Comparison

Mars Race vs Mars

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

Head to head
About

Mars Race

Build a Martian city by harvesting solar power and extracting water. Expand your territory by constructing drones to visit and compete with other players for resources, while defending your own colony.

Highlights
  • Martian city building
  • Resource harvesting (solar power, water)
  • Drone construction for exploration and combat
  • Player versus player resource battles
  • Territory occupation on Mars
Features
Read full description

Occupy Mars. You will be assigned one of the nomenclature NASA locations and stake your ground on the red planet. Here you need to harvest solar power and extract water to build your Martian city. Speed up progress by building drones to visit other colonizers and fight for resources. And the same will be done onto you. The race is on!!

About

Mars

Engage in a scientific simulation of establishing a Mars colony. Manage a small group of settlers, research technologies, and build a thriving settlement from a single module. Compete with other human-controlled colonies for success on the Red Planet.

Highlights
  • Scientific Mars settlement simulation
  • Research and development of technologies
  • Exploration of the Red Planet
  • Building and managing specialized structures
  • Managing settler types and life cycles
  • 3D view of settlement and Mars surface
  • Offline playability
Features
Read full description

Settle on MARS in a mixture of game and scientific simulation. Take control over a tiny group of 10 settlers and choose a landing site on the barren Mars. Develop your venture from one single landing module into a thriving settlement with hundreds of specialized buildings and even more inhabitants. Research & development of new technologies as well as exploration of the Red Planet are key for establishing a permanent presence in this hostile environment. And you are not alone. Other settlements, each one controlled by a real human somewhere on Earth, are starting to grow everywhere and a competition for being the most successful Mars colony has already begun. Features: - Scientific orientated building & simulation of a Mars settlement - Background story in 6 phases with according phase goals - Mars simulation in 30x real time (even running when app is not active) - Choosing one of 7 Earth organizations providing (dis-)advantages - Research & development of 152 individual technologies - Construction, maintenance & repair of 51 individual building - 35 individual building enhancements (no level 1,2,3...) - Sending Mars exploration teams and analyzing found soil samples - Production & dispatching of 23 different resource/module types - Assignment of 5 settler types to all activities in the settlement - Settler life cycle including children and elders - 3D view of own settlement in authentic Mars topography - Panning & zooming of the Mars surface in high resolution 3D - 100% usable without Internet connection - Optional online: ranking list & other settlements on Mars surface - Unlocking of advanced app functionalities step by step - Tutorial explaining all app functionalities - Contains some Ads but only after 15 Minutes of game and very decent - Contains In-App-Purchases but NO PAY TO WIN! - This is a peaceful app! NO FIGHTING, NO KILLING, NO WAR!

Screenshots

Mars Race4 screens
Mars4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Mars Race at 100% against Mars's 66%. Mars Race also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.1) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.0). Mars's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (26 vs 2). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Mars Race sells 5 one-off in-app purchases and Mars sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Mars Race holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mars has 26 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Mars Race's written reviews are positive against 66% of Mars's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mars Race ships an update every 6 months, Mars every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on June 1, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Mars Race versus Mars: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMars RaceMars
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (2 ratings) — better4.1 (26 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better65.6% of reviews
Number of ratings226 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size249 MB2.6 GB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperaGame CompanyStefan Nyul

Customer experience

Mars Race

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Mars

All ratings26 ratings
Positive69.2%
Neutral15.4%
Negative15.4%
Written reviews32 reviews
Positive65.6%
Neutral9.4%
Negative25.0%

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Mars Race

One-time5
  • Few$3.99
  • Pile$9.99
  • Bag$18.99
Show 2 more
  • Box$48.99
  • Vault$94.99
3 purchases

Mars

One-time3
  • Logistics contract$0.99
  • MAA Gold Membership$1.99
  • Sponsors contract$2.99

Questions

Is Mars Race free?
Mars Race is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Mars free?
Mars is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Mars Race or Mars?
Mars Race is rated higher. Mars Race averages 4.5 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Mars averages 4.1 from 26 ratings.
Do Mars Race or Mars have ads?
Both Mars Race and Mars show ads.
Which is updated more often, Mars Race or Mars?
Mars Race ships an update every 6 months, and Mars every 2 months. Most recently, Mars Race was updated on June 1, 2026 and Mars on September 22, 2026.

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