Head-to-head
Tower War vs State.io
Tower War
40
Winner
State.io
State.io
45
State.io is slightly better for casual play due to a slightly less aggressive monetization strategy, but both games are heavily criticized for excessive ads and predatory in-app purchases.
Both Tower War and State.io are free-to-play strategy games with similar core gameplay, but both are plagued by overwhelming ads and aggressive monetization. State.io has a slight edge due to its simpler gameplay and slightly less complex upgrade systems, though recent updates have negatively impacted its user experience.
Head to head
Tower War Tower War offers strategic gameplay where players capture towers and merge units, which many find fun and engaging R2. However, some users find the game repetitive and the progression system, especially for equipment upgrades, becomes overly complicated and slow without spending money R2R5R9. The 'PvP' mode is also criticized for being against bots, not real players R6R31.
State.io State.io is praised for its simple, addictive, and easy-to-learn strategy gameplay . However, recent updates have made the game too easy for some, with opponents offering no challenge, and have negatively impacted core mechanics like unit movement and base capture, making it unplayable for others . Like Tower War, its 'PvP' mode is also widely reported to be against bots R59R65.
Tower War Tower War is generally easy to pick up, with users finding it a good way to pass the time R5. However, the game's progression can become frustratingly slow, requiring significant grinding or purchases R2R9. There are also complaints about a lack of diverse free avatars, specifically for women R12.
State.io State.io is noted for being super easy to learn and play . However, recent updates have made the game mechanics less intuitive and more difficult to progress without specific unit counts, which some find frustrating . The game also requires an internet connection to play, which limits its accessibility for offline use R60R97.
Tower War Tower War is free-to-play but heavily monetized with constant ads and aggressive in-app purchase prompts R1R3R4. Many users report that removing ads for $7 still doesn't stop all ads, especially those for boosts, and progression becomes impossible without spending money R3R5. Some even paid to remove ads but they still appeared .
State.io State.io is also free-to-play but is criticized for an outrageous number of long ads, often 45-60 seconds, appearing after every short game R60. Users report that even when declining ad-boosted rewards, ads are still forced upon them . The cost to remove ads is high, with some users paying £4.99 or £10 only for ads to reappear shortly after R56R85R91.
Pick Tower War if
You enjoy a strategy game with more complex upgrade paths and don't mind a significant grind or spending money to progress R2R5.
Pick State.io if
You prefer a simpler, more straightforward strategy game and are willing to tolerate frequent ads or pay a premium to remove some of them, despite potential issues with recent updates R85.
Evidence note: Both apps have a high volume of recent negative reviews primarily focused on excessive ads and aggressive monetization, which contrasts with their higher lifetime ratings. The free-to-play nature of both games means much of the negativity stems from non-paying users experiencing friction from ads and limits.
Frequently asked
Are Tower War and State.io playable offline?
Do Tower War and State.io have real PvP?
How much do ads cost to remove in Tower War and State.io?
What reviewers actually said
Built only from these 100 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.
- [R2] Tower War 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
- [R5] Tower War 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
- [R6] Tower War Fun to play, but ads are nonstop!: Same over same, but is fun to play. A lot of the other players are most likely bots, PvP makes up for the excessive amount of ads.
- [R9] Tower War Scam: The game is fun but it has changed a lot since earlier versions. They make it to where you almost have to buy upgrades just to get the things you need. It isn’t as simple as coins and diamonds anymore to upgrade and racking up your coins seems like it takes forever now. I get it, games have to change but what really upset me the most about the game is they will show you an offer to purchase
- [R12] Tower War 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
- [R29] Tower War STOP WITH THE ADDS: Ok so I’m on a game with adds and Tower War pops up lets me play it then for no good reason won’t let me play the adds I’m so mad so can you please fix your game adds so you can play
- [R62] State.io Games crashes: The game crashes after 5 mins and even in the middle of a pvp game. Sort it out please
- [R94] State.io Poor: Keeps crashing. Fix it!!
- [R1] Tower War $$$$: 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.
- [R3] Tower War 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
- [R4] Tower War 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.
- [R31] Tower War Scummy game: There are many parts of this game where the developers have been intentionally deceptive. The “PvP” mode is not against real players. Reward “spins” are not random, you can predict your reward with 100% accuracy after noticing the pattern. The listed summon rates are fake, where you are less likely to summon the better units that what is listed (says 3.25% for gold when it’s closer to
- [R56] State.io Can’t restore purchases: My son was enjoying this however I deleted the app thinking I could restore the purchases later, however I’ve tried a number of times and the adverts still appear even though I’ve paid to have them removed
- [R76] State.io No chance to opt out of data harvesting: Downloaded it. There was no option to opt out of their data harvesting nonsense. I immediately removed it and will never play it. Eurgh. Awful.
- [R60] State.io Add kills game: Good lord how many adds do you want to shove into the game you use to be able to rid of it when putting the phone on airplane mode but now no requires internet this game like many have gone down hill
- [R97] State.io Can’t play whilst offline: Went to play it whilst sitting on the tube and wasn’t allowed to play as I didn’t have any internet access. What a ridiculous requirement, clearly a “if we can’t serve you ads you can’t play out game”! So I’ve uninstalled.
- [R59] State.io Fake PvP game: Super dissatisfied with this game. I played for ages thinking I was a hero and then realised that all the so called human players in PvP mode are just bots/app players. Literally the same rotating player names available 24/7 no matter how much of a delay between starting a new game. Plus they all send emojis religiously - they also manage to send an emoji after taking them out (inst
- [R65] State.io Bots in pvp: I thought I was a savant at this game but I figured out that the online is full of bots since they all have the same behaviour. Even the ones with custom names never learn or change their strategy despite them losing 50 times in a row. They all go for the same tile at the start and spam emojis. Very fun game tho , just make it more entertaining with better AI or real people idk
- [R85] State.io £10 to remove ad’s.: It’s a fun game, I enjoy it but it costs £10 to enjoy it, i’d rather not. There are too many ad’s to enjoy playing this game and the cost to remove them is too high.
- [R91] State.io Too many adverts. Got robbed: Far too many adverts in the game. Paid £4.99 for ad free upgrade which lasted for 5 minutes before ads kicked in again!
Synthesized from 100 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store