Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

ROME vs DomiNations

ROME 4.8★ · $9.99 · ⚠ stale 70
Winner ROME
DomiNations 4.5★ · Free + IAP 55

ROME is a better choice for players seeking a classic real-time strategy experience, despite its control and stability issues, while DomiNations is more suited for those who enjoy long-term base-building with significant time or monetary investment.

Full reviews: ROME · DomiNations

ROME offers a deep, classic strategy game experience, but struggles with mobile controls, bugs, and crashes. DomiNations provides a solid base-building strategy, but is frequently criticized for extremely long upgrade times, pay-to-win mechanics, and persistent crashing issues.

Head to head

Features & Gameplay edge: ROMER8R9R14R17
ROME ROME is praised for its faithful recreation of the original PC game, offering grand-scale battles, empire management, and an addictive campaign that can be played for hours R8R23. Users appreciate the depth and strategic elements, including city management and commanding armies R23. However, some users desire additional features like naval battles R14R17 and mod support , while others find the micro-management tedious R9.
DomiNations DomiNations is liked for its strategy and civilization-building aspects, with new challenges and updates keeping it interesting . However, a significant number of players are frustrated by overpowered commanders and a perceived lack of balance between offense and defense . Many also miss the game's earlier, less complicated state .
Ease of Use & Controls edge: DomiNationsR2R4R13R15
ROME ROME faces significant criticism regarding its mobile controls and UI. Users find controls hard and not easy R2R4, with difficulty navigating, moving units, and coordinating large battles on a phone screen R4R15R25. The UI is described as abysmal and frustrating, with units not moving on command or behaving unpredictably R13.
DomiNations DomiNations generally has a more accessible interface for base-building, but some users report screen size adaptation errors . The core gameplay loop is straightforward, though the strategic depth can be challenged by overpowered units .
Reliability & Performance tieR1R7R16R27
ROME ROME suffers from frequent crashing, especially during campaigns or after updates R16R30R34. Users report issues with the game not loading, freezing, or becoming unresponsive R7R37. Some also note the game heats up devices R1 and drains battery R27.
DomiNations DomiNations is plagued by crashing and disconnection issues, particularly during attacks or after updates R63. These issues can lead to lost troops and resources R63. Users also report general bugs and unstable gameplay .
Price & Value edge: ROMER10R11R17R25
ROME ROME is a one-time purchase of $9.99, which many users consider well worth the money for the full game experience R11R17. However, some find it an expensive disappointment given the mobile port's issues R10R25.
DomiNations DomiNations is free-to-play with in-app purchases, but is heavily criticized as a 'pay-to-win' or 'cash grab' game R70. Users report extremely long upgrade times, often weeks or months, unless money is spent on speed-ups or crowns R61R65R70R86. This creates an asymmetry where paid players have a significant advantage .
Support & Updates tieR21R30R37R40
ROME Recent updates for ROME have introduced new bugs and broken existing functionality, including unit placement, control issues, and save file corruption R21R30R40R46. While developers sometimes respond to issues, users express frustration with the state of the game post-update R37R46.
DomiNations DomiNations updates often introduce more bugs than fixes , and some users report being unable to launch the game after updates . Customer support is described as horrible, with users not receiving purchased items or being run in circles .
Pick ROME if

you want a deep, classic PC strategy game experience on mobile and are willing to tolerate challenging controls and potential stability issues for a one-time purchase R8R11R23.

Pick DomiNations if

you enjoy long-term base-building and progression, are patient with extremely long upgrade times, or are willing to spend money on in-app purchases to speed up development .

Evidence note: ROME's reviews show a strong split between those who love the classic game despite mobile issues and those frustrated by the port's flaws. DomiNations, as a free-to-play game, has many negative reviews focused on monetization and long wait times, which is common for the genre.

Frequently asked

Is ROME: Total War worth the $9.99 price tag?
Many users consider ROME: Total War well worth its $9.99 price for the full, classic strategy game experience, provided they can overlook the mobile control challenges and occasional bugs R11R17R23.
Why do DomiNations upgrades take so long?
DomiNations upgrades take an extremely long time, often weeks or months, which users widely criticize as a tactic to encourage in-app purchases for speed-ups or crowns R61R65R70R86.
Are there frequent crashes in ROME and DomiNations?
Both ROME and DomiNations are frequently reported to crash, with ROME users experiencing crashes during campaigns or after updates R16R34R46 and DomiNations players facing crashes during battles or after updates, sometimes losing progress R63.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R8] ROME 5/5 · US 100% of everything you remember: This is the real game and it’s great you could sit here and play it on your phone for 4 hours straight if your battery would let you lol
  2. [R9] ROME 3/5 · US Too tedious: The campaign is fun but then it’s death by micro management
  3. [R14] ROME 4/5 · US Battle: I would like sea battles
  4. [R17] ROME 5/5 · US Naval battles could be a great thing in this great game: This is a great game, and if you’re thinking of buying it, it’s worth the price, and there’s a reason why it’s still alive after 20 years. Now, for the reason that I wrote this review: naval battles. Actual naval battles where you can control the ships would make this game even greater. Because naval ships are a very important part of this
  5. [R2] ROME 5/5 · US It’s okay but needs a improvement: It’s fun I like it but it would be cool if there was better controls the game is very fun tho but controls are hard and not ez but cool!
  6. [R4] ROME 2/5 · US Please read: It’s so hard to get the controls down and it is so complicated to start a war. Also when u do start a war u can barely walk. Have to tap were u want to go and as e z as that sounds its not cause the way the u look around is so weird u have to like pinch ur fingers in a weird way. Any ways i DONT recommend this game.
  7. [R13] ROME 1/5 · US What a mess: The UI is abysmal, unit integration and behavior is broken. Game is barely playable
  8. [R15] ROME 3/5 · US Good: Super awesome, just large battles are difficult to coordinate on a phone haha
  9. [R1] ROME 1/5 · US -+30: Heats up after the update
  10. [R7] ROME 1/5 · US Trash: Unable to navigate past the main menu, absolute trash.
  11. [R16] ROME 2/5 · US Keeps crashing: Love the game . Had it on pc back in the day with all the disks and what not . However I’m in the middle of a campaign on my iPhone and each time I hit the same part the game crashes on me it’s happened 4 days in a row I can’t get past it . Could really used a solution, other then that’s its 5 stars
  12. [R27] ROME 3/5 · US Great game but,,,: I loved this game on pc so thought I would try it out on my iPhone. First there is not a menu to exit the game. Also controlling troop movement is something to be desired. Unable to face them in the direction I want. Also I wish it was easier to turn off/on control of city building. And it will drain your phone battery.
  13. [R10] ROME 1/5 · US Original awesome, this one not so much: This game is not manageable in a fun way: on a mobile sized screen, nor within the spans of attention that I as a mobile player can invest in a round of play. The original game was amazing, this was a relatively expensive disappointment.
  14. [R11] ROME 5/5 · US Best game hands down: Hesitated before but 100% the best thing I ever bought. Well worth the money
  15. [R25] ROME 1/5 · US Not for phone: What a joke couldn’t even click and give directions. Screen is way to small and giving directions via attempting to zoom in and out is terrible and near impossible would like my $10 back
  16. [R21] ROME 3/5 · US The new update…: Idk why but the newest update has ruined the unit placing for me, it has bugged it and flips my soldiers for no reason
  17. [R30] ROME 3/5 · US Someone screwed up: This game has been a classic staple for years until the last update. Now it’s full of bugs anytime you’re fighting a siege battle. Please bring back the 5 star version.
  18. [R37] ROME 1/5 · US No longer functional: I used to play this game on an iPad 9, and wanted to play some more on my M2 iPad Pro. However when I go to start it, I get a scything status that stays up for a while followed by a message that suggests I adjust accessibility settings that were never turned on. Then the game keeps loading but is not responsive to screen taps at all. Don’t bother with this version. Update :
  19. [R40] ROME 2/5 · US Unplayable after update: Can’t click scroll mini map Can’t select multime units without holding control button Even then, can’t move them at once Mouse constantly disengages in game, using apple keyboard with trackpad Was fine yesterday
  20. [R23] ROME 5/5 · US Best game ever: ★★★★★ Rome: Total War is honestly one of the greatest strategy games ever made. The scale of the battles feels incredible, especially when thousands of soldiers clash at once while siege weapons fire across the battlefield. Building your empire, managing cities, and commanding armies makes every campaign feel unique and addictive. What really makes the game special is the atmosph
  21. [R61] DomiNations 1/5 · US Time suck: Takes too long to advance. Plan on investing A LOT of time to this game. Click bate central....why can’t it be more like the original game ? Get ready to waste time....time you will never get back! Why 14 or 16 days to wait for n upgrade? Clean up click bait and make upgrades progress faster. Do better
  22. [R65] DomiNations 4/5 · US Build time: My only complaint is forever & 3 years to build everything - other than that - great game.
  23. [R70] DomiNations 1/5 · US Too long: DON’T PLAY ‼️‼️‼️I could play this game for 3 years straight and still be in the early stages of development. It takes weeks to months to upgrades building and literal years to complete university studies. Only play this game if you have Endless time & unlimited money. Nothing but a cash grab and they won’t fix it. DONT PLAY
  24. [R86] DomiNations 4/5 · US Too long to upgrade: When you get to the higher stages of age like atomic age, space age etc. it takes over 10 days to upgrade a lot of things. Once I upgrade three or four different things I don't play the game for a while to wait for the upgrades to finish. There should be either an incentive or faster way to upgrade.
  25. [R34] ROME 1/5 · US Annoyed with crashes: I don’t know what it is with this game but the further you get the more likely it is to crash. I’ll be selecting building upgrades on my forty towns and staffing the cities with peasants to stem uprisings and next the next thing I know the app crashes. I go back and re do everything I did (in a different order) that turn.. the app crashes again. Do i dare try a third time wit
  26. [R46] ROME 2/5 · US Broken update: Please fix this last update. This has broken all my saves with the game which causes a crash whenever I try to open the bottom menu for the faction info. This update also broke the friendly units just refusing to move or running forever against the edges of the maps. Even friendly AI controlled units just running forever. I’ve had more crashing on this update in the last day than I
  27. [R63] DomiNations 3/5 · US Crash Crash Crash: If you can get yourself through an entire attack without the game crashing and disconnecting from the servers. Count your blessings. Because a miracle just happened. It’s a good game otherwise. Just be prepared to attack with your troops and then lose them when the game crashes and you have to recook them all and select new ones from reinforcements, because they’re gone into the

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store