Chances are, if you’re someone who enjoys playing strategy games on iOS, then you’re already familiar with Clash of Clans. Although I enjoyed the first few days of playing it, the only real way to have a good time is by using real money to purchase a bunch of in-game gems; otherwise, things just take way too long to build.

As luck would have it, just as I was getting sick of CoC, I happened to find a clone of the game called Samurai Siege. It’s free to download so I figured, why not give it a shot? (I’ve always liked samurai and ninja more than vikings anyway.) I’m still having fun with it two weeks later, so I thought I’d recommend it here in case others haven’t heard of it yet.

Like CoC, Samurai Siege has you building up a home base with defensive turrets and production centers, and you can attack other players’ bases in order to steal their resources, gain special loot, and earn honor points. While CoC gives no real incentive to progress through the single-player missions, Samurai Siege has an actual storyline (albeit barebones) that unlocks new weapons and soldier types as you go along.

Samurai Siege also employs the use of IAP for in-game gems that speed up building processes and whatnot, but it feels more fair than with CoC. For starters, Samurai Siege gives you a lot more gems at the beginning of the game, and if you use them wisely they will last quite a while. They also have promotional deals from time to time that earn you even more gems for free.

Like I said, Samurai Siege is free to download, so check it out. If you enjoy it as much as I have, drop $5 on some gems and help the developers out.