# Tactical War vs TrickMate

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: TrickMate at none against Tactical War's 5. TrickMate also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 months). On price, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Tactical War sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. TrickMate asks for nothing beyond the download.

Tactical War ships an update every 3 months, TrickMate every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Tactical War | TrickMate |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.6 (3.7K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tactical-war-tower-defense/id993158106/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **3.7K** | — |
| Positive reviews | 85.1% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | **Every 5 days** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Size | 371 MB | 26 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.0** | 15.1 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPod, Apple Watch |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Binary Punch s.r.o.](https://appshunter.io/developer/993158105) | [FlrtAlert](https://appshunter.io/developer/459422918) |

## What reviewers say

### Tactical War

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tactical-war-tower-defense/id993158106)

Engage in a challenging tower defense experience where strategic planning is crucial to protect your base. Utilize special towers, unique abilities, and environmental destruction to overcome enemy hordes across 20 balanced levels. This game demands careful thought and decisive action to succeed.

**Highlights:** Special "gray" art style, 5 upgradeable tower types, Teleport and mine abilities, Destroy landscape objects, 20 balanced levels

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (5)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1500 Money Pack | $0.99 | one-time |
| No ads | $0.99 | one-time |
| 3500 Money Pack | $1.99 | one-time |
| 5500 Money Pack | $2.99 | one-time |
| 12500 Money Pack | $5.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Simple and straightforward
- 🚀 Challenging but not impossible
- 💡 Destructible terrain for extra cash
- 🔒 No pay-to-win mechanics
- 👍 Well-balanced difficulty curve

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional crashes, especially on later levels
- 🔋 Ads can be intrusive
- 💡 Limited number of levels (only 20)

**Reported bugs**

- Level 20 crashing on wave 10
- Difficulty in placing towers in certain areas due to UI elements

**Requested features**

- More levels and content updates
- Endless/survival mode
- More tower/weapon variety
- Ability to reuse purchased upgrades across levels


### TrickMate

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/trickmate/id6809022565)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Apple Watch app, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Tactical War free?

Tactical War is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is TrickMate free?

TrickMate is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Do Tactical War or TrickMate have ads?

Tactical War shows ads; TrickMate does not.

### Which is updated more often, Tactical War or TrickMate?

Tactical War ships an update every 3 months, and TrickMate every 5 days. Most recently, Tactical War was updated on October 29, 2026 and TrickMate on October 31, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*