“Loved it to begin with .. then hated the constant ads for pretty much everything... but the strength of the game play kept me around. and I'm still here. Great to see the new epic character cards coming in! Ads are still annoying”
Independent automated assessment · 3 signal sources · 1,122 reviews scanned · analyzed 2026-10-04.
4.5 ★263,004 ratings
5M+Downloads
12+Age rating
482 MBApp size
Free · In-app purchasesIn-app purchases
About this app
Welcome to LUDUS — a real-time PvP strategy game with tactical duels.
Fight other players in fast arena battles where victory depends on smart decisions, good positioning, and strategic merging. The game is easy to learn, yet hard to master for players who enjoy learning mechanics and improving their strategy.
In battle, you merge units to make them stronger, use hero abilities, and react to your opponent’s moves. LUDUS blends multiple genres into one experience: auto-chess style merge gameplay, RPG-style hero collection and progression that lets you build and test different team strategies.
PvP is at the core of LUDUS, but there’s always more to do. Play solo events and tournaments, earn rewards, and upgrade your heroes, or join a clan to take part in cooperative activities, such as clan competitions, where you share a goal that rewards teamwork and planning.…
Preview
Real screenshots from the store listing.
Independent evidence report
Evidence and review signals
This is where the page changes from an app-store listing into an evidence report: findings, important reviews, pricing and a dated history.
Which version this describes
When we ran this analysis, and what the store lists now.
App Store
This analysis describes version 1.37.1 of the app, analyzed 2026-10-04 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version 1.37.1, updated 2026-09-09.
Google Play
This analysis describes version 1.37.4 of the app, analyzed 2026-10-04 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version 1.37.4, updated 2026-09-25.
What we measured
Each line is a measurement published as a measurement, never a verdict.
Each line is a measurement, published as a measurement. Where we have not looked, the line says so rather than reading as a zero.
Developer replies to reviews
Replies to at least 1 review in 20
Price in the store description
States no price and billing period
Cancelling, in the store description
Does not say how to cancel
Themes reported by reviewers
3 or more themes reported
Counted from the reviews we have read for this app. "No theme reported" means no theme reached our reporting threshold — it is not a finding that nothing is wrong with this app, and we do not say it is.
Five-star share of ratings
65–79% five-star
Arithmetic on the stores' own published rating counts. It says nothing about why the ratings fall where they do.
In the package we scanned
No package has been scanned for this app, so nothing is published about what it ships. That is an absence of evidence about the app, not a finding about it.
Graded bands · predicate set 1.4 · how these are measured
What the analysis found
App-specific findings, grouped by what each one rests on. How they are graded lives on its own page.
The catch list 2
Charges we publish at a strength we stand behind: measured from an artefact, agreed by independent sources, or reported by enough users to clear that charge's own published bar.
Reported by users: Pay to progress
Advancement or competition is gated behind spending money rather than playing.
What we saw: Raised by 101 distinct reviewers — 20.2% of the 500 reviews scanned on this store leg (App Store).
Reported by users: Aggressive ad load
Advertising volume or placement that interrupts normal use: ads between every action, unskippable or forced full-screen ads.
What we saw: Raised by 52 distinct reviewers — 8.4% of the 622 reviews scanned on this store leg (Google Play).
Context 1
Measured and published because a reader would want to know — deliberately not a charge. The measurement alone does not show a harm.
Cheapest and priciest options are far apart
The disclosed in-app purchases span an unusually wide price range. Published as context: the cheapest and priciest items may be different kinds of product entirely, so the spread alone deducts nothing.
What we saw: In-app purchases run from USD 0.99 to USD 35.99 — a 36x spread across 10 items
Positive evidence 1
Things this app does right, published at the same strengths as the catch list.
Developer says data deletion can be requested
The developer's data-safety disclosure on the store states that users can request deletion of their data, or the app's own text offers a way to delete the account. This restates what the developer declares; it is not a test of whether deletion works. Apple publishes no equivalent disclosure, so on an Apple-only listing only the app's own text can support it.
What we saw: The developer's store data-safety disclosure states that data deletion can be requested; we have not seen a deletion control in the app's own text
One source only — shown, not confirmed 2
A single kind of evidence. We publish these because withholding them would be the bigger distortion, and we do not treat any of them as a finding we stand behind.
Reported by users: Reports that the ads misrepresent the app
Reviewers repeatedly report that the app is not what its advertising showed. We never see the ad creative itself, so nothing we collect can corroborate or refute this — it is published as an attributed user report: what reviewers say, and how many of them said it.
What we saw: Misleading advertising: raised by 20 distinct reviewers (4.0% of 500 reviews scanned)
From the store listing: Usable without an account
The app's own screens offer a way past sign-up — guest access, skipping, or browsing before registering — rather than gating the product behind an account. The store's privacy disclosure is checked alongside it: that disclosure is self-reported, so it corroborates this credit rather than establishing it.
What we saw: The store privacy disclosure (7 entries) links no contact details or identifiers to the user — consistent with an app that does not require an account. Self-reported by the developer.
Highlighted reviews
Representative public review excerpts shown as user reports, not Appworthy audit evidence.
“Too much ads”
“The gameplay is actually good, but the ADS when upgrading heroes is seriously disappointing. Like, what the heck?! 🤦♂️ Why do we have to sit through several ads just to upgrade ONE hero, especially when you have multiple heroes to…”
Assessment & version history
App changes and Appworthy events in one timeline.
Store listing updated to version 1.37.1.
What this app sells
Useful store-disclosed pricing, kept below the app listing.
Items shown10
Lowest$0.99
Highest$35.99
Merge Arena Payment$11.99
Merge Arena Payment$5.99
Merge Arena Payment$0.99
Merge Arena Payment$23.99
Merge Arena Payment$3.49
Show 5 more purchases
Merge Arena Payment$35.99
Merge Arena Payment$13.99
Merge Arena Payment$17.99
Merge Arena Payment$8.49
Merge Arena Payment$9.49
Google Play does not publish per-purchase prices.