Comparison

Acrobots vs Thomas & Friends Minis

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

Head to head
About

Acrobots

A physics-based toy for iPhone and iPad. Drag and toss living bots, watch them interact, and stack them to create structures. Customize their behavior and environment for endless playful experimentation.

Highlights
  • Drag and toss bots
  • Physics-based interactions
  • Stack bots to form structures
  • Shake to scatter bots
  • Customize scale, gravity, balance, speed, and legs
Features
Read full description

Acrobots is a mesmerizing, physics-based toy for your iPhone and iPad. - Drag and toss these living bots across the screen. - Watch them tumble and push off each other. - Stack them together to form living structures. - Shake your iPhone to watch the bots scatter. - Customize scale, gravity, balance, stickiness, speed, and number of legs.

About

Thomas & Friends Minis

Build and customize your own train sets with a variety of tracks, decorations, and terrain. Drive your favorite engines through your creations, experiencing thrilling stunts and adventures. Explore unique worlds and let your imagination run wild.

Highlights
  • Build exciting train tracks
  • Customize with decorations and terrain
  • Perform spectacular stunts
  • Drive trains in 3rd person
  • Explore unique themed worlds
  • Create from scratch or use pre-made sets
Features
Read full description

Create your very own train set piece by piece and bring it to life with Thomas and all his friends. Customize tracks and let your imagination run free with whirly waterslides, frozen loops, rainbow bridges and more! Climb aboard your favorite Minis engine and experience every twist, turn and stunt! Ready, set, build! Fun train games for kids of all ages! THE ULTIMATE TRAIN SET BUILDER GAME FOR KIDS • BUILD tons of exciting tracks, from twisting turns to rattling ramps • ROCKET yourself through spectacular stunts, bold boosts and raging rollercoasters! • DECORATE your train set with tall trees, beautiful buildings and dazzling decorations • PAINT your set’s terrain with sandy beaches, bubbling lava and snowy blizzards • DRIVE through your creations in 3rd person • CREATE your world from scratch or play with one of our awesome pre-made sets! GET CREATIVE WITH UNIQUE WORLDS TO DISCOVER • THOMAS’ COUNTRYSIDE: Explore the windmills, train stations and workshops of verdant Sodor! • GORDON’S WINTER WONDERLAND: Ride over frozen bridges and crash through ice walls! • PERCY’S SPOOKY FOREST: Dare you enter the hollow log tunnel and haunted mansion? • SPENCER’S AQUA PARK: Dive through the whirlpool tunnel and slide down the waterslide loop! • EMILY’S COASTER CITY: Embark on a rollercoaster adventure at the fair PRIVACY & ADVERTISING Budge Studios takes children's privacy seriously and ensures that its apps are compliant with privacy laws. This application has received the “ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) Privacy Certified Kids’ Privacy Seal”. For more information, please visit our privacy policy at: https://budgestudios.com/en/legal/privacy-policy/, or email our Data Protection Officer at: privacy@budgestudios.ca. Before you download this app, please note that it is free to try, but some content may only be available via in-app purchases. In-app purchases cost real money and are charged to your account. To disable or adjust the ability to make in-app purchases, change your device settings. This app may contain contextual advertising (including the option to watch ads for rewards) from Budge Studios regarding other apps we publish, from our partners and some third parties. Budge Studios does not permit behavioral advertising or retargeting in this app. The app may also contain social media links that are only accessible behind a parental gate. Please note that this app gives users the ability to take and/or create photos in-app that can be saved locally to their devices. These photos are never shared with other users in-app, nor are they shared by Budge Studios with any unaffiliated third party companies. TERMS OF USE / END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENT This application is subject to an End-User License Agreement available through the following link: https://budgestudios.com/en/legal-embed/eula/ ABOUT BUDGE STUDIOS Budge Studios was founded in 2010 with the mission to entertain and educate boys and girls around the world, through innovation, creativity and fun. Its high-quality app portfolio consists of original and branded properties, including Bluey, PAW Patrol, Barbie, PAW Patrol, Hot Wheels, Transformers, My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake, Hello Kitty and Crayola. Budge Studios maintains the highest standards of safety and age-appropriateness, and has become a global leader in children’s apps for smartphones and tablets. Budge Playgroup™ is an innovative program that allows kids and parents to actively participate in the creation of new apps. HAVE QUESTIONS? Contact us 24/7 at support@budgestudios.ca BUDGE and BUDGE STUDIOS are trademarks of Budge Studios Inc. Thomas & Friends™ Minis © 2017-2025 Budge Studios Inc. All rights reserved

Screenshots

Acrobots4 screens
Thomas & Friends Minis4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Thomas & Friends Minis at Free against Acrobots's $0.99. Thomas & Friends Minis also leads on ratings volume (61K vs 25). Acrobots's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 4 months). On rating, 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

Thomas & Friends Minis is free to download; Acrobots costs $0.99 up front. Thomas & Friends Minis sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Acrobots asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Acrobots against 4.4 for Thomas & Friends Minis. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Thomas & Friends Minis has 61K ratings behind it against 25, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 87% of Acrobots's written reviews are positive against 72% of Thomas & Friends Minis's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Acrobots ships an update every 5 weeks, Thomas & Friends Minis every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Acrobots versus Thomas & Friends Minis: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAcrobotsThomas & Friends Minis
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating4.4 (25 ratings) — better4.4 (61K ratings)
Positive reviews86.7% of reviews — better71.6% of reviews
Number of ratings2561K — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#150 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB202 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVectorparkBudge Studios

Customer experience

Acrobots

All ratings24 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral4.2%
Negative8.3%
Written reviews165 reviews
Positive86.7%
Neutral4.8%
Negative8.5%

Thomas & Friends Minis

All ratings57,428 ratings
Positive84.6%
Neutral7.3%
Negative8.0%
Written reviews765 reviews
Positive71.6%
Neutral7.3%
Negative21.0%

User reviews

Acrobots

From 25 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎉 Fun and entertaining
  • 👍 Mesmerizing and relaxing
  • 🤖 Clever and unique physics simulation
  • 💻 Great port from the web version
  • 🕰 Good time-waster

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes
  • 🔍 Lack of customization options
  • 💤 Can get boring after a while
  • 💰 Some feel it's not worth the price

Thomas & Friends Minis

From 61K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Fun and creative game
  • 🚀 Engrossing gameplay
  • 💡 Allows building custom train sets
  • 🤩 Nostalgic for Thomas fans

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive in-app purchases
  • 📺 Constant ads and pop-ups
  • 🔒 Difficulty restoring purchases across devices
  • 🐛 Glitches and bugs

Bugs and requests

Acrobots

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Acrobots disappearing when device is leveled
  • Buttons/controls not always responsive
  • Performance issues with many acrobots on screen

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to customize individual acrobots (color, size, etc.)
  • More interactive elements (explosives, trampolines, etc.)
  • Ability to pause/freeze the simulation
  • Additional background options
  • Sound effects

Thomas & Friends Minis

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Blueprints not unlocking properly
  • Trains getting stuck or freezing
  • Inability to restore previous purchases

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more free content and characters
  • Larger build areas and more track pieces
  • Option to turn off ads after purchase
  • Ability to rotate track pieces
  • More free challenges and unlockables

In-app purchases

None

Acrobots

No in-app purchases

8 purchases

Thomas & Friends Minis

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription1 Month trial$9.991 Month
  • Monthly Subscription1 Month trial$12.991 Month
One-time6
  • Gordon's Winter Wonderland$6.99
  • Percy's Spooky Forest$6.99
  • Toby's Busy City$6.99
Show 3 more
  • James's Jurassic Cove$6.99
  • Spencer's Aqua Park3 variants$6.99
  • Unlock Everything$59.99

Questions

Is Acrobots free?
Acrobots costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Thomas & Friends Minis free?
Thomas & Friends Minis is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Acrobots or Thomas & Friends Minis?
Acrobots is rated higher. Acrobots averages 4.4 out of 5 from 25 ratings, while Thomas & Friends Minis averages 4.4 from 61K ratings.
Do Acrobots or Thomas & Friends Minis have ads?
Neither Acrobots nor Thomas & Friends Minis shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Acrobots or Thomas & Friends Minis?
Acrobots ships an update every 5 weeks, and Thomas & Friends Minis every 4 months. Most recently, Acrobots was updated on October 31, 2026 and Thomas & Friends Minis on November 6, 2026.

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