Comparison

Star Realms vs Goes Both Ways

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

Head to head
About

Star Realms

Engage in thrilling space combat with this popular deckbuilding game. Build your deck, outmaneuver opponents, and conquer the galaxy. Offers both single-player campaigns and multiplayer battles.

Highlights
  • Deckbuilding gameplay
  • Player vs Player combat
  • AI battles
  • Campaign mode
  • Online multiplayer
  • Pass and Play mode
Features
Read full description

Star Realms is a hugely popular space combat deckbuilding game. Download and play today to find out why Star Realms is the winner of SXSW 2014 Board Game of the Year, 7 Golden Geek Awards from BoardGameGeek, including Best Mobile Game, and 2 Dice Tower awards! Reviews: "My readers are going to have a seizure about how good Star Realms is." -Owen Faraday, pockettactics.com “Good on all levels, thumbs up!” -Tom Vasel, The Dice Tower “This game is superb! I think it’s a brilliant game. Beautiful artwork, second to none.” -Tim Norris, Grey Elephant Gaming “What can I say? Star Realms is excellent.” - Lenny, ISlaytheDragon.com “I desperately wanted to play again and again. It's just consistently fun every time.” -The Critical Boardgamer Star Realms combines addictive deck building game play with exciting Trading Card Game (TCG) style combat! Designed by Magic the Gathering Hall of Famers Darwin Kastle and Rob Dougherty (of the Ascension Deckbuilding Game), Star Realms provides tons of playability for free, and a one-time upgrade to be able play with your friends and more on any device. Free Version •Universal Application: Play on iPhone, iPod, iPad, iPad Mini, and Ipad Air. •Addictive Deckbuilding Game with Player VS Player Combat. •Tutorial teaches you to play in minutes. •Stunning visuals. •Play VS the AI. •6 mission campaign mode. Full Game Additional Features •Play the AI on 3 different difficulty settings. •9 additional campaign missions. •Battle friends face to face with Pass and Play. •Online play with global rankings. •Challenge a friend online.

About

Goes Both Ways

A fast-paced word game where you guess the missing word between two given terms. Requires the physical card game to play. Test your speed and strategy to solve word puzzles.

Highlights
  • Fast-paced gameplay
  • Word association puzzles
  • Strategic thinking
  • Requires physical card game
  • Top-of-the-tongue challenges
Features
Read full description

This faced paced, top of the tongue word game puts you on the hot seat to solve the missing word. What falls between Kanye and Virginia? What about Home and Away? One must be fast and strategic to win, because this game… Goes Both Ways! *For use with the Goes Both Ways card game (not included)

Screenshots

Star Realms3 screens
Goes Both Ways4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Goes Both Ways at 100% against Star Realms's 57%. Goes Both Ways also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10) and rating (5.0 vs 4.6). Star Realms's advantage is update cadence (every 10 days vs every 39 months) and ratings volume (4.5K vs 2). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Star Realms sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Goes Both Ways asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Goes Both Ways holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Star Realms has 4.5K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 57% of Star Realms's written reviews are positive against 100% of Goes Both Ways's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Star Realms ships an update every 10 days, Goes Both Ways every 39 months. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Star Realms versus Goes Both Ways: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStar RealmsGoes Both Ways
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (4.5K ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews57.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings4.5K — better2
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterEvery 39 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size509 MB42 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperWhite Wizard GamesNovak Gaming Co.LLC

Customer experience

Star Realms

All ratings4,453 ratings
Positive91.3%
Neutral2.1%
Negative6.6%
Written reviews405 reviews
Positive57.0%
Neutral10.9%
Negative32.1%

Goes Both Ways

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Star Realms

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Game freezes and crashes on launch
  • Online games getting stuck or timing out
  • Inability to scrap or play certain cards
  • Incorrect card behavior and interactions

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add undo/rewind functionality
  • Improve offline/single-player experience
  • Implement better matchmaking and player communication
  • Provide more detailed game statistics and analytics

Goes Both Ways

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Star Realms

One-time10
  • Crisis: Bases and Battleships Set$1.99
  • Crisis: Events Set$1.99
  • Crisis: Heroes Set$1.99
Show 7 more
  • Crisis: Fleets and Fortresses$1.99
  • Command$1.99
  • Gambit Set$3.99
  • Cosmic Gambit$3.99
  • Full Version$4.99
  • Colony Wars$4.99
  • Frontiers$4.99
None

Goes Both Ways

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Star Realms free?
Star Realms is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Goes Both Ways free?
Goes Both Ways is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Star Realms or Goes Both Ways?
Goes Both Ways is rated higher. Star Realms averages 4.6 out of 5 from 4.5K ratings, while Goes Both Ways averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Star Realms or Goes Both Ways have ads?
Neither Star Realms nor Goes Both Ways shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Star Realms or Goes Both Ways?
Star Realms ships an update every 10 days, and Goes Both Ways every 39 months. Most recently, Star Realms was updated on November 4, 2026 and Goes Both Ways on November 3, 2026.

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