Comparison

Sim Aquarium vs Rice Fish

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

Head to head
About

Sim Aquarium

Design and manage your own 3D aquarium. Collect, feed, and breed fish, then decorate your underwater world with various items. Complete daily goals and play mini-games for rewards.

Highlights
  • Collect and breed fish
  • Decorate 3D aquariums
  • Feed and grow fish
  • Complete daily goals
  • Play mini-games
  • Visit friends' aquariums
Features
Read full description

Collect fish, care for them and decorate your own 3D aquarium. Turn an empty tank into an underwater home, one fish and one decoration at a time. YOUR AQUARIUM, YOUR WAY • Feed your fish and watch them grow. • Breed fish and expand your collection. • Choose backgrounds, coral, plants and decorations for your tank. • Complete daily goals and treasure orders, then collect rewards. • Play match-3 puzzles and other minigames for extra variety. • Visit friends’ aquariums and send gifts. Enjoy watching your fish swim, or return for a small daily goal. Whether you prefer collecting sea creatures or designing a reef, your aquarium gives you something to build on. Start with your first fish and make the tank your own. Support: hello.polybear@gmail.com Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Rice Fish

A virtual aquarium simulation where you care for Japanese rice fishes and aquatic plants. Interact with your fish, clean the tank, and watch your aquarium grow. Save your progress via iCloud and explore a 3D view with a companion app.

Highlights
  • Virtual aquarium simulation
  • Feed and clean fish
  • Interactive characters
  • Aquarium customization
  • iCloud data saving
  • 3D VR view companion app
Features
Read full description

Rice Fish is an aquarium app of Japanese rice fishes. Operations: Feeding: Tap water surface. Cleaning: Swipe dirty glass surface. Touch: Each character reacts your touch. You can change layout of your aquarium by pushing root of weeds. Menu: Long tap and help menu will appear. Growing: Characters will grow if you do cleaning/feeding once or twice a day. Characters: There are 4 kinds of characters. Rice Fish: Do both cleaning and feeding. Weed: Do only cleaning. Grow by touching. Snail: Does not do cleaning. This app saves play data to iCloud every two minutes. You can download play data when you install this app to new device. You can also view your own aquarium in 3D by "Rice Fish VR" app.

Screenshots

Sim Aquarium4 screens
Rice Fish4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Rice Fish at none against Sim Aquarium's 10. Rice Fish also leads on rating (4.4 vs 4.1) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). Sim Aquarium's advantage is update cadence (every 11 days vs every 4 months) and review sentiment (79% vs 67%). On price, ratings volume, ads and device support 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

Both are free to download. Sim Aquarium sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Rice Fish asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Rice Fish holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 17 and 14 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 79% of Sim Aquarium's written reviews are positive against 67% of Rice Fish's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sim Aquarium ships an update every 11 days, Rice Fish every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Sim Aquarium versus Rice Fish: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSim AquariumRice Fish
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (17 ratings)4.4 (14 ratings) — better
Positive reviews78.9% of reviews — better66.7% of reviews
Number of ratings17 — better14
Update frequencyEvery 11 days — betterEvery 4 months
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size299 MB28 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer达 雷KENSHI DOI

Customer experience

Sim Aquarium

All ratings17 ratings
Positive76.5%
Neutral5.9%
Negative17.6%
Written reviews95 reviews
Positive78.9%
Neutral9.5%
Negative11.6%

Rice Fish

All ratings13 ratings
Positive84.6%
Neutral7.7%
Negative7.7%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

Bugs and requests

Sim Aquarium

Reported bugs

8 issues
  • Game crashes frequently
  • Game refuses to open or load
  • Purchased items not received
  • Game frozen
  • Missing gems/rewards
Show 3 more
  • Tanks disappeared
  • Snowing effect bug
  • Ads pop up during tutorial

Requested features

9 requests
  • More levels
  • More fish breeds and decorations
  • More challenges
  • Option to remove ads
  • Ability to email/message developers
Show 4 more
  • Confirmation for purchases
  • New fish species like turtles, sharks, etc.
  • Faster evolution of fish/tank
  • Ability to turn off snow effect

Rice Fish

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Sim Aquarium

One-time10
  • Pile of Gems$1.99
  • Mound of Gems$4.99
  • Aquarium Special Pack$4.99
Show 7 more
  • Bag of Gems$9.99
  • Rare Crab Breeding Pack$9.99
  • Sack of Gems$19.99
  • Super Aquarium Pack$19.99
  • Basket of Gems$29.99
  • Box of Gems$49.99
  • Chest of Gems$99.99
None

Rice Fish

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Sim Aquarium free?
Sim Aquarium is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Rice Fish free?
Rice Fish is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Sim Aquarium or Rice Fish?
Rice Fish is rated higher. Sim Aquarium averages 4.1 out of 5 from 17 ratings, while Rice Fish averages 4.4 from 14 ratings.
Do Sim Aquarium or Rice Fish have ads?
Both Sim Aquarium and Rice Fish show ads.
Which is updated more often, Sim Aquarium or Rice Fish?
Sim Aquarium ships an update every 11 days, and Rice Fish every 4 months. Most recently, Sim Aquarium was updated on November 11, 2026 and Rice Fish on November 2, 2026.

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