Last updated on December 7th, 2025 at 12:13 pm
Critical Mass – war in space – Simulation Game Review
Critical Mass – war in space is a Simulation/Strategy game from Sean O'Connor, first launched in 28th November 2017.
It’s rated 9+ and currently has 25+ ratings on the App Store.
What Makes Critical Mass – war in space Stand Out
Critical Mass is a game set in the future, where you are the commander of a squadron of spaceships. You will be sent on one of 40 different types of mission, ranging from protecting a convoy, to attacking an enemy starbase, to defending Earth.
You fight enemy spaceships using six different types of missiles which home in on the nearest target, so you have to be careful not to destroy your own friends…
The game is turn based, but with missiles homing in on your tail, enemy ships weaving to get out of your line of sight and sirens screaming warnings at you it can get pretty frantic!
This Simulation game offers engaging gameplay and regular updates for mobile players.
Player Feedback
As a newer release, Critical Mass – war in space is building its player community. Early feedback suggests .
Recent Updates & Development
Latest Update: 18th May 2022
Recent improvements include:
- added the option to start a new commander from the rank of your highest previous commander
Download & Availability
Critical Mass – war in space is available through the official App Store for iOS devices.
Get Critical Mass – war in space on App Store
Requirements: Requires iPhone 5s / iPad Air / iPad Air (Cellular) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina, Cellular) / iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus / iPad Air 2 / iPad Air 2 (Cellular) / iPad Mini 3 or later.
Compatible with iPhone and iPad devices.
Player Experience Highlights
Community Insight:
Please update this amazing game.
We played this game as a kid back in the late 90s, and was happily surprised when we found it on here. Our only complaint is that we wish you could reset the Honor Roll.
This game is so awesome we only wish it was more like the old original version from windows with the design your own ship feature.
The game is great. The only thing we do t like is that it is missing the mute for the audio.
We recommend downloading Critical Mass! 2022 Missions are played in quick turns, and it feels like intense dogfighting in space. In a turn, the player adjusts the course of their spaceship, decides what types of missiles to fire, and can eject or use the cloak or forcefield ability. Before missions, the player is allotted points (rewarded by success) to assemble their squadron. Also, the mission briefing is given. After missions, the game reports the mission outcome and awards you and your surviving squadron. It feels good if you manage to keep your entire squadron alive. Here are a few tips Id tell our past self: – Dont shoot your buddies down! – Learn behavioral patterns! – Think two moves ahead. – You dont have to fire at every chance. – READ MISSION BRIEFINGS! Our best game just ended and lasted 14 missions, and we were awarded 2 gold medals (among others). Update: Ive reached 20 missions with 4 gold medals! Update again: we're a pro.
Praise: Man, what an utterly addictive game. This is probably the only game from back in the day we still play. We love that its available on iOS, making it our go-to on the bus, toilet, or when taking breaks at work. Sound design and graphics are great for what they are, and all the classic action is still there and very engaging. The ship selection is altered and stripped down, but gotta say we love the triple blaster Wasp starter. Overall, hard not to recommend this game. Criticisms: we do really miss the build your own ship feature, and Im not a huge fan of the squadron construction (having to fill out every slot-as we recall the windows version you could go it alone for godly medals). Friendly fire seems to be a much bigger issue in this game, objectives arent viewable after mission start. And Ive noticed bumping into other objects slows you down much more than on windows; we used to rely on sideswipes to make tight turns, but even a glance grinds you to a halt on iOS. Perhaps the worst change is lack of commands available to your squadron. We really miss search for enemy. It would also be nice not to have to watch the whole battle unfold after you eject/space/die if theres a friendly squad you dont control hanging in the battle. Finally, the go button should be bigger, and if we could wave our magic wand Id love a landscape orientation option. Thats a lot of nitpicks, but dont mistake our love for this game. We basically just want more Critical Mass on our phone! The classic desktop version is easily one of our favorite games of all time, but this is a solid, addictive port.
The Mechanics and graphics of the game are great but they need to make some changes to make it more like the original. First they need to add the design your own ship feature. Secondly they need to make some simple updates like adding mission objective in game. Once you start the mission there is no way to see what your objective is. Another simple change we recommend is making it clear how to earn money. Sometimes you gain a lot some times you lose money when you successfully complete a mission. It seems to be related to you medal and how many of your squads ships supply but it is not clear. Overall a fun addictive game.
Incredibly addictive. Turn based is great and does not take away from the action or tension of the dogfighting.
Works just like we remember on our Windows 95. What a fantastically addicting game.
Amazing game, more content for far less than most popular titles! An enjoyable strategy and semi-rouge like game.
Great game. We dont like that you cant turn off audio. We played this almost our entire 8 hours of flying. When playing on the PC, we dont remember having to load up all 3 ship slots before we could go on a mission.
We like this game as a slower turn based space dog fight game. We would love to see the ability to mute the sound and maybe add the ability to continue on the missions with an extra life or two. Perhaps at a lower level for those just learning the game mechanics. We love all our Sean OConnor games.
And, you know, we just don't think it's incumbent on us, the nontechnical consumer, to know how or why it won't work. There's four bucks we may as well have thrown in the street.
User feedback from Apple App Store
App Details
- Version: 1.5.0
- Size: 17.70 MB
- iOS: 10.0 or later
- Languages: EN
- Content Advisory: Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence
- Developer: [Sean O'Connor]()
Last updated: 18th May 2022 | Genre: Simulation, Strategy | Developer: Sean O'Connor