# Paragon Pioneers — A city-building idle game

> City-building idle game with island discovery, conquest, and complex production chains. (iPhone/iPad app by Tobias Arlt.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/paragon-pioneers/id1599308482 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Tobias Arlt](https://appshunter.io/developer/1599308484)
- Category: Games, Simulation
- Price: $3.99
- Rating: 4.80/5 from 327 App Store ratings · 97 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 12+
- Requires: iOS 13.0 · 180 MB
- Languages: American English, French (France), German (Germany)
- Released: 2022-06-23
- Data updated: 2026-09-07
- Monetization: paid
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/paragon-pioneers/id1599308482/reviews.md

## What is Paragon Pioneers?

Paragon Pioneers is a city-building idle game in which you discover, conquer and then build on islands to fulfill the needs of your inhabitants. Even with limited time to play you can enjoy this deep simulation game and follow one of the countless ways to optimize your empire. Build an impressive palace and go down in history as Paragon's most successful leader.

This is the full version of Paragon Pioneers. The lite version is available here: https://apps.apple.com/app/paragon-pioneers-lite/id1622824091


» What can I expect? «

BUILD your empire stone by stone: construct over 100 different buildings to meet all the needs of your inhabitants.
PRODUCE more than 70 goods with complex production chains.
DISCOVER more islands for your ever-growing empire: build a big fleet, send it across the sea and widen your realm step by step.
CONQUER newly discovered islands from the orcs with an intuitive and multifaceted combat system.
RELAX as your empire stays active even when you're not playing.
IMMERSE yourself in a stylized and cute medieval/fantasy setting without the bother of ads, in-app purchases or even the need to be online.
SHAPE every island in the game with a unique island generator to suit your needs.
ENJOY this game again and again by selecting a special custodian at the end that offers powerful skills for your next empires.


» Get in touch! «

Join the community on Discord: https://discord.gg/pRuGbCDWCP

Send me an email: tobias@paragonpioneers.com


» Thank you for playing Paragon Pioneers! «

With my passion project Paragon Pioneers I’m following my dream of being a game developer. After working for nearly two years on it now, it makes me really happy when it brings joy to other people. So please feel free to get in touch and tell me how you experienced my game :)

- Tobias

## Key features

- Build over 100 different buildings
- Produce over 70 goods
- Discover and conquer new islands
- Complex production chains
- Relaxing idle gameplay
- Unique island generator
- Medieval/fantasy setting

## What do users think of Paragon Pioneers?

Overall sentiment: positive

**Pros**

- 🚀 Great game
- 👍 Offline, chill, and forgiving
- 👍 No ads or in-app purchases
- 👍 Balanced gameplay
- 👍 Addictive and engaging
- 👍 Excellent value for price
- 👍 Responsive developer
- 👍 Reminiscent of classic city-builders

**Cons**

- 🐛 Persistent production bugs
- 🐛 Crashes and compatibility issues
- ⏱️ Long wait times for ships and battles
- 🤔 Unclear tutorial and documentation

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Production issues with farms and booze
- Inability to edit placed buildings
- Crashes on older devices or with many islands

**Most requested features**

- World map view of islands and trade routes
- Ability to move and rearrange buildings
- Random events, missions, and achievements
- Faster progression options (e.g. turbo mode)

## Recent user reviews (10 of 97)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/paragon-pioneers/id1599308482/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Eine lohnende Investition

*2025-10-20*

Wer ein Aufbauspiel ohne viel Bohei sucht, ist hier richtig. Kein Internetzwang, keine IAPs, moderater Stromverbrauch und vor allem ein richtiges Idle Game, das nicht die ganze Zeit laufen muss und bei Abwesenheit die Produktion auf ein Minimum herunterschraubt. Mein erster Durchlauf dauerte knapp 100 Tage und ich habe direkt den nächsten gestartet. Die Pioneers kommen auch ohne einen ganz gut klar und wenn man mal zu wenig Ressourcen hat, dann bricht während einer längeren Abwesenheit nicht gleich die gesamte Wirtschaft zusammen. Die Menüs und die gesamte Oberfläche ist klar strukturiert, durchdacht und schnell begreifbar. Ich bin begeistert von der Knuddelgrafik und freue mich schon auf den 2. Teil! 

Volle Empfehlung!

### 5/5 — This is a great game

*2024-03-04*

I’ve been playing over a year now and have wrapped it a few times to unlock new custodians. Will buy the 2nd game when it launches :)

### 3/5 — great but a bit buggy

*2024-02-09*

I’ve experienced a couple persistent bugs related to production. For example, the farm that produces material for rope/paper wouldn't begin production unless i removed the farm and placed it again.

Another one that is more persistent is the production of booze. I would come back to the app the next day and see that pioneers weren’t happy because they didn't have enough booze. i would build another farm and think i have it resolved. next day same thing…

I began to notice that when i returned to the game after a break their production was halted because they had no available storage. How could that be though if the people don’t have enough? I then noticed that if I tap on the farm it would clear the error and production would resume. 

This bug was a bit of a dealbreaker for me… I couldn’t progress to the next level bc the Pioneers weren’t happy enough to upgrade. Sad because it had a ton of potential. Im going to check out the sequel… hopefully these bugs were resolved.

**Developer response:** Hey Dustin, I'm sorry about my late response and that you encountered an issue. I was busy with the upcoming release and checked the review a bit rarely lately.

When you place a factory the green bar starts to fill, but that does not show that the building is producing, but that is the cooldown until the next production cycle. If it does not produce anything after the bar filled it is probably missing goods and need either a warehouse in its range to fetch the input materials from the island storage or the supply of those is too low.

If a building halts the production, because of no available storage it might miss a warehouse nearby to collect the produced goods. It is important that the range of the warehouse contains the building and not the other way round as buildings always fetch goods, but never send them.

You can always send me a mail at tobias@paragonpioneers.com for more help. If you send me screenshots or your savegame I can also look deeper into any problems you encounter :)

Best wishes,
Tobias

### 4/5 — Love this game

*2024-01-21*

Edit: I had to come back and edit because this game is by far my favorite. I’m on round 3 and it’s every bit as fun as the first time. It’s the right amount of everything. Definitely addictive, but doesn’t distract you *too much* from your daily life. Challenging but not frustrating. The developer is working on a new game and I can’t wait for him to publish it. 
***************

I’ve only been playing this game for about a week but I’m hooked. Raves: 1- The game play is simple, yet complex. It involves strategy and brain power to manage your resources efficiently. As soon as school starts I will recommend this game to my students. I’d much rather they play this than be on Tik Tok. 2- No ads, no in-game purchases, no subscriptions. I am sick of playing “free” games that require you watch ads. $3.99 is an incredible deal. 3- Community support. The developer has a discord channel and a wiki page for support. I like what the developer is doing. He seems invested in his game and listens to feedback. As soon as I’m done with this review I will be looking to see if he has other games. 

Cons: I feel like I have to put something, but honestly there aren’t any, other than a suggestion for a feature. It would be nice to have a world map view of your islands and trade routes.

Edit:
After playing the game for a little while longer, this “con” isn’t feasible. Having this feature would be impossible. I’ll have to get back with you for a real con. I simply cannot think of anything negative to say!

### 5/5 — The perfect mobile game

*2024-01-12*

I love so many things about this game. It’s offline, super chill and forgiving, it gets better and better the longer I play. I’m hooked. Thank you Tobias for this game 🙏

### 5/5 — Sehr gut umgesetzt

*2023-08-28*

Wirklich sehr gutes Spiel , was ich jetzt über zig Monate gespielt habe . Da ich jetzt durch bin , versuche ich mal alles auf Maximal zu Leveln , da muss ich mal schauen wieviele Inseln , Kaufleute, Goldmünzen usw. möglich sind .

### 5/5 — Fantastic - Hidden Gem

*2023-08-22*

This is a great game - highly recommend. On round 2 and have found it to be reminiscent of Settlers from the old Commodore 64 days with regards to well thought out gameplay and build chain sequences. You can jump in when you want, no stress or pvp nonsense.  Can’t wait for the developer to come out with their next game.

### 5/5 — Surprising depth and interest

*2023-08-16*

If you’re the type of person that gets a lot of satisfaction out of making optimally efficient systems, this game is for you 😂

This is so fun and requires a nice kind of patience that I enjoy. There are waiting mechanisms built in, you can’t pay to speed them up, and they’re part of the lore and gameplay. There’s no fall off in terms of production when you don’t have the game open. So it can lend itself to an hour or more of tweaking and analyzing your network of islands, redistributing resources - and then maybe 10 minute chunks a couple times in the day, to check in and tweak as needed, with the system you built running along in the background.

This is a long-running game, and the only way to speed it up is to get better at it. I’ve been playing for a week and still feel like I’m in the very early stages, getting my first few islands set up, but as I learn my systems get better and my growth gets faster. SO satisfying. 

Also, play with the music on if you can, the soundtrack is stunning.

### 5/5 — This is a really great app worth every penny.

*2023-08-01*

I really love playing this app. I enjoy the world building that it provides it doesn’t get boring. It actually gets more complex as time goes on as your master more and more skills you can actually really get into building a really diverse world. Well done to the developers!

### 3/5 — This isn’t a city building idler…

*2023-06-24, version 1.0.112*

It’s a cleverly disguised puzzle game. You have to selectively build structures nearby other structures in a random-ish map. Almost every building has its own blueprint that is required by or from other buildings. As a casual gamer that loves idlers, builders, clicker games and similar, I should have went with my gut when playing the lite version. This is definitely not for everyone.

## Frequently asked questions about Paragon Pioneers

### What is Paragon Pioneers?

Paragon Pioneers is a city-building idle game where players discover, conquer, and build on islands to meet the needs of their inhabitants. It offers deep simulation and empire optimization, even for players with limited playtime.

### What are the key features of Paragon Pioneers?

Key features include building over 100 different structures, producing more than 70 goods through complex production chains, discovering and conquering new islands, and a relaxing idle gameplay experience where your empire grows even when you're offline.

### How much does Paragon Pioneers cost?

Paragon Pioneers is a paid application. The description mentions a 'full version' and a separate 'lite version' available, implying a one-time purchase for the full experience without ads or in-app purchases.

### What platforms is Paragon Pioneers available on?

The provided description includes an Apple App Store link for a 'lite version', suggesting it is available on iOS devices. The description does not explicitly mention other platforms.

### Can I play Paragon Pioneers offline?

Yes, the game description explicitly states that you can enjoy the game without the need to be online. Your empire remains active and continues to grow even when you are not playing.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.0.125 — 2025-10-17

• Fixed a infinite loading bug on some devices

### 1.0.123 — 2025-10-15

• Updated to Unity 6 to apply a critical security patch

### 1.0.112 — 2023-01-27

Fixed crash on loading large savegames

### 1.0.109 — 2022-10-28

• Added option to show ranges of buildings of same type in build preview
• Added assign max button to battle preparation
• Added trade route option to unassign ships when they finish the route
• Garrison, route and ship view now show show idle (+busy) units
• Improved battle preparation screen layout
• Moved Zzz of palace ui to not hide remaining time
• Starting an instant battle now opens directly the result screen
• Bugfix discovery option glitch on low frame rates
• Bugfix layout with empty ship name
• Bugfix barracks weapon not collectable
• Bugfix barracks show wrong hint on full garrison
• Bugfix map generator ignored water border
• Bugfix treasurer kontor redeemed if not placed after discovery
• Slightly increased ship list performance

### 1.0.108 — 2022-10-17

• Added French translation
• Fixed crash for large save games
• Trade routes can now be reordered
• Added battle retreat
• Added info and abort for running discoveries
• Destination of waypoints can now be changed
• Waypoints now have options to repeat until fully loaded/unloaded
• Improved performance of scroll bars
• Fixed satisfaction percentage calculation

## Apps similar to Paragon Pioneers

| App | Rating | Price | Category |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Global City: Building games](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/global-city-building-games/id1455860184) | 4.8 (6,148) | Free | Games |
| [Zero City: Zombie Shelter Game](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/zero-city-zombie-shelter-game/id1463289293) | 4.7 (15,353) | Free | Games |
| [Steam City: Town building Sim](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/steam-city-town-building-sim/id6448172311) | 4.6 (2,516) | Free | Games |
| [Idle Construction 3D](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/idle-construction-3d/id1473951944) | 4.9 (229,304) | Free | Games |
| [Construction city Excavator 3d](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/construction-city-excavator-3d/id1600062777) | 4.3 (589) | Free | Games |
| [Tower Craft 3D - Idle Building](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tower-craft-3d-idle-building/id1500938520) | 4.8 (144,694) | Free | Games |

## More apps by Tobias Arlt

- [Paragon Pioneers Lite](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/paragon-pioneers-lite/id1622824091)
- [Paragon Pioneers 2](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/paragon-pioneers-2/id6449643673)
- [Paragon Pioneers 2 Lite](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/paragon-pioneers-2-lite/id6475304322)

All apps by Tobias Arlt: https://appshunter.io/developer/1599308484

## Related topics

[paragon pioneers](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/paragon-pioneers)

---

*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-07.*