Comparison

Sid Meier’s Railroads! vs AD3000 Premium

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

Head to head
About

Sid Meier’s Railroads!

Become a railroad tycoon by building and managing intricate railway networks. Optimize routes, transport goods and passengers, and grow your profits through shrewd business decisions and innovation. Compete with historical figures to become the greatest rail baron.

Highlights
  • Lay tracks and design routes
  • Transport freight and passengers
  • Acquire patents and trade stocks
  • Build or buy industries
  • Compete with historical figures
  • Collect 40 famous trains
  • Train Table Mode for creative building
Read full description

Become history’s greatest rail baron in Sid Meier’s Railroads!, a classic of the tycoon genre now available for iPhone and iPad. In this captivating mix of model train set and railway management simulator, lay tracks and optimise routes to establish lucrative networks of cities and industries, transporting passengers, raw materials and goods across continents. Grow profits through efficiency, innovation, and shrewd business decisions as you acquire valuable patents, trade stocks, and build or buy industries. Compete with world leaders and industrial titans to achieve the ultimate goal — becoming the greatest railroad tycoon of the age! === TRY BEFORE YOU BUY Lay the foundations of your railroad empire during the Gold Rush, then unlock the full game for more maps, trains, and 16 charming scenarios spanning the golden age of rail. CREATE AN EMPIRE OF THE RAILS Carefully lay tracks and design routes to transport freight and passengers, refining and improving operations until your railroad runs like clockwork. STEAM ACROSS 16 CHALLENGING SCENARIOS Test your entrepreneurial mettle in a mix of historical and fictional scenarios, each with a distinctive map and unique objectives. Establish the first passenger line in 1830s Great Britain, stitch together the American West during the Gold Rush, or help Santa with the Christmas rush at the North Pole! COMPETE WITH HISTORY’S BEST Take on world leaders and captains of industry. Grow your business by acquiring industries and railroad-revolutionising patents, or play the stock market and buy out the competition. BRING 40 FAMOUS TRAINS TO LIFE Play with historically important engines from early steam locomotives like Stephenson’s Planet, to the high-speed French TGV, and many iterations and innovations in between. BUILD THE MODEL RAILROAD OF YOUR DREAMS Take the pressure off in Train Table Mode. No competition, time limits, or financial constraints — just all you need to create a railroad that’s as fun to watch as it is satisfying to build. === We recommend playing Sid Meier's Railroads! on iOS 15.5 or later. You need 1.7GB of free space on your device, though we recommend at least double this to avoid initial installation issues. Supported iPhones: • iPhone 6S / 6S Plus and later • Any iPhone SE • iPod Touch (7th generation, 2019) Supported iPads: • iPad mini (5th generation, 2019) and later • iPad Air (3rd generation, 2019) and later • iPad (5th generation, 2017) and later • Any iPad Pro • If you require assistance, please contact our support team at support@feralinteractive.com © 2006-2024 Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Originally developed by Firaxis Games. Sid Meier’s Railroads!, Firaxis Games, 2K, Take-Two Interactive Software and their respective logos are trademarks of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Developed for and published on iOS by Feral Interactive. iOS and the iOS logo are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Feral and the Feral logo are trademarks of Feral Interactive Ltd. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are property of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

About

AD3000 Premium

Experience uninterrupted gameplay with this premium version of an exploration game. Enjoy full access to all features and play offline without any advertisements.

Highlights
  • Ad-free experience
  • Full access
  • Offline play
  • Premium version
Features
Read full description

Premium version of AD3000 with full access, no ads, and offline play. Build a galactic empire in Empire Mode, or captain your own starship in Captain Mode. New to AD3000? Try the ad-supported AD3000: Space Odyssey to experience the same core gameplay before choosing Premium.

Screenshots

Sid Meier’s Railroads!4 screens
AD3000 Premium3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Sid Meier’s Railroads! at Free against AD3000 Premium's $3.99. Sid Meier’s Railroads! also leads on ratings volume (1.3K vs 3). AD3000 Premium's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 5 months). On rating, review sentiment, ads 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

Sid Meier’s Railroads! is free to download; AD3000 Premium costs $3.99 up front. Sid Meier’s Railroads! sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. AD3000 Premium asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Sid Meier’s Railroads! against 4.7 for AD3000 Premium. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sid Meier’s Railroads! has 1.3K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 59% and 60% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sid Meier’s Railroads! ships an update every 5 months, AD3000 Premium every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Sid Meier’s Railroads! versus AD3000 Premium: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSid Meier’s Railroads!AD3000 Premium
PriceFree — better$3.99
Rating4.7 (1.3K ratings)4.7 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews59.4% of reviews60.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.3K — better3
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.515.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1.6 GB344 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFeral Interactive LtdJianfeng Wu

Customer experience

Sid Meier’s Railroads!

All ratings1,304 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral2.7%
Negative4.1%
Written reviews187 reviews
Positive59.4%
Neutral16.0%
Negative24.6%

AD3000 Premium

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive60.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative40.0%

Bugs and requests

Sid Meier’s Railroads!

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Disappearing tracks
  • Routing issues and inability to connect stations
  • Map freezing and becoming unresponsive

Requested features

5 requests
  • Larger maps
  • More scenarios and campaigns
  • Multiplayer mode
  • Ability to buy/sell shares
  • More train and engine variety

AD3000 Premium

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Sid Meier’s Railroads!

One-time1
  • Full Game Unlock$12.99
None

AD3000 Premium

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Sid Meier’s Railroads! free?
Sid Meier’s Railroads! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is AD3000 Premium free?
AD3000 Premium costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Sid Meier’s Railroads! or AD3000 Premium?
Sid Meier’s Railroads! and AD3000 Premium are both rated 4.7 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1.3K and 3 ratings respectively.
Do Sid Meier’s Railroads! or AD3000 Premium have ads?
Neither Sid Meier’s Railroads! nor AD3000 Premium shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sid Meier’s Railroads! or AD3000 Premium?
Sid Meier’s Railroads! ships an update every 5 months, and AD3000 Premium every 3 weeks. Most recently, Sid Meier’s Railroads! was updated on October 18, 2026 and AD3000 Premium on October 17, 2026.

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