A very well executed that will make you addicted. The only Con I have for this game is that the times take way too long. Each game is expected to last a week long, they should shorten it to 3-5 days. I gladly payed to support this development team and to play unlimited games at a time. Recommendation: If the developers ever read this....you guys should introduce an Alliance feature to the game. Mainly everyone who plays to win always join up with another person, whether it's a truce between one person or an alliance between multiple, diplomacy is a very important aspect of the game. That being said, there should be an in-game option/feature that allows players to join/create an alliance that is recognized by the game. The alliance can be a public alliance, which makes it visible to everyone playing, or it can be a secret alliance, which doesn't display the relationship to anyone not included. The plus side of having a public alliance is that you'd be able to see your allies sonar range, which leads to better coordination and effectiveness with your allies. The balance of this feature is that public alliances are now known to everyone and ultimately puts a target on the player's back. Secret alliances wouldn't be displayed, as mentioned above, but they also wouldn't benefit from shared sonar range. Hopefully this becomes a noticed feature and can be implemented in the future. Feel free to tweak with the idea, but please make this happen!
This game is one of the best strategy games on the mobile platform. Its unique time shifting mechanisms keep you engaged and always guessing what might happen next. The specialist used can be overpowered and some luck is involved in getting the best ones early. There is however different viable strategies that can be used in order to succeed. All of those, however, means nothing without the use of diplomacy. In short this game revolves around talking, lots and lots of talking. You’ll need to communicate with multiple people, making strategic decisions and compromises in order to advance your own gain. The best moments lie inside this chat window. The “Fun” of this game is creating plans and seeing them play out, or backfire. Manipulate is often used and truth early sees play. TLDR; Game has simple yet effective mechanics. The real game is in talking to other people. If you like mind games this is a Golden example.
Once you learn how to play this game, it will consume you…
You won’t be able to sleep comfortably if you are in the midst of the game. You will always be scheduling subs during work, school, and late at night. You become more emotionally invested in your relationship with your allies than your closest friends. You will cry when you are betrayed, scream when you prevail and pray for good specialist hires in your most dire moments. You will anxiously await the sound of notifications alerting you of messages from other players. But most of all, this game will be the only thing you think about while your playing it, morning, day, and night, it will be at the forefront of your thoughts constantly. Play if you so please, but be warned of the vice-like grip this game has on a man’s soul, and enter cautiously.
I must say, of the strategy games I've played, this game easily earns a spot in the top 5. It takes many different aspects of a good strategy game and then blends it in with some of their own ideas which just turns into an awesome game! The time travel mechanic is very neat. It allows you to plan and strategize ahead of the time. And I can defiantly appreciate the puzzles.(Tutorials) They help understanding how in depth this game really is. The theme is different, games are large, engaging and not just all about fighting to the death. There is diplomacy as well. (But you don't have to do that at all although you'll be teamed on pretty quickly) In all I highly recommend this game to anyone who wants a strategy game with a slightly different approach compared to the others.
It will take over your life. This is easily the best strategy game I have ever played. It is incredibly simple mechanically, but the inter-game diplomacy and the different sorts of specialists give rise to an incredibly complex experience. Initially, I felt that the price tag was somewhat steep, given what mobile games typically cost. But, it's well worth it, and they don't nickel and dime you with additional payments or ways to pay to be ranked higher. So, play it if you want, buy it if you get value out of it. Just don't be surprised when you find yourself ducking out of meetings or setting your alarm at 4:00 in the morning to give your next set of orders.
After playing many other mobile games for years and growing tired of their frequent tendency to impose their in-game timer schedules on your life, Subterfuge has been a welcomed change of pace. In this game, you can scroll time forward and see what is set to happen, given your current amount of imperfect information, and queue up moves. Really need to launch an attack in the middle of the night? Queue it up and sleep soundly! Aside from that, the game is pretty well-balanced and extremely fun. Some significant RNG is either fun or annoying, depending on your tastes. Overall, my favorite mobile strategy game to date!
I’ve had this game for many years and form time to time I love to engage in a game or two. The premise for the game is really good in encouraging strategic planning and cunning. I’ll probably hold on to this game for a long time to come as it holds a special place for me (I also paid for the L2). My friends and I would play it at school and host tournaments and such. Unfortunately, it also pains me to see that this game has had very few updates as of late and I hope the devs can revive the community in some way or another. This game still has lots of potential and is still one of my personal favorites.
This game really impresses me. DONT LET THE VISUAL GRAPHICS FOOL YOU. This game may seem simple initially, but is anything but. The diplomacy and tactics involved are superb and best of all, it happens in a single game that spans across many days! This app can take up as much time as you want it to. You can log in as little as once a day and generally be ok or log in every few hours to see what’s new. I’ve found the game to be extremely rewarding for not only strategically playing the game’s mechanics, but also the people around you. That is key in succeeding and I love the game all the more for it!
Nothing can replace this game as being the best game I have ever played. There is nothing like it. This game stimulates and affects your life. The learning curve is high; but enough to separates those who wish to play from those who could never appreciate it. If confused, read the rules, play the puzzles till you get too frustrated, then just jump into a game, it's the easiest way to learn. If it hooks you, then prepare for a dynamic, addicting, and sometimes emotionally charged gaming experience that will shadow your whole life; and perhaps bring you as much happiness, pleasure, and escape as it has for me.
This Subterfuge reminds me a bit of the board game Risk—but with submarines and special “hires” that can completely change the way the game is played at any given moment. I played the free version before choosing to support the app designers for creating such an addicting, enjoyable game! The free version is great, but I recommend paying for the game due to the fact that it makes planning your moves in advance easier—and there’s no limitations to how many moves you can plan ahead of time. To the creators: I enjoy your game very much! Well done! 😊
My absolute favorite strategy game. I grew up loving Risk and I’ve played many table-top games. This has the complexity and polish of a $60 board game and takes advantage of the technology needed to yield an experience like no other. The developers clearly poured themselves into this. I have only found two tiny issues since recently redownloading the game after being away for sometime. The main issue I found is understandable since it is a 5 year old game that lost money for the devs: the ad network no longer loads for rewarded video.
Subterfuge is a flawless selection of the most admirable and the most challenging qualities of the board game Risk which has been combined with new, interesting twists. This game is very mentally stimulating with all of its ever-changing puzzles of real-time challenge leading to triumph or defeat. Additionally, these riddles continue past the user-interface into the realms of psychology and diplomacy. This is an excellent all-around game that anybody with any skill set and a small bit of patience can master. It is very entertaining, and the first mobile game I would think to recommend to others.
AWESOME game! Discovered this after learning how to play the tabletop board game Diplomacy. Comparable in quality and gameplay. The controls are intuitive, the communication system is easy to use, and the pros/cons to each specialist are wonderful pieces to encourage varied strategic play. I agree the tutorial is a little hard to use, but if you bear through it just a little to learn the basic concept and controls, it's really easy to learn the rest of the ropes by playing some unrated games. If you like any sort of strategy game, you'll love Diplomacy!
A truly cerebral experience, well worth ten dollars. The only things that could make it better and more satisfying are some purchasable + earn-able customization items like alternate icons/ map skins and such, another concept I think would make an interesting addition is an alternate purpose for the plutonium resource, plutonium could be spent on a nuke or something else equally exciting. Id love to support the devs, meaningful vanity items I believe is their best bet for further monetization and I hooe they decide to do something like that in the near future.
I’ve played this game since 2015 and I’ve enjoyed it extremely. Much strategy diplomacy, and tactics are needed. This isn’t a game for the lighthearted who put in minimal effort. My only critique is it seems the game developers seem to not pay luv just attention to the game anymore. There are bugs and issues but for the most part the game runs smoothly. The developers also don’t seem to enforce the rules much. So people can get away with cheating, most players do enforce them themselves. Overall one of my favorite games ever.
This game is awesome! If you are looking for logistics and diplomacy then this is where it's at. Be sure to play through a full game! The beginning might be kind of slow to someone less patient but once you get into the mix it gets really intense and you have to play all of your cards right. Customizable background and other items would be nice. Not necessary as it looks nice already but it would be a huge bonus.
There’s a reason this game has a rabid cult following, and you should believe their unhinged devotion to this brilliant pocket strategy game. The mechanics are relatively simple - send your units - ‘drillers’ - to as many outposts as possible, or use them to mine below to gain as much gold - ‘Neptunium’ - as possible. That’s it, literally. The complexities unfold over the course of 7-10 days. Through diplomacy, you will forge a loyal team or you may betray them - or them you. Through specialists, strategies are constantly being tweaked and refined as random abilities are gained or lost throughout the game. With beautifully simple controls combined with the complexities of human nature in diplomacy, you will find yourself immersed in one of the best and possibly most underrated strategy games ever.
Simple mechanics, but the blend of specialists, simplicity of diplomacy (literally simple chatboxes), and availability of the time machine to set moves hours in advance make this game a true masterpiece among strategy games. Every game is unique, challenging, and actually requires you to be strategic. It’s sad that this is becoming an older game and the fan base has begun dwindling. Get it now before it’s too late to enjoy this gem. The alternative is pay-to-win resource farming garbage that fills the App Store strategy section.
Incredible game; it feels like a real-time combination of Chess-like tactics, and Diplomacy-esque mindset. Complex war-puzzles to solve, specialized troops to experiment with, and endless surprises delivered by the creativity of other players. There's nothing quite like it out there. Ron and Noel put a lot of love and attention into this thing, and it never found the audience it deserved, but it's still a much beloved cult classic, and has been for years now. Thanks guys!
This is perhaps the best mobile game that exists. Addictive games that last over a few days and require strategic thinking, alliances and thinking ahead. The only negative aspect is there are a few bugs and the developer is not doing updates for the game. Wish another game developer or company would buy the game and maintain it and maybe even make a web version.
Subterfuge is an intricate game in which you manage troops (drillers) across your controlled territory. It has gameplay reminiscent of Risk, but at the same time takes advantage of the power of technology to enhance the game in a variety of ways. With infinite replayability, an amazing player base and a fantastic visual design, I will always consider this game to be the best thing I have ever found on the app store.
Matches take a long time and you can put a lot of time into your strategy. Also like 70% of the game is social, so if you want to do well you have to do well at making and breaking alliances. So far the only annoying thing is that if you want to schedule more than two actions in the future you have to pay for level 2 benefits because the watch ad option does not work, no ads show up.
This game is so much fun but the only reason I am giving this 4 stars is because you have to pay to have certain features. You can't play multiple games at once, start a online game, and join certain online games. I wouldn't mind shelling out a dollar or two for this game to do that put you have to pay $10. This game is fun, and it's still fun for free, but I wish it didn't cost so much for those features.
I can't say enough good things about this game. The strategy is great. The value is great. The gameplay is slow which I thought was a negative at first but it allows you to think and test all your moves. You can check in a few times a day and still be fine. I wish there were more games like this.
This game has the best gameplay mechanics of any idle strategy game I’ve seen. It’s brilliant in its simplicity, yet dynamic enough to allow for a broad range of strategies, and it doesn’t consume all of your time. I look and look and can’t find anything that comes close. Right now, I’m looking for a game like this in a persistent MMO world with tradable resources. I would play that.
Best strategy game, in my opinion. Despite not receiving an update in 2 years, the game is bug free and the UI experience is remains great. I hope the developers update this game and add new features, but given their track record that is not likely. Hopefully, other game studios develop their own version of this great strategy game and more feature to it.
This game is well design and put together. The way it plays out is perfect for those on the go that want a realtime strategy but can't dedicate hours at a time monitoring the game. Highly recommended. Easy and intuitive to play and tutorial videos are well done and recommend to improve gameplay prowess.
This game is fantastic. It takes severe strategy and really makes you have to talk to the other players in order to put yourself in a better position. My only concern is the tutorial is kinda confusing but once you get through it is is one of the best games you will play on your phone
Hasn’t been updated in 2 yrs? Also developers fell off the grid. No support for gameplay issues whatsoever. Even online forums have been forgotten. Too bad best game on App Store. Also you were able to watch a short AD for 2 hours of in game moves but even that does work.
This game is the perfect example of a strategy game for mobile, everything in it can be planned in the future and the diplomacy part of it adds a whole new layer to the game. The only downside is it takes a while to learn and understand the game but other than that this game is amazing!
Seems like a great game, just doesn’t work on ipads at all. The menu is weirdly squashed to one side on my screen, and pressing on one button will either do nothing or open another. Devs, if you happen to see this, please work on it.
I really like this game but I wish that it didn’t take quite so long for subs to travel. I wish there was a way to play a speed round or something, a faster game where things take maybe twenty minutes instead of twenty hours. But again, this is a great game, lots of fun, I definitely recommend it if you like diplomatic strategy games.
This game would be cool if I could start online immediately. But making players go through the difficult and utterly broken "puzzle mode" or pay $5 to play online immediately is ridicules. The game would be better if it didn't take 1 day to launch a sub or think you launched it when in fact the game said you did but didn't actually (which happened to me %80 of the time). All in all it's a broken and simply awful game.
Definitely one of the most fun and engaging strategy games I have ever played. It is also one of the most ruthless, and one wrong move can cost you a week’s worth of hard work. Diplomacy is one of the most important aspects to winning, as you must pick your allies and your targets wisely.
Subterfuge is an amazing strategy game that will have you addicted for days. I highly recommend downloading this game, as you will not be bored any longer. The $9.99 premium pass is worth it, even though you don't really need it to fully experience this game. Amazing job dev team!
I’ve played this game for about two years now, even buying the level two upgrade. but in my last game all game notifications stopped working except chat. This bug that couldn’t be fixed other than redownloading the app is unacceptable because of the importance of being online and ready to act. until the developer addresses this (which he probably won’t since the only way to get an update is to donate money to him) I’m keeping my review at one star
This game is enormous fun, but sadly the current version has quite a number of bugs that make it very difficult to recommend: - It flat out refuses to work unless you're on WiFi. Even if you have a cellular data connection, it will say you are not connected to the internet and won't allow you to play. - Chat bugs can crash the app. This happened early in one of our games, and we had to scratch it and start over, because chat is so central to the game. - Notifications for events sometimes arrive well after they've happened in-game. For a game that plays out in real time, this is not great. - Support doesn't appear to exist. I sent an email regarding one of the above issues, and it went unanswered.
This game is brilliantly executed. I just wish the developers decided to give it more love. New specialists, bug fixes, new game modes, and maybe new deals? Doubt they even read the reviews anymore.
This is a fantastic game that I'd recommend to anyone who would be willing to listen. Despite what the other review says, the King stacking fix really improves the balance of them game (as its no longer whoever has the most kings wins). It's free, so honestly everyone should be giving it a try.
Over 3k playing this game and only 300 have reviewed it?? Shame..This game needs much more attention. If you don’t like slow paced thought provoking games with a heavy diplomacy aspect I would avoid this game. Otherwise this game is for you. 5 stars🤩 best war/chess like/ diplomacy game in the store.
I wish there was a way to make shorter games! This is easily the best strategy game on mobile, and doesn’t take up a ton of time, just takes a long time to finish. Very fun if you’re actually looking to play a great strategy game though.
This game has always been great. It’s really sad to see the player base dwindling over the years. I wish the developers would come back, or at least hand it off to someone else.
I have played tons of strategy games over the years, board games, computer games, apps, you name it. This is one of the best games I have played in a long time. And THE best iPhone strategy game I have played. It is like Risk meets Diplomacy. Highly recommend to any strategy fan.
I hope to see this game make it to the top charts i love the whole concept of this game and how it plays out. The in game chat and the stockpiling of troops makes it feel like risk except a bit easier considering its all in a tap of my phone.
It’s a bit sad that the developers aren’t adding that much content and rarely work on big fixes but it’s still an amazing game. I highly recommend it for any people who like strategy, diplomacy, and a little challenge.
First, this is an amazing game, possibly the best on the App Store. The 9.99 purchase is completely unnecessary but I got it to support the developers on making a GREAT game. But I would like some more specialists and more modes. Otherwise, this is a fantastic game and I highly recommend it.
Subterfuge is arguably one of best and most original strategy games featured on the app store despite it’s dated release. The developers need to return to this gem and reignite the app restoring it and bringing in new players to the base.
This is my favorite mobile strategy game hands down, but I think it’s time it gets updated to support newer phones, such as the the iPhone X, XS etc. Absolutely love the game - if it’s updated it would be a no brainer 5 start rating!
I played this game 2 years ago and there where so many people to play with but now it’s just paid lobby’s and even the payed lobby’s Bearably have any players in them. This games need a update that might get more people playing
This is a multiplayer game only, which requires interacting with others to play. As you might expect from strangers on the internet, the other players are often rude and aggravating. While the game play is just complex enough to be interesting, the game suffers when dealing with others. I should’ve figured this out before paying $10 in IAP.
* Multiplayer Game of the Year 2015 by Pocket Tactics * * Best Mobile Games of 2015 by CNET * * 10 Best Mobile Games of 2015 by Red Bull * Subterfuge is a week-long multiplayer game of strategy and diplomacy that plays out in real time. Gather intelligence, coordinate with other players, issue orders, and influence how the game unfolds. Master both strategy and diplomacy to come out on top. "One of the best strategy games I've played all year. And it's on my iPhone, of all places." -- Polygon "Subterfuge is the perfect mobile game for someone looking for an in-depth strategy game you can play for 5 minutes at a time or stare at your phone for 45 minutes plotting schemes and executing flawlessly timed maneuvers" -- TouchArcade "In a world of single-serving iPhone distraction, Subterfuge is a remarkable standout, a booming four-course meal of strategy, diplomacy, and damn fine gameplay." -- The Daily Dot "A diplomacy system more dynamic and tense than a Middle East peace talk." -- Gamespresso “The designers, to their credit, have created a truly bottomless puzzle. This app is hypnotizing” -- Quintin Smith (Cool Ghosts) Features unlocked by buying Level 2 Security Clearance IAP: * Unlimited scheduled orders * Create private games * Play in rated games * Play multiple games simultaneously * Keep notes about other players