Comparison

Town Builder Idle vs Scratchworks

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

Head to head
About

Town Builder Idle

Build your own city with a variety of landmark buildings, from houses to shopping malls and essential services. Collect coins, plan your strategy, and unlock new levels to expand your urban landscape. Enjoy a simple yet engaging city-building experience.

Highlights
  • City construction with landmark buildings
  • Coin collection and saving for upgrades
  • Strategic planning for city expansion
  • Unlock new levels and buildings
  • Simple tap and click gameplay
Features
Read full description

Build the cozy town of your dreams, one charming building at a time. Town Builder Idle is a relaxing idle tycoon sim you can play offline, with no account needed. Place houses, bakeries, cafés and parks on a colorful isometric map, tap to collect coins, and watch your village grow into a bustling metropolis while the coins keep rolling in. BUILD AND DECORATE • Place buildings anywhere and move them whenever you like • Small and large houses, lumber mills, quarries, bakeries, cafés, markets, parks, schools and a Town Hall • Decorate with flower beds, fountains, statues, benches, street lamps, trees and roads • Smart placement bonuses: parks boost nearby houses, shops thrive by the road, and markets love being near houses • Expand your land to make room for even more UPGRADE AND GROW • Tap the bubbles to collect coins, or collect from every building at once • Upgrade your buildings and watch them change their look at levels 10 and 25 • Raise your town level and earn new titles, from Village to Hamlet, Small Town, Growing City and Metropolis • Found a New Town to earn Town Stars, each giving +5% income EARN WHILE YOU'RE AWAY • Your town keeps producing when you close the app, for up to 4 hours • Unlock up to 12 hours of offline earnings with gems • A Welcome Back screen shows what you earned, with an optional 2x boost by watching an ad ALWAYS SOMETHING TO DO • Follow a story of quests, then carry on with endless ones • Daily tasks, a Daily Chest and 7-day login rewards • Special visitors, including a merchant, an artist, a wizard and a lost dog • Bonus chests to find along the way • Watch your citizens stroll around with their own thought bubbles PLAY YOUR WAY • Calm music and a gentle pace, with no pressure • Perfect for a quick tap on the go or a long cozy evening • No account needed, works offline • Available in English, Japanese, Korean, Traditional Chinese, German, French, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese • Made for iPhone and iPad Town Builder Idle is free to play. Optional in-app purchases include Remove Ads, a Starter Pack and gem packs, and optional rewarded ads are available for extra boosts. A banner ad appears at the bottom of the screen. Start building your cozy town today.

About

Scratchworks

Features
Read full description

Scratch, scrub, and clean all kinds of strange objects in this relaxing and satisfying casual game. From stubborn dirt to mysterious surfaces, every scratch can trigger unexpected events, funny reactions, or chaotic surprises. Clean dirty toilets, remove stains from clothes, scratch old disks, reveal hidden layers, and discover bizarre objects that react in unpredictable ways. Some things are satisfying to clean. Some are weird. Some may even break if you scratch too hard. Earn coins, unlock upgrades, improve your scratching tools, and automate the process to turn simple cleaning into a strangely addictive experience.

Screenshots

Town Builder Idle4 screens
Scratchworks4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Town Builder Idle at Free against Scratchworks's $0.99. Scratchworks's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and update cadence (every 5 months vs every 55 months). On ads, device support and iOS requirement 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

Town Builder Idle is free to download; Scratchworks costs $0.99 up front. Town Builder Idle sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Scratchworks asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Town Builder Idle ships an update every 55 months, Scratchworks every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 6 level
Town Builder Idle versus Scratchworks: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTown Builder IdleScratchworks
PriceFree — better$0.99
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 55 monthsEvery 5 months — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationAd-supported—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size128 MB137 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThang VuATOMICSOFT COMPANY LIMITED

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Town Builder Idle

One-time4
  • Pouch of Gems$0.99
  • Starter Pack$1.99
  • Remove Ads$4.99
Show 1 more
  • Chest of Gems$9.99
None

Scratchworks

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Town Builder Idle free?
Town Builder Idle is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Scratchworks free?
Scratchworks costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Town Builder Idle or Scratchworks have ads?
Both Town Builder Idle and Scratchworks show ads.
Which is updated more often, Town Builder Idle or Scratchworks?
Town Builder Idle ships an update every 55 months, and Scratchworks every 5 months. Most recently, Town Builder Idle was updated on October 23, 2026 and Scratchworks on October 25, 2026.

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