Comparison

Playground AR vs Sandbox Zombies

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

Head to head
About

Playground AR

Transform your space into an augmented reality physics sandbox. Build intricate structures, design functional machines, and unleash epic destruction with realistic physics. Play with friends in real-time and capture your creations.

Highlights
  • Augmented reality physics sandbox
  • Infinite construction with diverse blocks
  • Design functional machines with joints and wheels
  • Realistic physics simulations
  • Control RC vehicles
  • Multiplayer and social sharing
  • In-game screenshot tool
Read full description

Playground AR: The Ultimate Physics Sandbox in Augmented Reality Turn your room into a digital laboratory! Playground AR is the next generation of physics sandboxes, giving you an infinite supply of blocks, toys, and gadgets to create and destroy in your real-world environment using Augmented Reality. Build, Imagine, and Experiment With intuitive AR controls, placing and moving objects feels natural: Infinite Construction: Use a massive variety of blocks and materials to build anything from tall skyscrapers to complex domino runs. Advanced Engineering: Design your own functional machines using joints, wheels, and thrusters. Realistic Physics: Pick up objects and throw them, freeze them in mid-air, or connect them to see realistic physical reactions. RC Vehicles and Action It’s not just about building—it’s about the thrill of play: RC Toys: Take command of RC helicopters, drones, and cars with responsive controls. Epic Destruction: Test the strength of your castles. Use bombs and explosives to watch your structures collapse with satisfying, realistic physics. Interactive Challenges: Try to land your helicopter on a moving platform or build the most complex chain reaction. Multiplayer and Social Sharing Play with Friends: Join others to see who can build the highest tower or the longest domino course in real-time. Capture the Moment: View your creations from any angle. Use the in-game screenshot tool to take high-quality photos and share them instantly. Have you ever dreamed of having a room full of infinite toys? The only limit is your imagination. Download Playground AR now and start creating!

About

Sandbox Zombies

Engage in chaotic battle simulations by creating custom levels with diverse units and a vast arsenal. Pit humans against monsters like vampires, werewolves, and ninjas, or combine their abilities for unique combat scenarios. Enjoy a regularly updated, ad-free experience with an optional one-time purchase for the full version.

Highlights
  • Custom level creation
  • Diverse unit types (humans, monsters, supernatural)
  • Hybrid unit abilities
  • Wide arsenal of weapons
  • Silly and unique weapon options
  • Regular updates
  • Ad-free experience
Features
Read full description

Sandbox Zombies is an action level editor. With zombies in it. Carefully set up your own elaborate scenarios, or just revel in causing chaos. With no innate goal, Sandbox Zombies trusts you to find fun in creativity and mischief. No ads and no internet required. Sandbox Systems: - Factions: Humans can fight humans too! There are 12 factions and you can edit who fights who. - Territory: Many units will try to claim territory for their faction, and this funnels units towards where the action is. - Modifiers: Units can be given a wide variety of modifiers such Invisibility, Armor, Vampirism, and much more. Many modifiers can be combined. - Spawners: Keep units respawning forever. So the battle can be endless while you just sit back and watch. - Electric Grid: Connect power sources (such as sensors and solar panels) to powered terrain (such as turrets, doors, spawners, lures, capture points, and more) to turn them on, or even make a certain faction control them. - Ground Mess: Bullet casings, scorch marks from explosions, and (depending on your settings) blood and guts from the injured will gradually paint the floor. You can wipe it clean by hand. - Day/Night Cycle: A Sun and Moon orbit the level separately, and can affect some units and terrain. - Offline Level Sharing: The entire sandbox data can be encoded into text for easy no-internet-required cross-platform sharing. - Controller Support: Optionally plug in a controller to take over any number of units and turrets at once and control them in the style of a twin stick shooter. Hand the controller to a friend and that's asymmetric local multiplayer. Support for multiple controllers is planned. Sandbox Content: - Normal Weapons: Shotguns, Rocket Launchers, Uzis, Miniguns, Smgs, Assault Rifles, Snipers, Revolvers, Flamethrowers, Swords - Silly Weapons too: Teleporter Guns, Paintball Guns, Frost Thrower, Zombification-Injector Guns, Braimwormifiers - Units: Humans, Ghouls, Mummies, Skeletons, Witches, Demons, Angels, Ninjas, Ghosts. And most of those can also be either Werewolves or Vampires on top of that! And zombified on top of that! - Terrain: Turrets, Crates, Explosive Crates, Sandbags, Barbed Wire, Mud, Fog, Doors, Lures, Sensors, Capture Points, Solar Panels - Units can be given extra modifiers: Metal Armor, Wings, Invincibility, Invisibility, Regeneration, Being On Fire, Being Frozen, Locust Breath, Emergency Teleport, Divinity, Brainworms, Vampirism, Lycanthropy, Zombification - And much more! There's just a one-time purchase for extra content, but the basic game is free so jump in and start causing chaos!

Screenshots

Playground AR4 screens
Sandbox Zombies4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Sandbox Zombies at 4.3 against Playground AR's 3.9. Sandbox Zombies also leads on review sentiment (84% vs 66%) and ratings volume (326 vs 16). Playground AR's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Playground AR sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Sandbox Zombies sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sandbox Zombies holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sandbox Zombies has 326 ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 66% of Playground AR's written reviews are positive against 84% of Sandbox Zombies's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Playground AR ships an update every 3 weeks, Sandbox Zombies fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Playground AR versus Sandbox Zombies: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPlayground ARSandbox Zombies
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.9 (16 ratings)4.3 (326 ratings) — better
Positive reviews65.8% of reviews83.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings16326 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size133 MB48 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperMarc SuredaMOSS RED LLC

Customer experience

Playground AR

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews146 reviews
Positive65.8%
Neutral8.2%
Negative26.0%

Sandbox Zombies

All ratings326 ratings
Positive81.0%
Neutral6.7%
Negative12.3%
Written reviews237 reviews
Positive83.5%
Neutral8.4%
Negative8.0%

User reviews

Playground AR

From 16 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Amazing AR experience
  • 🎮 Fun sandbox gameplay
  • 🔥 Great physics engine
  • 💫 Impressive AR detection
  • 👍 Intuitive controls

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional glitches and bugs
  • 🔍 Difficulty in surface detection
  • 🤖 Limited NPC/character options
  • 🔒 Locked content behind ads
  • 🔀 Multiplayer functionality not working

Sandbox Zombies

From 326 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fun sandbox experience
  • 👍 Variety of units and weapons
  • 💡 Potential for great updates
  • 👍 Good value for premium version

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezing
  • 🔇 Lack of sound effects
  • 🔒 Premium features locked behind paywall

Bugs and requests

Playground AR

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Devices unable to detect surfaces properly
  • Saved creations not persisting across sessions
  • Controls for vehicles/devices not intuitive
  • Occasional freezing and crashing of the app
  • Incompatibility issues with certain device models

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add human/character models to interact with
  • Implement liquids and more environmental elements
  • Introduce terraforming and customizable terrain
  • Provide more building/creation tools and options
  • Enable seamless multiplayer and sharing of creations

Sandbox Zombies

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes and freezes when playing for extended periods
  • Inability to restore premium purchases after reinstallation
  • Spawner and control issues when reaching entity limit

Requested features

7 requests
  • Add more weapons and units
  • Implement unit control and customization
  • Increase map size and entity limit
  • Introduce destructible terrain and buildings
  • Add sound effects and background music
Show 2 more
  • Implement save/load functionality
  • Add vehicles and transportation options

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Playground AR

One-time1
  • Premium Blocks$3.99
2 purchases

Sandbox Zombies

One-time2
  • Sandbox Zombies Unlocked$4.99
  • Sandbox Zombies Premium$4.99

Questions

Is Playground AR free?
Playground AR is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sandbox Zombies free?
Sandbox Zombies is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Playground AR or Sandbox Zombies?
Sandbox Zombies is rated higher. Playground AR averages 3.9 out of 5 from 16 ratings, while Sandbox Zombies averages 4.3 from 326 ratings.
Do Playground AR or Sandbox Zombies have ads?
Neither Playground AR nor Sandbox Zombies shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Playground AR or Sandbox Zombies?
Playground AR ships an update every 3 weeks, and Sandbox Zombies fortnightly. Most recently, Playground AR was updated on November 2, 2026 and Sandbox Zombies on November 3, 2026.

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