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

Tower War vs City Takeover

Tower War 4.6★ · Free + IAP 65
Winner Tower War
City Takeover 4.5★ · Free + IAP 55

While both games suffer from excessive ads and monetization issues, Tower War offers a slightly more engaging strategy experience and better long-term playability, making it the preferred choice for those willing to tolerate its monetization tactics.

Full reviews: Tower War · City Takeover

Tower War and City Takeover are both strategy games plagued by aggressive ad monetization and in-app purchase pushes. Tower War generally offers a more complex and strategic gameplay experience, but its ads and pay-to-progress mechanics are a major deterrent. City Takeover, while similar in its ad problem, also faces significant issues with game-breaking bugs and repetitive levels, making Tower War the marginally better, albeit still flawed, option.

Head to head

Features & Gameplay edge: Tower WarR2R11R13R15
Tower War Tower War offers a strategic experience with tower merging and fighting, and players enjoy the fighting aspects and the need for strategy R2R11. However, some find the game repetitive and the modules confusing as they progress R2R13R15. There are requests for more missions and features like PVP with friends and offline play R2.
City Takeover City Takeover is described as a fun strategy game, with smooth graphics . However, many users report repetitive levels after a certain point . There are also requests for new playable towers and a PVP mode R109.
Ease of Use & Reliability edge: Tower WarR2R13R15R56
Tower War Tower War is generally stable, though some users report issues with PvP not working or the game getting tedious R2R15. There are also complaints about the complexity of new modules as the game progresses R13.
City Takeover City Takeover suffers from significant reliability issues, with many users reporting freezing, glitching, and crashing, especially after updates R56. Some users also experience problems with equipping items or buttons not working . Display issues on iPads, where game elements are hidden by UI bars, also impact usability .
Price & Value (IAP/Ads) tieR1R3R4R5
Tower War Tower War is heavily criticized for its aggressive ad monetization and in-app purchases. Ads appear after almost every level, often lasting 30-90 seconds, making gameplay feel like a continuous ad scroll R3R4R7R13. Paying $7 to remove ads does not eliminate all ads, as users still need to watch them for progress or boosts R3R33R35. The game is also seen as pay-to-progress, with leveling up equipment and characters requiring significant spending R1R5R16.
City Takeover City Takeover also faces severe criticism for its excessive ads, with many users reporting ads after every level, multiple ads in a row, or even ads interrupting gameplay R53. Some users mention ads playing over music or causing crashes . The game is also accused of having a paywall to progress due to increasing difficulty .
Support & Developer Responsiveness edge: Tower WarR2R12R84R91
Tower War One user noted that after multiple emails and a bad review, the developers did make one paid female avatar free, indicating some responsiveness, though limited R12. However, other issues like PvP with friends or offline play are not addressed R2.
City Takeover Users report contacting developers about bugs and screen issues with no avail . Many critical bugs like crashing and freezing persist for months without resolution, leading to frustration R84R91.
Pick Tower War if

you prefer a game with deeper strategy and more consistent, albeit still ad-heavy, gameplay, and are willing to tolerate aggressive monetization for upgrades R2R11.

Pick City Takeover if

you are looking for a casual strategy game and are lucky enough to avoid the significant bugs and crashes that many users report, and don't mind repetitive levels .

Evidence note: Both apps have a significant number of negative reviews focused on ads and monetization, which aligns with the free-to-play model's common friction points. City Takeover's recent reviews show a strong negative skew due to game-breaking bugs and updates, impacting its lifetime rating.

Frequently asked

Are Tower War and City Takeover truly free to play?
Both Tower War and City Takeover are free to download and play, but users widely report that progression in both games is heavily gated by aggressive ads and in-app purchases, making them feel like 'pay-to-progress' or 'ad-ridden' experiences R1R3R7R16.
Can I remove ads in Tower War or City Takeover?
In Tower War, you can pay $7 to remove ads, but users report that this purchase does not eliminate all ads, as you still need to watch ads to progress or get boosts R3R33R35. City Takeover reviews do not explicitly mention an ad-removal purchase, but many users complain about the overwhelming number of ads, suggesting it's a persistent issue R53.
Do these games have multiplayer or PvP?
Tower War users mention a PvP with friends feature but state they can't figure out how to make it work R2. City Takeover users have requested a PvP mode to other players, indicating it's not currently a robust feature R109.
Are there known bugs or performance issues?
City Takeover has significant known bugs, with numerous users reporting the game freezing, glitching, crashing, or becoming unplayable after updates, sometimes for months R56. Tower War reviews do not highlight widespread game-breaking bugs, focusing more on monetization and repetitive gameplay R2R13R15.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 110 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. [R2] Tower War 5/5 · US Personal classic: I go back and forth on this game all the time. Really fun. Hits that strategy edge of my brain. Only things that stop me from being on it all day: 1. PVP with friends (can’t figure out how to make this work) 2. No offline play (especially a bummer) 3. Gets repetitive after a while, especially when having to grind just to pass the next level. Other than that, the ads were pretty c
  2. [R11] Tower War 5/5 · US All: Like all the fighting and how you get to switch and how you have to get rid of all the towers and turn them into your own in like opponents. I think it’s really fun so far you should definitely update it.
  3. [R13] Tower War 1/5 · US Fun at First, But Ruined by Ads and Overcomplicated Modules: I genuinely enjoyed playing Tower War. As I progressed, the game kept unlocking new modules, but they eventually became so interconnected that they were more confusing than fun. I made it all the way to level 147 before finally giving up. The biggest problem, however, is the constant advertising and endless attempts to sell something. Th
  4. [R15] Tower War 3/5 · US Meh it’s pretty decent if you have nothing better to do: It’s ok but it gets a little tedious
  5. [R56] City Takeover 3/5 · US Keeps freezing and glitching: This is one of my favorite games I can play it all day long but ever since the new apple update came out I’ve deleted the game reset my phone even factory reset it but when I’m in the middle of a game keeps freezing and glitching 😭
  6. [R1] Tower War 2/5 · US $$$$: It seems the only way to level up is to purchase your way to power. Earning the required items in game play doesn’t happen. You get to the point where you have to watch a ad in order to boost your production before every match.
  7. [R3] Tower War 3/5 · US Fun but frustrating: The game is very fun. But the adds after every level (they start with a bunch of levels and no adds, then ask you to rate the game. Then it’s an add after every round) are just too much. So you buy add free. Only 7 bucks. And yet you still have to watch adds to progress. I understand they have to make money, but man do they gouge. It’s too bad, cuz I would play this game a
  8. [R4] Tower War 1/5 · US An infuriating amount of ads: We all live playing a 30 second game and then being forced to watch three minutes of ads. Absolute trash behavior for a sad repetitive game.
  9. [R5] Tower War 4/5 · US Ok but: This game is a good way to pass the time-but it becomes impossible to level up the equipment without evolve pieces, which take months to accumulate. I do spend money on VIP-which should be monthly, not bi weekly. But the asks for spending are astronomical. It’s like $50 is nothing to these people when it’s like 2-3 hours of work. Overall I continue to play and will VIP-but I can’t do mor
  10. [R12] Tower War 3/5 · US No representation: Update: the newest update converted one of the paid female avatars to free. Still needs improvement but 3 emails and one bad review later they did technically make one avatar accessible without a fee. No free avatars depicting women. A dozen for men but the only avatars depicting women require a purchase. I really want to keep playing this game but the devs sincerely don’t see
  11. [R84] City Takeover 1/5 · US BRUH YOUR GAME IS LITERALLY BROKEN!!!!!: I really don’t want to delete this game because of all the progress that I’ve made, but I have not been able to open this game for months. I made it to god tier and played a few levels and after that it bugged out. If you’re not gonna fix the game, that’s fine at least tell me because I don’t understand why my version is still crashing out. It loads a black
  12. [R91] City Takeover 5/5 · GB Removed: Last review has been removed as I said was unplayable since last patch. Still not working. Have voodoo “retired” older games? None of their old stuff (which I have paid for) dosnt work anymore.
  13. [R7] Tower War 2/5 · US $$$$ grab: While the game is free to play, the ads are absolutely ridiculous. It may take 30 seconds to clear a level then you are subject to a 30-60 seconds ad before moving on to the next round. Way too much. I get the developer needs to make money on this, but horrible pressure by them.
  14. [R16] Tower War 1/5 · US Money hungry advertising: The ads throughout this game are just ridiculous. It also is impossible to upgrade your army unless you spend money. The game itself is actually fun, but the greed for running constant ads is stupid
  15. [R33] Tower War 1/5 · US Ad rip off: Paid 2.99 to remove ads but they still appear.
  16. [R35] Tower War 1/5 · US Aggressive advertising: I paid for ad free. Now after every single level I’m prompted to make an in app purchase. Absurdly aggressive push for ads and in app purchases. Almost impossible to level up without making lots on in app purchases.
  17. [R53] City Takeover 3/5 · US To many ads: SO MANY ADS LIKE HELLO? JS LET ME PLAY THE GAME!
  18. [R109] City Takeover 5/5 · GB The game is so good, can you do a update?: About PVP to other players, I’m so excited if you do it please please do it bye

Synthesized from 110 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store