Comparison

Building Arcadia vs Idle Anomaly

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

Head to head
About

Building Arcadia

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
Read full description

WELCOME TO BUILDING ARCADIA, a sci-fi city-builder where strategy meets survival. As the first human Grand Architect, transform the planet Fortuna into a thriving utopia, while uncovering hidden secrets and ancient threats. UNIQUE FEATURES OF BUILDING ARCADIA: - Story-Driven Gameplay: An idle game with a twist of comedy that keeps the narrative engaging. - Active Design Philosophy: Always have meaningful tasks, enhancing engagement. - Inspired by Classics: If you love Anno, Simcity and Idle Planet Miner, you'll find new challenges here. - Fair Free-to-Play: No forced ads, earnable premium currency, and offline play. DYNAMIC CITY-BUILDING AND STRATEGIC ADVENTURE: - Manage over 40 procedurally generated sci-fi locations. - Expand your city with 25+ futuristic buildings. - Battle ancient evils and discover over 11 mysterious anomalies. - Dive into a rich storyline with colorful characters and a witty AI 'Quanta' as your guide. IDLE AND INCREMENTAL GAMEPLAY: - Effortlessly manage resources and growth, even while idle. - Unlock groundbreaking technologies and establish a prosperous economy. STUNNING VISUALS AND ENGAGING GAMEPLAY: - Enjoy crisp, vibrant 3D graphics that bring your cityscape to life. - Experience both casual and challenging gameplay perfect for strategy veterans and new players alike. JOIN OUR COMMUNITY: Discord: https://discord.gg/tnPx479RBs Instagram: https://bit.ly/3lyfRtw READY TO BUILD A UTOPIA? Download Building Arcadia now for an unparalleled city-building adventure in a sci-fi universe. Shape humanity's future among the stars and uncover the mysteries of Fortuna!

About

Idle Anomaly

Build a research station to uncover the secrets of a mysterious alien Obelisk. Manage employees, defend your base from alien invaders, and upgrade heroes. Progress continues even when you're offline.

Highlights
  • Build and upgrade research station
  • Manage employees and monitor health
  • Defend base from alien attacks
  • Upgrade space heroes
  • Study UFOs and collect resources
  • Offline progress and idle earnings
Features
Read full description

"Build a research station around the mysterious Obelisk area and uncover all its secrets with moon pioneer in this idle clicker explore game! A group of space researchers recently came across a strange structure in the Arctic. It looks like an alien roller coaster or alien starship from the UFO theme park. This Obelisk was clearly not of our planet. In the process of building explorer home base, something strange gait of a zombie appears in the territory. But it isn´t a zombie, it is alien! They will try to attack and to interfere with the Obelisk research and building of your clicker Empire! Find the alien and hold defense idle home base with galaxy gun! Progress outside the game Your employees work tirelessly and earn money in your business simulator incremental game even when you are not playing. Just collect an idle resources when you return to the tap game! Manage a research station Click to build and upgrade equipment, hire employees and monitor their health. Moon pioneer helps you! Rational management is the key to success in research and to big profits in tycoon life! Upgrade your space heroes Exploring anomalies is dangerous area! You need experienced operatives who can protect your employees from invasion of the mysterious moon or mars creatures that guard the Obelisk. Study UFOs Find the alien, catch monsters, send them to infectonator isolation and explore the Obelisk to get resources. Join forces with the secret Ministry and discover the forbidden side of our idle world that it hides from the common people. Alien isolation You don't know what planet the monsters came from. From the Moon or Mars... But you need to click to control UFO space invasion and attack them back! Send aliens in infectonator isolation and now their planet life has become useful for the Earth. If you like Tycoon games, idle games, building games and the atmosphere of the unknown, then Anomalies Research Tycoon is for you! Make strategic decisions for development and make a profit. Unravel the secrets of the Obelisks and gain their power! Your business simulator adventure incremental game is started! ~~~~~~ Rate us in the app store and join our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Idle-Anomalies-Research-Tycoon-105602148433539 Join our Discord community! We'll be happy to receive your feedback: https://discord.gg/bep3sN89hc

Screenshots

Building Arcadia4 screens
Idle Anomaly4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Idle Anomaly at 4.7 against Building Arcadia's 4.2. Idle Anomaly also leads on review sentiment (38% vs 23%) and ratings volume (364 vs 53). 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. Building Arcadia sells 6 one-off in-app purchases and Idle Anomaly sells 15 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Idle Anomaly holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Idle Anomaly has 364 ratings behind it against 53, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 23% of Building Arcadia's written reviews are positive against 38% of Idle Anomaly's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Building Arcadia ships an update every 2 months, Idle Anomaly every 5 weeks. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Building Arcadia versus Idle Anomaly: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBuilding ArcadiaIdle Anomaly
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (53 ratings)4.7 (364 ratings) — better
Positive reviews23.1% of reviews37.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings53364 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size309 MB249 MB
Age rating9+9+
DeveloperPapanix LtdHot Siberians

Customer experience

Building Arcadia

All ratings51 ratings
Positive76.5%
Neutral9.8%
Negative13.7%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive23.1%
Neutral38.5%
Negative38.5%

Idle Anomaly

All ratings364 ratings
Positive93.4%
Neutral1.4%
Negative5.2%
Written reviews32 reviews
Positive37.5%
Neutral9.4%
Negative53.1%

Bugs and requests

Building Arcadia

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Idle Anomaly

Reported bugs

18 issues
  • Reset all data
  • No ads upgrade not working
  • Beginner pack not received
  • In-app purchases not credited
  • Game keeps locking up
Show 13 more
  • Ads appear after paying to remove them
  • Paid for additional researcher, didn't work
  • Game won't load
  • Game freezes on loading screen
  • Unwanted blackouts
  • Misses payouts, especially in paraenergies
  • Advertising paid to turn off, not getting bonuses
  • Ad reveals later game content
  • Pulled operator, never received
  • Cannot go past close 1 ruptures
  • Game has stopped working
  • Won't load anymore
  • Constant ad interruptions

Requested features

3 requests
  • Fix game issues or refund
  • Add more content to the game
  • Improve developer communication for future plans

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Building Arcadia

One-time6
  • Smallest Karma pack$0.99
  • Small Karma pack$1.99
  • Medium Karma Pack$4.99
Show 3 more
  • Large Karma pack$9.99
  • Largest Karma pack$19.99
  • Karma Chest$48.99
15 purchases

Idle Anomaly

One-time15
  • 80 Gems$0.99
  • Helicopter.$4.99
  • 500 Gems$4.99
Show 12 more
  • Researcher$4.99
  • Johnny Goldhand$4.99
  • Beginner's Pack$6.99
  • Starter pack$9.99
  • Researcher$9.99
  • 1200 Gems$9.99
  • Dr. Massachusetts$10.99
  • No ads$13.99
  • Professional's Pack$13.99
  • Neat Pack$19.99
  • 2500 Gems$24.99
  • All Inclusive Pack$35.99

Questions

Is Building Arcadia free?
Building Arcadia is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Idle Anomaly free?
Idle Anomaly is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Building Arcadia or Idle Anomaly?
Idle Anomaly is rated higher. Building Arcadia averages 4.2 out of 5 from 53 ratings, while Idle Anomaly averages 4.7 from 364 ratings.
Do Building Arcadia or Idle Anomaly have ads?
Both Building Arcadia and Idle Anomaly show ads.
Which is updated more often, Building Arcadia or Idle Anomaly?
Building Arcadia ships an update every 2 months, and Idle Anomaly every 5 weeks. Most recently, Building Arcadia was updated on October 24, 2026 and Idle Anomaly on October 24, 2026.

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