Comparison

RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3 vs Northgard

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3

Build and manage your dream theme park in this classic PC strategy simulation, now on mobile. Design thrilling rides, keep guests happy, and explore five unique themes in stunning 3D. Enjoy the full depth of the original game with no in-app purchases.

Highlights
  • Create ultimate theme park in 3D
  • Sandbox mode for free building
  • 18 original PC scenarios
  • Guest happiness management
  • Five distinct park themes
  • Controllable cameras and Coaster Cam
Features
Read full description

RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3 (RCT3) is the classic bestselling PC strategy simulation that now brings the fun of a roller coaster park right to your iPhone or iPad! With a new mobile-friendly UI, the creativity, depth and sophistication of the classic PC game is all here - with NO in-app purchases. ·         Create your ultimate theme park in stunning 3D! ·         Let your imagination run free in Sandbox mode. ·         Play through all 18 scenarios from the original PC game. ·         Watch your guests react to your park as you try to make them happy. ·         Happy guests earn you more in-game money to build out your parks even more. ·         Design your parks using 5 fun themes: Generic, Spooky, Western, Adventure and Sci-fi. ·         See every spine tingling detail with fully controllable cameras.  ·         Grab a front seat for the ride of your life with the jaw-dropping Coaster Cam.  ·         Cope with challenging objectives, changing weather patterns and enjoy beautiful vistas, sunsets, moonlight, and more.​​

About

Northgard

Lead a Viking clan to explore, settle, and conquer a mysterious new continent. Manage resources, assign jobs, and survive harsh winters and dangerous foes. Choose your clan's path to victory through conquest, trade, or devotion.

Highlights
  • Build and manage settlements
  • Assign Vikings to jobs
  • Resource management and survival
  • Territory expansion and discovery
  • Multiple victory conditions
  • Story mode campaign
  • Multiplayer modes
Read full description

Northgard is a strategy game based on Norse mythology in which you control a Clan of Vikings fighting for the control of a mysterious newfound continent. After years of tireless explorations, brave Vikings have discovered a new land filled with mystery, danger and riches: NORTHGARD. The boldest Northmen have set sail to explore and conquer these new shores, bring fame to their Clan and write history through conquest, trading, or devotion to the Gods. That is, if they can survive the dire Wolves and Undead Warriors roaming the land, befriend or defeat the giants, and survive the harshest winters ever witnessed in the North. FEATURES • Build your settlement on the newly discovered continent of Northgard • Assign your vikings to various jobs (Farmer, Warrior, Sailor, Loremaster...) • Manage your resources carefully and survive harsh winters and vicious foes • Expand and discover new territory with unique strategic opportunities • Achieve different victory conditions (Conquest, Fame, Lore, Trading...) STORY MODE: RIG’S SAGA The Viking High King is murdered and his Regal Horn is stolen by a man named Hagen. This event kickstarts a saga that will take Rig, his son and heir accompanied by his right-hand man Brand through the new continent of Northgard. The continent where he will make new friends and foes and discover a much greater threat than Hagen, and the reasons behind his father’s assassination. MULTIPLAYER • Play with or against other Mobile players with up to 6 players • Includes Duel, Free for All and Teamplay modes CHOOSE YOUR CLAN In order to complete the 11 campaign chapters, the player will have to master the specificities of the 6 first clans and tame the unforgiving wilderness of Northgard. More clans are joining the fight for Northgard! • Clan of the Snake: Act from the shadows and take the lead with cunning guerilla tactics • Clan of the Dragon: Embrace the old ways and please the gods with sacrifices • Clan of the Kraken: Harness the bounty of the sea and unleash its brutal might You can unlock the clans of the Snake, Dragon and Kraken separately by buying the DLCs, or together with the Scale Bundle. • Clan of the Horse: Devote yourself to the art of blacksmithing and craft powerful Relics • Clan of the Ox: Equip ancestral equipment and prove the might of your forefathers • Clan of the Lynx: Adopt Nature’s way and lure mythical preys into ambushes You can unlock the Clans of the Horse, Ox and Lynx separately by buying the DLCs, or together with the Fur Bundle. • Clan of the Squirrel: Gather ingredients to prepare special recipes and survive the harsh winters • Clan of the Rat: Embrace the way of the Shamans and work for the clan • Clan of the Eagle: Occupy a large territory, venture outside and gather resources Unlock the clans of the Squirrel, Rat and Eagle separately by buying the DLCs, or together with the Winter Bundle. Carefully redesigned for mobile • Revamped interface • Game Center achievements • iCloud - Share your progress between iOS devices If you experience any issue with Northgard, please contact our customer support at support@playdigious.mail.helpshift.com and give us as much as possible information on your problem.

Screenshots

RollerCoaster Tycoon® 34 screens
Northgard4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Northgard at 4.6 against RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3's 3.9. Northgard also leads on chart position (#15 vs #76). RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 12) and price ($4.99 vs $7.99). On review sentiment, ratings volume, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3 costs $4.99 and Northgard $7.99 up front. Northgard sells 12 one-off in-app purchases. RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3 asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Northgard holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.7K and 3.7K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 58% of RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3's written reviews are positive against 61% of Northgard's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3 ships an update every 3 weeks, Northgard every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3 versus Northgard: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRollerCoaster Tycoon® 3Northgard
Price$4.99 — better$7.99
Rating3.9 (1.7K ratings)4.6 (3.7K ratings) — better
Positive reviews57.5% of reviews61.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.7K3.7K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#76#15 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS7.0 — better13.6
Further details — not scored
Size672 MB892 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperAtariPlaydigious

Customer experience

RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3

All ratings1,685 ratings
Positive70.4%
Neutral9.5%
Negative20.1%
Written reviews570 reviews
Positive57.5%
Neutral14.9%
Negative27.5%

Northgard

All ratings3,606 ratings
Positive90.2%
Neutral3.2%
Negative6.6%
Written reviews1,052 reviews
Positive61.4%
Neutral11.5%
Negative27.1%

User reviews

RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3

From 1.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Exactly like the PC version
  • 👍 Great value for money
  • 👍 Intuitive touch controls
  • 🚀 Smooth performance
  • 👍 Faithful port of a beloved game

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and bugs
  • 🔇 No background audio support
  • 🚫 Lacks expansion packs
  • 🚫 Object limit in sandbox mode
  • 🚫 Outdated graphics and UI

Northgard

From 3.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great game
  • 👍 Fantastic strategy game
  • 👍 Challenging and fun
  • 👍 Excellent port to mobile
  • 👍 Lots of replayability

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes
  • 🐛 Buggy menus and UI
  • 🔋 Battery draining
  • 🐛 Glitchy audio
  • 🐛 Saves getting deleted

Bugs and requests

RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes when park gets too large
  • Path and queue connections issues
  • Saving and loading problems
  • Unresponsive buttons and UI elements

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add expansion packs (Soaked, Wild)
  • Improve path and terrain editing
  • Increase object limit in sandbox mode
  • Add support for custom music
  • Optimize for newer devices and iOS versions

Northgard

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Game crashes frequently
  • Menus and UI are buggy
  • Audio glitches and cuts out
  • Saves get deleted unexpectedly
  • Multiplayer is unreliable
Show 1 more
  • Achievements are not working properly

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add multiplayer mode
  • Improve tutorial and instructions
  • Add controller support
  • Optimize performance and stability
  • Add Chinese language support
Show 1 more
  • Improve clan/unit selection and management

In-app purchases

None

RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3

No in-app purchases

12 purchases

Northgard

One-time12
  • Clan of the Rat$2.95
  • Clan of the Squirrel$2.99
  • Clan of the snake$2.99
Show 9 more
  • Clan of the Dragon$2.99
  • Clan of the Horse$2.99
  • Clan of the Ox$2.99
  • Clan of the Kraken$2.99
  • Clan of the Lynx$2.99
  • Clan of the Eagle$2.99
  • Scale Bundle$6.99
  • Fur Bundle$6.99
  • Winter Bundle$6.99

Questions

Is RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3 free?
RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3 costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Northgard free?
Northgard costs $7.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3 or Northgard?
Northgard is rated higher. RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3 averages 3.9 out of 5 from 1.7K ratings, while Northgard averages 4.6 from 3.7K ratings.
Do RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3 or Northgard have ads?
Neither RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3 nor Northgard shows ads.
Which is updated more often, RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3 or Northgard?
RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3 ships an update every 3 weeks, and Northgard every 6 weeks. Most recently, RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3 was updated on October 26, 2026 and Northgard on October 28, 2026.
Which is more popular, RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3 or Northgard?
RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3 currently peaks at #76 in the App Store charts, and Northgard at #15. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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