The Marimo vs Hamster Pet
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Marimo
Care for a virtual green ball creature that grows over time. Keep its environment clean and provide light to ensure its survival. Customize its appearance and interact with it through various gestures.
- Virtual pet care
- Growth simulation
- Environment maintenance
- Customization options
- Interactive controls
- Social sharing
Read full descriptionHide full description
Thank you 1,130,000 download!! [About Marimo] Marimo means a plant like a green ball which grow in Hokkaido, Japan. You can raise a Marimo. A marimo will grow up little by little every day. When water become dirty, you need to refresh water. If you don't take care of a Marimo long time, Marimo will wither. [Other Features] - You can rename Marimo, and change background. - Drag to move Marimo. - Double tap to pick tap Marimo. - Rotate marimo with two finger. - Marimo moves by the direction of the device. - You can upload image of Marimo on Twitter/Facebook. - Photosynthesis occurs in a bright place.
Hamster Pet
Simulate raising a virtual hamster, watching it grow in real-time. Easy care routines involve feeding every four days and cleaning weekly. Enjoy the daily progress of your digital pet.
- Grow a virtual hamster
- Real-time growth tracking
- Easy care routines
- Daily progress observation
- Simple operation
Read full descriptionHide full description
This is the best hamster app. - You can grow a hamster. - You can know growth of hamster in real time. - Operation is very easy! Care is very easy. You should feed hamster once every four days, and clean up only once a week. Hamster is very small at first, but it will grow bigger little by little every day. Enjoy the growth of hamster in your daily life!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: The Marimo at every 3 months against Hamster Pet's every 34 months. Hamster Pet's advantage is ratings volume (134 vs 16) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.6). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Hamster Pet holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hamster Pet has 134 ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of The Marimo's written reviews are positive against 82% of Hamster Pet's.
The Marimo ships an update every 3 months, Hamster Pet every 34 months. Both last shipped on October 26, 2026.
| Parameter | The Marimo | Hamster Pet |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (16 ratings) | 4.6 (134 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 79.6% of reviews | 81.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 16 | 134 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 34 months |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 18 MB | 170 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kosuke Ogawa | Hiroki Yamada |
Customer experience
The Marimo
Hamster Pet
Bugs and requests
The Marimo
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Hamster Pet
Reported bugs
4 issues- 🐛 Hamster died unexpectedly
- 🔄 Game reset after long playtime
- ❓ Unclear reason for hamster death
- 📱 Ads appearing too frequently, especially after cleaning
Requested features
20 requests- Add more hamster types/colors
- Add more toys and activities (wheel, climbing wall, chew toys)
- Add mini-games
- Allow for cage decoration/customization
- Add interaction options (petting, playing)
Show 15 moreShow fewer
- Add a shop to buy items
- Add multiplayer/social features
- Add more food variety
- Add skins or customization for hamsters
- Add a dust bath and hideouts
- Add water feature
- Allow for pausing the game
- Add more realistic hamster care elements
- Add different backgrounds or environments
- Add a feature to make hamsters grow bigger over time
- Add the ability to have multiple hamsters
- Add a feature to change hamster color
- Add a snake pet game
- Add sound effect on/off option
- Add Chinese language support
In-app purchases
The Marimo
No in-app purchases
Hamster Pet
No in-app purchases
