# Mars vs Building Arcadia

Mars and Building Arcadia both sit at 4.1 stars, but that hides the real split: 66% of Mars's written reviews are positive against 23% of Building Arcadia's. Building Arcadia's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Mars sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Building Arcadia sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.1 for Mars against 4.2 for Building Arcadia. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 26 and 53 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 66% of Mars's written reviews are positive against 23% of Building Arcadia's.

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Mars | Building Arcadia |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.1 (26 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mars-the-arrival/id1458927524/reviews) | **[4.2 (53 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/building-arcadia/id1592808957/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 26 | **53** |
| Positive reviews | **65.6% of reviews** | 23.1% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 2.6 GB | 309 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | **12.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | [Stefan Nyul](https://appshunter.io/developer/1458927523) | [Papanix Ltd](https://appshunter.io/developer/1567072174) |

## What reviewers say

### Mars

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mars-the-arrival/id1458927524)

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:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Logistics contract | $0.99 | one-time |
| MAA Gold Membership | $1.99 | one-time |
| Sponsors contract | $2.99 | one-time |


### Building Arcadia

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/building-arcadia/id1592808957)

Build a sci-fi utopia on a new planet as the first Grand Architect. Manage resources, expand your city with futuristic buildings, and uncover ancient secrets and threats in this story-driven idle builder.

**Highlights:** Story-driven gameplay with comedy, Active design with meaningful tasks, Manage 40+ procedurally generated locations, Expand with 25+ futuristic buildings, Battle ancient evils and discover anomalies, Idle and incremental gameplay, Offline play

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (6)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Smallest Karma pack | $0.99 | one-time |
| Small Karma pack | $1.99 | one-time |
| Medium Karma Pack | $4.99 | one-time |
| Large Karma pack | $9.99 | one-time |
| Largest Karma pack | $19.99 | one-time |
| Karma Chest | $48.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Mars free?

Mars is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Building Arcadia free?

Building Arcadia is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Mars or Building Arcadia?

Building Arcadia is rated higher. Mars averages 4.1 out of 5 from 26 ratings, while Building Arcadia averages 4.2 from 53 ratings.

### Do Mars or Building Arcadia have ads?

Both Mars and Building Arcadia show ads.

### Which is updated more often, Mars or Building Arcadia?

Mars ships an update every 2 months, and Building Arcadia every 2 months. Most recently, Mars was updated on October 22, 2026 and Building Arcadia on October 24, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*