TMHelper vs BoardGamePad
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
TMHelper
A companion app for Terraforming Mars and its Ares Expedition expansion. It allows players to easily track global parameters, manage player boards, and keep score for up to five players. Designed for quick, touch-friendly adjustments.
- Track global parameters (oxygen, temperature, oceans)
- Manage player boards with production/resource controls
- Keep Terraforming Rating and player scores
- Dedicated Ares Expedition mode
- Smart, touch-first controls
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TMHelper is a fast, table‑friendly companion for Terraforming Mars and Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition. Features: - Track global parameters (oxygen, temperature, oceans) at a glance - Manage player boards with quick production + resource controls - Keep Terraforming Rating and player scores for up to 5 players, color‑coded - Switch between Terraforming Mars and Ares Expedition with a dedicated Ares mode - Use smart, touch‑first controls designed for fast, mistake‑free adjustments
BoardGamePad
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Smart scorepad that understands the rulebook — every round, every rule, every expansion, and all the fiddly bits in between. Take Dominion. BoardGamePad asks which ten Kingdom cards were on the table, because that is what decides the scoring. Gardens in the Kingdom? Your final deck size divides by ten, rounds down, and multiplies by the Gardens you bought. Playing Prosperity? Colonies are on the sheet at 10 apiece. Fairgrounds? Then it needs to know how many differently named cards you finished with. Splendor, the same way: Nobles are worth 3 each — unless you played the Cities module, in which case they are worth nothing at all, and the sheet drops them. Smart scorepad that tells you where the game was won - to learn and to improve: which round decides a game, how much of a winning score comes from it, where you beat the table average and where you quietly don't. Per round, per game, per player, per player count, per modes and optional rules. 1,250+ games and 2,250+ expansions, each one read off its own rulebook — from Uno and Catan to Spirit Island and Ark Nova. - The scoring your rulebook actually prints: majorities, tie-breaks, lookup tables, thresholds — computed, not left to you - Select the expansions and optional rules you played, and the sheet rebuilds itself around them - Live scoring and a built-in timer for the games that are scored as you play - Co-op games end the way the rulebook says they end: named victories and defeats, not a Won/Lost toggle - Every play remembered — per game, per player, per round, synced by iCloud - See which round decides a game, and whether it is the one you keep losing - Insights into every play, kept on your devices, not on somebody's server - New games and expansions added every release Score the game exactly as you played it — expansions, variants and optional rules included. A subscription supports ongoing development and new game additions. By downloading this app, you agree to Apple's Standard Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: BoardGamePad at every 2 weeks against TMHelper's every 10 months. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. TMHelper sells 6 one-off in-app purchases and BoardGamePad sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
TMHelper ships an update every 10 months, BoardGamePad every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | TMHelper | BoardGamePad |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (2 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 10 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 310 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Mike Mailyan | Jaroslav Cecho |
In-app purchases
TMHelper
- TMHelper 7-day Free TrialFree
- Mars$0.99
- Earth$1.99
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- Saturn$2.99
- Jupiter$3.99
- TMHelper Lifetime$9.99
BoardGamePad
- Monthly1 Month trial$0.991 Month
- Yearly$9.991 Year
Questions
Is TMHelper free?
Is BoardGamePad free?
Do TMHelper or BoardGamePad have ads?
Which is updated more often, TMHelper or BoardGamePad?
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