Comparison

Game Dev Tycoon vs ThePaperPlane

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

Head to head
About

Game Dev Tycoon

Build your own game development company from the 1980s to the present. Design and create your own games, research new technologies, and manage a team to become a market leader. Enjoy a full simulation experience without ads or in-app purchases.

Highlights
  • Start a game development company
  • Design and create your own games
  • Research new technologies
  • Hire and manage a development team
  • Replay gaming history
  • Built-in screen recording and streaming
Features
Read full description

"It’s the perfect sort of game for mobile devices and there’s so much to do here [...]" - 5/5 - Toucharcade Game Dev Tycoon is a casual business simulation game where your success depends on your creativity and willingness to experiment. The game does *not* contain any in-app purchases or ads. Slip into the role of a game developer: start your own company, design your own games and make your way to the top to become a Game Dev Tycoon. - Start your own game development company in the 80s - Replay gaming history - Design and create your own games - Hold your breath and wait for reviews to come in - Research new technologies - Hire and manage a world-leading development team - Become the leader of the market - Gain worldwide fans Game Dev Tycoon for iPhone and iPad introduces: - An updated story line - New topics to enable even more varied games - A challenging (but optional) ‘pirate mode’ - Built-in screen recording and streaming support Game Dev Tycoon does not require an internet connection so go ahead and build your gaming empire in Airplane Mode.

About

ThePaperPlane

Control a paper plane through various backyard challenges. Master simple tap-and-hold controls to navigate hoops, pop balloons, and knock over objects. Maintain your daily streak to progress through increasingly difficult levels.

Highlights
  • Tap-and-hold controls
  • Backyard obstacle courses
  • Balloon popping
  • Object knocking
  • Daily seeded challenges
  • Unlockable named planes
Features
Read full description

Throw a folded paper plane across a chain of back gardens. Tap to throw. Hold anywhere to lift the nose and climb. Keep holding and the dart loops over the top and flies the other way. Pull down to dive. Let go to glide. That is the whole control scheme. Thread hula hoops, pop every balloon, and knock over the stacks people left lying around: cardboard, bottles, crates, bricks. Clear a yard to walk into a harder one without leaving the sitting. There is one seeded chain of yards each day. Finish the first garden to keep your streak. Miss a day and it goes back to one. Coins, planes, and stickers stay on your phone. Fold named planes in the Shed, each with its own power, plus a workshop that never runs out of scraps. No accounts, no ads, no in-app purchases.

Screenshots

Game Dev Tycoon4 screens
ThePaperPlane3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: ThePaperPlane at Free against Game Dev Tycoon's $4.99. ThePaperPlane also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 91%). Game Dev Tycoon's advantage is ratings volume (24K vs 5) and chart position (#57 vs unranked). On rating, ads, in-app purchases 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

ThePaperPlane is free to download; Game Dev Tycoon costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Game Dev Tycoon against 5.0 for ThePaperPlane. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Game Dev Tycoon has 24K ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 91% of Game Dev Tycoon's written reviews are positive against 100% of ThePaperPlane's.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Game Dev Tycoon versus ThePaperPlane: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGame Dev TycoonThePaperPlane
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.9 (24K ratings)5.0 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews91.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings24K — better5
Update frequencyEvery 3 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#57 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size204 MB33 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGreenheart Games Pty. Ltd.Shazad Devani

Customer experience

Game Dev Tycoon

All ratings24,004 ratings
Positive98.6%
Neutral0.6%
Negative0.8%
Written reviews1,110 reviews
Positive91.1%
Neutral3.9%
Negative5.0%

ThePaperPlane

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Game Dev Tycoon

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Loan payback amount inconsistency
  • Game reports not carrying over knowledge

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add more console and game genre options
  • Implement employee personalities and interactions
  • Provide more detailed game performance history
  • Allow simultaneous game development
  • Add difficulty settings and sandbox mode
Show 1 more
  • Implement mod support and custom content

ThePaperPlane

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Game Dev Tycoon

No in-app purchases

None

ThePaperPlane

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Game Dev Tycoon free?
Game Dev Tycoon costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is ThePaperPlane free?
ThePaperPlane is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Game Dev Tycoon or ThePaperPlane?
ThePaperPlane is rated higher. Game Dev Tycoon averages 4.9 out of 5 from 24K ratings, while ThePaperPlane averages 5.0 from 5 ratings.
Do Game Dev Tycoon or ThePaperPlane have ads?
Neither Game Dev Tycoon nor ThePaperPlane shows ads.

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