The Marimo vs Roly
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
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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.
Roly
A relaxing simulation game where you nurture and grow a collection of pill bugs. Simple care routines like feeding and watering lead to an increasing number of colorful pill bugs. Enjoy a calming experience by naming your pets, changing the music, and capturing photos to share.
- Raise and grow pill bugs
- Collect various colors
- Simple care routine
- Name your pill bugs
- Change BGM
- Take and share photos
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It is a very easy healing training game. You can grow a lot by taking care of the pill bug. ■ Game content ・ It is a game to grow pill bugs on your smartphone. ・ The number of pill bugs will increase steadily just by taking simple care. ・ Various colors of pill bugs will appear ・ Tap the pill bug to make it round ・ Let's grow a lot of pill bugs and heal them ■ The method of care is very easy! ・ Feeding once every 3 days -Cucumber is my favorite pill bug ・ Watering once a week -The pill bug becomes full of energy when it is moist. ■ Main functions ・ The pill bug grows and grows bigger and bigger. ・ BGM can be changed ・ You can give a name to the pill bug ・ You can take a picture of a pill bug and save it on your smartphone, or share it on Twitter / LINE / Facebook / email. ・ It is possible to notify the timing of feeding / watering. ■ It is a recommended game for such people ・ People who want to raise insects ・ People who like to see insects ・ People who want to keep pets ・ People who like training simulation games ・ People who are looking for a simple game that can kill time ・ People who like farm games ・ People who are not good at difficult games ・ Busy people who have no time to play games ・ People who want to be healed leisurely ・ Recommended for small children
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: The Marimo at none against Roly's 10. Roly's advantage is update cadence (every 10 days vs every 3 months) and rating (4.7 vs 4.4). On price, review sentiment, 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
Both are free to download. Roly sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. The Marimo asks for nothing beyond the download.
Roly holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Roly has 268 ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 80% of The Marimo's written reviews are positive against 78% of Roly's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
The Marimo ships an update every 3 months, Roly every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Marimo | Roly |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (16 ratings) | 4.7 (268 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 79.6% of reviews — better | 77.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 16 | 268 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 10 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Ad-supported — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 18 MB | 135 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kosuke Ogawa | Natsumi Morita |
Customer experience
The Marimo
Roly
In-app purchases
The Marimo
No in-app purchases
Roly
- PREMIUM Roly-Poly:CAMOUFLAGE$0.99
- PREMIUM Roly-Poly:SPLASH$0.99
- PREMIUM Roly-Poly:ZEBRA$0.99
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- PREMIUM Roly-Poly:GOLD$0.99
- PREMIUM Roly-Poly:EMERALD$0.99
- PREMIUM Roly-Poly:AMETHYST$0.99
- PREMIUM Roly-Poly:PASTEL$0.99
- PREMIUM Roly-Poly:STONE$2.99
- Remove Ads 7 days$3.99
- Remove Ads 30 days$7.99









