiny Armies is rated higher. Rules! averages 4.2 out of 5 from 67 ratings, while Tiny Armies averages 4.3 from 310 ratings.
Do Rules! or Tiny Armies have ads?
Neither Rules! nor Tiny Armies shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Rules! or Tiny Armies?
Rules! ships an update monthly, and Tiny Armies monthly. Most recently, Rules! was updated on September 27, 2026 and Tiny Armies on September 28, 2026.

Other comparisons