Comparison

Pocket Galaxy vs Solar System Sim

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

Head to head
About

Pocket Galaxy

Design and simulate your own universe with realistic physics. Customize planets, stars, and moons, then watch them interact. Destroy solar systems with powerful tools or explore the life that develops in your creations.

Highlights
  • Create and customize your own universe
  • Simulate realistic planet orbits and physics
  • Destroy solar systems with various tools
  • Explore and unlock new planet types
  • Beautiful 3D graphics and space simulation
  • Save and load your universe creations
Features
Read full description

Place a moon, let go, and watch it fall into orbit around the planet you just made. Pocket Galaxy is a 3D gravity sandbox where realistic space physics meet total creative freedom. Spawn planets, stars and gas giants, place them in orbit, and watch a living solar system come to life. Then take it apart: heat worlds until they glow, freeze them solid, explode them, or smash two together. No levels, no timers, no pressure. The sandbox is the whole game, and nothing in it is on rails. What you can do • Build a universe from a huge variety of procedural planets, stars and gas giants • Simulate realistic gravity and orbital motion in an open 3D sandbox • Reach for cosmic tools: asteroid storms, solar rays, ice rays and explosions • Tune each planet's gravity, size and orbit, even give it repulsive gravity • Unlock new planet and star types as you experiment • Nurture a world until life begins, and follow it in the Planet Journal • Capture and share screenshots of your universe • Save and load your galaxies anytime Nudge an orbit and let gravity take over, engineer a perfectly balanced system, or wipe it out in a single collision. The sandbox is entirely yours. Free to download and play, with ads. An in-app purchase removes them. No account required, and it suits all ages.

About

Solar System Sim

Simulate and explore celestial bodies within our solar system and beyond. Create your own solar systems, experiment with gravity and physics, and observe orbital mechanics in action.

Highlights
  • Explore planets and moons
  • Visit nearby stars
  • Create custom solar systems
  • Gravity and physics simulation
  • Recalculate orbits
  • Newton's laws implementation
Features
Read full description

Zoom from a planet's surface out to distant galaxies, then reshape the whole system with your own hands. Solar System Sim is a real-time gravity sandbox built on Newton's laws and real astronomical data. Every body you add, move or destroy recalculates the orbits of everything else, live. • Smash worlds together: impact craters carve into the surface, firestorms sweep the globe, and glowing debris rains back down. • Build your own universe: add planets, moons, asteroids and comets with their own size, mass and looks, or customise the ones already there. • Land anywhere: drop to a first-person view on any planet's surface and experience its environment. • Sculpt rings: add particle rings and watch gravity shape them in real time. • Witness real eclipses: solar and lunar, with real-world astronomical precision. • Follow comets: watch them streak past and interact with the bodies they meet. • Leave the Solar System: travel to remarkable nearby stars and find them within the Milky Way. • Feel the scale: see the true vastness of space, from a pebble-sized moon to the nearest galaxies. Whether you're here to learn how gravity really works or just to break planets with it, explore at your own pace. Start your cosmic adventure with Solar System Sim.

Screenshots

Pocket Galaxy4 screens
Solar System Sim4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pocket Galaxy at none against Solar System Sim's 5. Pocket Galaxy also leads on review sentiment (92% vs 81%) and ratings volume (26K vs 4.4K). Solar System Sim's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 7 months). On price, rating, ads and monetization model 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. Solar System Sim sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Pocket Galaxy asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pocket Galaxy holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pocket Galaxy has 26K ratings behind it against 4.4K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 92% of Pocket Galaxy's written reviews are positive against 81% of Solar System Sim's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pocket Galaxy ships an update every 7 months, Solar System Sim every 5 days. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Pocket Galaxy versus Solar System Sim: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPocket GalaxySolar System Sim
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (26K ratings) — better4.5 (4.4K ratings)
Positive reviews91.7% of reviews — better80.7% of reviews
Number of ratings26K — better4.4K
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 5 days — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size284 MB522 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPocket Labs UKWPC

Customer experience

Pocket Galaxy

All ratings25,474 ratings
Positive92.0%
Neutral4.5%
Negative3.5%
Written reviews2,112 reviews
Positive91.7%
Neutral4.5%
Negative3.7%

Solar System Sim

All ratings4,331 ratings
Positive86.3%
Neutral5.4%
Negative8.3%
Written reviews1,212 reviews
Positive80.7%
Neutral9.7%
Negative9.7%

User reviews

Pocket Galaxy

From 26K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great game
  • 🚀 Amazing
  • 👍 Fun and entertaining
  • 👍 Realistic graphics and physics
  • 👍 Allows creating own solar systems

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Difficult to get planets into stable orbits
  • 🐛 Planets often get pulled out of habitable zones
  • 🔒 Limited number of planets/objects without watching ads
  • 🐛 Confusing or unintuitive controls
  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches

Solar System Sim

From 4.4K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Realistic simulation
  • 🚀 Detailed solar system
  • 🚀 Ability to create custom solar systems
  • 🚀 Impressive graphics
  • 🚀 Frequent updates

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and glitches
  • 🔋 High battery consumption
  • 💰 Excessive ads
  • 🐛 Saving and loading issues
  • 🐛 Unstable orbits

Bugs and requests

Pocket Galaxy

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Planets sometimes disappear or get stuck out of bounds
  • Wormholes cause app to become unresponsive
  • Collision effects can obscure the screen
  • Planet orbits sometimes behave erratically

Requested features

8 requests
  • Add more types of stars (red/blue dwarfs, supergiants, neutron stars, etc.)
  • Improve planet/moon orbiting mechanics
  • Increase camera zoom and viewing distance
  • Add ability to customize planet atmospheres and life
  • Implement space exploration and colonization features
Show 3 more
  • Improve visual effects for collisions and celestial events
  • Remove or increase planet/object limit
  • Add more detailed planet/star information and statistics

Solar System Sim

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Planets/moons disappearing after saving and loading
  • Bright flashes and screen distortions
  • Planets/objects getting stuck inside stars
  • Crashes when colliding or editing certain objects
  • Inconsistent orbital mechanics and moons ejecting from planets

Requested features

10 requests
  • Add more galaxy and nebula textures
  • Implement realistic supernova effects
  • Allow customization of planet atmospheres and terrain
  • Add binary star systems and rogue planets
  • Introduce a galaxy maker and collision feature
Show 5 more
  • Implement a reverse time lapse option
  • Add more speed options (128x, 256x, etc.)
  • Introduce a population counter and life simulation for planets
  • Allow custom city lights and vegetation on planets
  • Add a Roche limit feature to observe tidal disruption

In-app purchases

None

Pocket Galaxy

No in-app purchases

5 purchases

Solar System Sim

One-time5
  • HD Mars$2.99
  • HD Earth$2.99
  • HD Moon$2.99
Show 2 more
  • No-ads$3.99
  • HD 3-body pack$6.99

Questions

Is Pocket Galaxy free?
Pocket Galaxy is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Solar System Sim free?
Solar System Sim is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Pocket Galaxy or Solar System Sim?
Pocket Galaxy is rated higher. Pocket Galaxy averages 4.6 out of 5 from 26K ratings, while Solar System Sim averages 4.5 from 4.4K ratings.
Do Pocket Galaxy or Solar System Sim have ads?
Both Pocket Galaxy and Solar System Sim show ads.
Which is updated more often, Pocket Galaxy or Solar System Sim?
Pocket Galaxy ships an update every 7 months, and Solar System Sim every 5 days. Most recently, Pocket Galaxy was updated on October 29, 2026 and Solar System Sim on October 29, 2026.

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