Comparison

Star Realms vs Runway Army

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

Runway Army

Features
Read full description

Defend your base in Runway Army, an action tower-defense game where every level brings new enemies, challenges, and upgrades. Move your soldier around the battlefield, fire at approaching enemies, and build a powerful defense using towers, troops, traps, walls, and special abilities. FEATURES • Battle through 200 increasingly difficult levels • Deploy multiple tower types with different abilities • Upgrade your weapons, defenses, troops, and structures • Unlock new bullet types and powerful battlefield abilities • Fight enemy camps, special enemies, and large bosses • Collect coins, screws, gears, batteries, and other rewards • Place traps, walls, healing towers, missile towers, and more • Save your progress locally on your device • Adjust music, sound effects, and control settings • Play without creating an account Optional rewarded advertisements may be watched to receive certain in-game bonuses and power-ups. Advertisement availability may vary. Build your army, protect your base, and see how far you can survive.

Screenshots

Star Realms3 screens
Runway Army3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Runway Army at none against Star Realms's 10. Runway Army also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 10 days). Star Realms's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, 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. Runway Army asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Star Realms ships an update every 10 days, Runway Army every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Star Realms versus Runway Army: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStar RealmsRunway Army
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (4.5K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews57.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4.5K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 10 daysEvery 2 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size509 MB46 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperWhite Wizard GamesJACK J MARSHALL

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

Runway Army

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

Runway Army

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Star Realms free?
Star Realms is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Runway Army free?
Runway Army is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Star Realms or Runway Army have ads?
Runway Army shows ads; Star Realms does not.
Which is updated more often, Star Realms or Runway Army?
Star Realms ships an update every 10 days, and Runway Army every 2 days. Most recently, Star Realms was updated on November 6, 2026 and Runway Army on October 31, 2026.

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