Reigns
v1.14Casual gamers and fans of narrative-driven strategy games who enjoy dark humor, historical themes, and quick, decision-based gameplay sessions.
What Is Reigns?
Launched Aug 10, 2016
Updated Mar 2026
What users think iIndependent intel reports to help builders create better apps or enhance existing ones. Still in beta, accuracy and relevancy get better every day. For informational purposes only.
What does it look like?
What are the key features?
A unique binary choice mechanic where players swipe left or right to make royal decisions that impact the kingdom's factions.
Requires players to manage the influence of four distinct pillars: the church, the people, the army, and the treasury.
Gameplay spans centuries, allowing players to experience the consequences of their choices across generations of monarchs.
Randomized requests and surprise events that create emergent storytelling and multiple ways to die.
What do users think? iIndependent intel reports to help builders create better apps or enhance existing ones. Still in beta, accuracy and relevancy get better every day. For informational purposes only.
“Recent user voice shows a mixed sentiment. Users appreciate engaging gameplay and art style and story, but report display and scaling issues and repetitive gameplay.”
What Users Love
I love this game so much
A great fun title with a medieval backdrop where you play as a king and are give choices
Beautiful story telling, a game worth spent.
Reigns has a fantastic art style with a good theme.
Pain Points
Game does NOT get displayed properly in folding phones. Text leak out from the sides
The text cuts off when in vertical mode, have to turn the phone horizontally
Repetitive. Is really fun definitely but there needs to be more progression
I found myself cycling through the same choices over and over and over again
High confidence · 99 reviews available
How is it ranked?
| Category | Chart | Rank | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Card | Paid | #9 | ▲1 |
| Adventure | Paid | #28 | ▼2 |
What are the pros and cons?
Pros
- Highly addictive, intuitive swipe-based core mechanic.
- Strong brand identity with a distinct, recognizable art style.
- Premium, ad-free model builds high trust with the core user base.
Cons
- Significant technical debt regarding UI scaling on modern foldable and wide-screen devices.
- Perceived lack of transparency in game mechanics (RNG vs. Strategy).
- Long-term replayability concerns due to repetitive content loops.
What is the market outlook?
Growth Opportunities
- Expansion into new narrative themes or licensed IPs to refresh the gameplay loop.
- Optimization for modern hardware could significantly improve current negative sentiment.
- Introducing 'Advanced Mode' or deeper strategic layers to address complaints about RNG.
Market Threats
- Direct clones (Lapse series) capturing the market with free-to-play models.
- Emerging high-fidelity political simulators like Suzerain attracting the more 'serious' strategy audience.
- Market saturation of 'swipe-to-rule' games leading to player fatigue.
Who competes with Reigns?
The Nemesis
Lapse: A Forgotten Future
★4.9 (395)Stefano Cornago
Direct clone of the swipe-based binary choice mechanic set in a post-apocalyptic narrative.
Contenders
Lapse 2: Before Zero
★5.0 (71)Stefano Cornago
The sequel to the primary direct competitor, maintaining the exact same swipe-to-govern gameplay loop.
Same Space
New Kids on the Block
Suzerain
★4.6 (1K)Torpor Games GmbH
A modern, high-fidelity political simulator that attracts the same audience looking for complex narrative consequences.
What are the key takeaways?
Reigns is a divisive games app that is a paid app. With a 4.5/5 rating from 155.3K reviews, it receives mixed feedback from users. Users particularly appreciate engaging gameplay, though display and scaling issues remains a common concern.
Best for: Casual gamers and fans of narrative-driven strategy games who enjoy dark humor, historical themes, and quick, decision-based gameplay sessions.
How much does it cost?
Model: paid
Premium, upfront pricing model without in-app purchases or subscription friction, positioning the game as a complete, ad-free experience.
iOS Version
1.14
Android Version
2.0.68
Release Date
Aug 10, 2016
iOS Price
$2.99
Android Price
$2.99
Developer
Devolver