Comparison

LONER vs Tiny Island Survival

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

Head to head
About

LONER

Experience a tranquil and solitary journey as a pilot navigating through a visually minimalist world. This game offers a unique, immersive experience with its simple mechanics, atmospheric music, and procedurally generated challenges that sync with the soundtrack.

Highlights
  • Unique two-hand sliding and gravity sensing controls
  • Visually simple yet varied color palettes
  • Original, atmospheric background music
  • Randomly generated obstacles synced to music
  • Story of a pilot's lonely journey
Features
Read full description

LONER is a very simple game, no attributes, no upgrade, or even no score, what it wants to bring you, is only purely tranquillity and loneliness. LONER tells the story of a lonely journey of a pilot, in the journey, you would understand his past and his pursuit. Features **Unique Game Mode It has two modes of operation, two-hand-sliding and gravity sensing, the unique design brings a deeper sense of immersion. **Very Simple but Various Pictures There is no complicated shape and brilliant appearance, but you would set foot on a different kind of color trip. **The Right Original Music Several sad, or quiet background music makes you completely immerse in the game. **Random and Rich Barriers Level barriers are completely random and there is the strong vs strong level. It takes the different levels of players into account; obstacles are based on the music beat, which deepen your inner resonance. Director Profile Before making LONER, I was a game programmer, and really wanted to make a game with my own style. The original idea is to make a 3D version "Flappy Bird" with a different perspective, but in the production process, I suddenly found that the game has a quiet loneliness: A plane flies slowly alone in the dark channel by passing one after another obstacle, but seems never reach the end of channel, which is slight shiny in the distance. In the influence of some literary and artistic works, I have been very interested in loneliness, and there are rarely games which express mainly the lonely sense in the market, so that the game topic is decided as this. As a programmer who begins to learn art, I understand that to create roles and environment with rich details in short time is unrealistic, so I decide to pay a tribute to the art style of the "2001: A Space Odyssey”, and this style features "Loner" that the entire scene tones can be arbitrarily transformed. BGM List 1.Deepsea 2.Sea Sand 3.Time 4.Tunnel 5.Voices 6.Void

About

Tiny Island Survival

Explore a mysterious island after a shipwreck, uncovering its secrets by venturing into the forest. This single-screen adventure features simple controls, resource collection, and character progression for both casual and dedicated players.

Highlights
  • Explore a mysterious island
  • Unravel the island's secret
  • Simple one-screen gameplay
  • Collect materials
  • Level up weapons and armor
  • Increase health
Features
Read full description

Thank you for 7,000,000 downloads! ■Learn the Island's Secret Shipwrecked, you wash up on an uninhabited-seeming island. But then you notice smoke rising from the forest. "Maybe someone lives here..." Explore the island, advance deeper into the forest, and unravel the island's mystery. ■No Complicated Controls The game takes place on one screen, so no getting lost. No annoying traveling from place to place. Just go deeper into the forest. ■Simple But With Elements for Completists to Enjoy Collect materials to aid in your survival. Level up your weapons and armor. Increase your health. ●Playable in short bursts whenever you have a sliver of time to kill ●Encapsulated in a single screen ●Cute, lively pixel art ●Simple gameplay with depth for completists

Screenshots

LONER4 screens
Tiny Island Survival3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Tiny Island Survival at Free against LONER's $1.99. Tiny Island Survival also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.2) and update cadence (every 4 days vs every 5 weeks). LONER's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 7) and ads (none vs shown). On review sentiment 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

Tiny Island Survival is free to download; LONER costs $1.99 up front. Tiny Island Survival sells 7 one-off in-app purchases. LONER asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Tiny Island Survival holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Tiny Island Survival has 40K ratings behind it against 87, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 77% of LONER's written reviews are positive against 83% of Tiny Island Survival's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

LONER ships an update every 5 weeks, Tiny Island Survival every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
LONER versus Tiny Island Survival: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLONERTiny Island Survival
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating4.2 (87 ratings)4.8 (40K ratings) — better
Positive reviews77.3% of reviews83.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings8740K — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 4 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#23 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS10.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size279 MB134 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperKunpoGAME START LLC

Customer experience

LONER

All ratings86 ratings
Positive82.6%
Neutral1.2%
Negative16.3%
Written reviews150 reviews
Positive77.3%
Neutral2.7%
Negative20.0%

Tiny Island Survival

All ratings39,332 ratings
Positive95.4%
Neutral2.8%
Negative1.8%
Written reviews2,316 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral5.8%
Negative10.9%

User reviews

LONER

From 87 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎶 Beautiful music and soundtrack
  • 🧘‍♀️ Relaxing and calming gameplay
  • 🎨 Visually appealing and simple graphics
  • 📖 Engaging story and narrative
  • ✨ Unique and immersive experience

Room to improve

  • 📍 Requires location data to play
  • 🚫 Game refuses to load without location access
  • ❓ Unclear why location data is needed
  • 🇨🇳 Settings and menus in Chinese (or other non-English languages)
  • 🔊 Music cannot be turned off

Tiny Island Survival

From 40K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Cute and simple game
  • 🚀 Smooth gameplay
  • 💡 Unique pixel art style
  • 🎨 Great graphics
  • 🎶 Nice music

Room to improve

  • 🔁 Repetitive and grindy late-game progression
  • 🐢 Slow character movement
  • 🔁 Monotonous resource farming
  • 🔁 Lack of variety in enemies and content
  • 💰 Expensive in-app purchase to remove ads

Bugs and requests

LONER

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • Game crashes or freezes
  • Game does not load without location access
  • Settings/menus in non-English languages
  • Incomplete sentences or missing parts in story text
  • Grammar issues in story, especially towards the end
Show 7 more
  • Unexpected charges or billing issues
  • Plane can go through walls without exploding
  • Visual glitches with light effects obscuring the screen
  • Issues with plane models/textures
  • Difficulty with English language option
  • Game not loading after purchase
  • App crashes on launch

Requested features

13 requests
  • Add more stories/chapters
  • Option to turn off music
  • Add more aircraft/landscapes
  • Add tactile feedback for obstacles
  • Improve English translation of story
Show 8 more
  • Add more game modes
  • Add Russian language support
  • Option to use own music
  • Add achievements
  • Improve difficulty balancing
  • Add PC version
  • Add more visual customization options
  • Allow continuing after crashing instead of returning to start

Tiny Island Survival

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Character getting stuck in certain positions
  • Graphical glitches with ads
  • Issues with saving/restoring progress

Requested features

8 requests
  • More islands to explore
  • Ability to customize character
  • Faster travel options
  • More enemy and boss variety
  • Expanded progression system
Show 3 more
  • Idle/passive resource gathering
  • Crafting system
  • Ability to upgrade base/home

In-app purchases

None

LONER

No in-app purchases

7 purchases

Tiny Island Survival

One-time7
  • Material ball$0.49
  • Maximum heart value +8$5.99
  • Material Balls x10 +1$5.99
Show 4 more
  • Starter pack$11.99
  • Maximum heart value +16$11.99
  • Super Coin Pack$11.99
  • Material Balls x30 +5$19.99

Questions

Is LONER free?
LONER costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Tiny Island Survival free?
Tiny Island Survival is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, LONER or Tiny Island Survival?
Tiny Island Survival is rated higher. LONER averages 4.2 out of 5 from 87 ratings, while Tiny Island Survival averages 4.8 from 40K ratings.
Do LONER or Tiny Island Survival have ads?
Tiny Island Survival shows ads; LONER does not.
Which is updated more often, LONER or Tiny Island Survival?
LONER ships an update every 5 weeks, and Tiny Island Survival every 4 days. Most recently, LONER was updated on October 26, 2026 and Tiny Island Survival on October 28, 2026.

Other comparisons