Comparison

Sid Meier's Colonization vs Galaxy Genome

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

Head to head
About

Sid Meier's Colonization

Lead a colonial power to explore, settle, and develop new lands in the Colonial Era. Manage resources, establish trade, and engage in diplomacy and warfare to achieve independence. Offers deep strategic gameplay with customizable options.

Highlights
  • Explore and colonize new lands
  • Manage growth, development, and trade
  • Engage in diplomacy and military strategy
  • Play as four distinct colonial powers
  • Customize game difficulty and maps
  • Advanced artificial intelligence opponents
Features
Read full description

The Tradition of Civilization Continues The New World lies before you with all its peril, promise and infinite possibility. Your colonists anxiously follow you to shore. The treasures of an entire continent await you. Finally, the much-anticipated follow-up to Civilization is here! Sid Meier's Colonization takes you into the Colonial Era to discover, explore and colonize vast territories that promise both danger and reward. Play one of four colonial powers as you set sail to discover the New World. Explore new lands and strategically plant your first colony. Direct its growth, manage its resources and establish lucrative trade routes. Balance economics, political and military strategy to create your own powerful nation. But beware of your enemies! Angry natives and rival powers can encroach upon your territory. You'll have to overcome your foes with superior military strategy and wily diplomacy. Only then can you launch your revolution and declare your independence. Colonization, The newest strategy game from Sid Meier continues the great tradition of Civilization. —User Reviews— “The game is a rich and varied Gestalt of top colony activity. Strategies must be divined with care, and constantly modified to ride the chaotic rapids of the thousands of interactive elements in this opus of creative genius. Perhaps. Or it could just be a damn fine game.” “Colonization offers hours and hours of entertainment. I played it for over a week to write this review and it commanded my total concentration all the time to play it once through. Because the game can be very different every time you play it, this means that Colonization is the sort of game you could play for ever.” FEATURES • Manage your growth, development and trade to create a powerful nation. • Pit your strategic skills against Colonization's advanced artificial intelligence. • Play either the French, English, Dutch or Spanish colonial powers each with distinct characteristics and political situations. • Customize your games and choose your own level of difficulty so you never play the same game twice. • Discover and explore the Americas or create your own scenario with a random map generator. • Same design principles and interface as award-winning Civilization, making game play easy and fun.

About

Galaxy Genome

Embark on an open-world sci-fi adventure as a space pilot. Explore a vast, scientifically accurate Milky Way, customize your ship, and choose your path as a trader, pirate, or explorer. Engage in combat, smuggling, and mining while following a compelling story or undertaking side missions.

Highlights
  • Open-world sci-fi space simulator
  • Ship customization and upgrades
  • Explore a 1:1 scale Milky Way galaxy
  • Free-form play with multiple roles
  • Vibrant story and side quests
  • Surface vehicles for planet exploration
Read full description

Galaxy Genome is an open world sci-fi space simulator. You'll be able to upgrade your ship and customize every component as you hunt, explore, fight, mine, smuggle, trade and survive in the cutthroat galaxy. Follow the main story or do side missions. This game gives you the ability to feel real space exploration. The entirety of the Milky Way re-created at its full galactic proportions. At the beginning of the game you are a pilot of a small ship. Financial struggle forces you to start transporting contraband. Certainly, it will lead to you being in trouble with the law someday. But at some point in your life you are forced to make a deal with the authorities of the system. And that is when your dangerous space adventure begins. Game Features: - Free-form play allows everyone to choose their own path, becoming an angry pirate, a peaceful trader, an explorer, a bounty hunter, or a mix between these roles. - More than 30 different and customizable ships. - The game has a vibrant story and side quests. - Surface vehicles to explore planets. - No classes or skill levels, strength is decided by ship equipment and player skill. - The vast 1:1 scale Milky Way galaxy is based on real scientific principles. Around 2 billion star systems.

Screenshots

Sid Meier's Colonization4 screens
Galaxy Genome4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Galaxy Genome at 75% against Sid Meier's Colonization's 21%. Galaxy Genome also leads on rating (4.3 vs 2.3) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 4 months). Sid Meier's Colonization's advantage is price ($2.99 vs $3.99) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 13.4). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and chart position 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

Sid Meier's Colonization costs $2.99 and Galaxy Genome $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Galaxy Genome holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 2.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 209 and 116 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 21% of Sid Meier's Colonization's written reviews are positive against 75% of Galaxy Genome's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sid Meier's Colonization ships an update every 4 months, Galaxy Genome every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Sid Meier's Colonization versus Galaxy Genome: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSid Meier's ColonizationGalaxy Genome
Price$2.99 — better$3.99
Rating2.3 (209 ratings)4.3 (116 ratings) — better
Positive reviews20.6% of reviews75.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings209 — better116
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#183#166 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better13.4
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB100 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperAtariAnton Skvortsov

Customer experience

Sid Meier's Colonization

All ratings209 ratings
Positive31.6%
Neutral2.9%
Negative65.6%
Written reviews262 reviews
Positive20.6%
Neutral5.3%
Negative74.0%

Galaxy Genome

All ratings114 ratings
Positive80.7%
Neutral9.6%
Negative9.6%
Written reviews116 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral13.8%
Negative11.2%

User reviews

Sid Meier's Colonization

From 209 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Exactly like the original game
  • 🚀 Classic gameplay
  • 💡 Nostalgia factor
  • 🚀 Engaging and addictive

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Unresponsive and clunky controls
  • 🐛 Keyboard overlay covers too much of the screen
  • 🐛 Difficulty loading/unloading cargo
  • 🐛 Unable to move diagonally
  • 🐛 Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions

Galaxy Genome

From 116 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Massive explorable galaxy with procedurally generated systems
  • 💎 No pay-to-play mechanics or paywalls
  • 🎮 Deep gameplay with trading, combat, mining, and exploration
  • 📱 Excellent value for mobile space sim
  • 🎯 Active developer with regular updates and community engagement

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes, especially when accessing mission menu
  • 📚 Steep learning curve with minimal tutorial guidance
  • 🐢 Tedious travel time through large spaces
  • 🎮 Unintuitive flight controls and ship deceleration
  • 🗺️ Confusing route mapping and pathfinding issues

Bugs and requests

Sid Meier's Colonization

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Game crashes on launch
  • Cursor/touch input issues
  • Performance problems and slowdowns

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add support for Bluetooth keyboard and mouse
  • Optimize touch controls for mobile
  • Implement drag-and-drop functionality
  • Provide a tutorial or instructions on how to use the controls

Galaxy Genome

Reported bugs

16 issues
  • Game crashes when accessing mission menu
  • Game crashes when attempting warp jump with space station
  • Chinese characters display as blocks
  • Autopilot overshoots destinations
  • Module list cannot be scrolled when modules are disabled
Show 11 more
  • Mission rewards not calculating correctly with large fleets
  • Debris accumulation causes crashes if staying in system too long
  • Save files showing 0:00:00 playtime after crashes
  • Loading screen freezes on M1 iPad Pro
  • Virtual joystick not appearing in tutorial
  • Game crashes on older devices (iPhone 6, iPhone 10)
  • Landscape mode system menus remain in portrait orientation
  • Reputation system bugs preventing mission acceptance
  • Tutorial missions freezing and preventing progression
  • Pathfinding algorithm fails on optimal routes
  • Search function case-sensitive and returns only one result

Requested features

20 requests
  • Controller support (Xbox, Backbone)
  • Multiplayer or co-op gameplay
  • Ability to build and control space stations
  • Fleet management improvements
  • Save editing or money cheats for progression
Show 15 more
  • Galaxy map resource search filter
  • System naming and bookmarking features
  • More engineers for ship upgrades
  • Mod support on iOS
  • Better tutorial with highlighted interactive elements
  • Wiki or comprehensive in-game documentation
  • Portrait mode option
  • Reverse landscape mode
  • Quick-link from missions to galaxy map
  • Total light-years traveled tracker
  • More ship variety, especially for factions
  • Ability to disable ships and board them
  • Station conquest mechanics
  • Rank/reputation system with titles
  • Faster travel or acceleration options

In-app purchases

None

Sid Meier's Colonization

No in-app purchases

None

Galaxy Genome

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Sid Meier's Colonization free?
Sid Meier's Colonization costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Galaxy Genome free?
Galaxy Genome costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Sid Meier's Colonization or Galaxy Genome?
Galaxy Genome is rated higher. Sid Meier's Colonization averages 2.3 out of 5 from 209 ratings, while Galaxy Genome averages 4.3 from 116 ratings.
Do Sid Meier's Colonization or Galaxy Genome have ads?
Neither Sid Meier's Colonization nor Galaxy Genome shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sid Meier's Colonization or Galaxy Genome?
Sid Meier's Colonization ships an update every 4 months, and Galaxy Genome every 5 weeks. Most recently, Sid Meier's Colonization was updated on October 17, 2026 and Galaxy Genome on October 21, 2026.
Which is more popular, Sid Meier's Colonization or Galaxy Genome?
Sid Meier's Colonization currently peaks at #183 in the App Store charts, and Galaxy Genome at #166. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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