Comparison

ATC Mania vs Planes Control!

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

Head to head
About

ATC Mania

Test your air traffic control skills in this addictive line-drawing game. Guide planes safely to their destinations using intuitive controls and enjoy stunning HD graphics. Compete with others through Game Center integration.

Highlights
  • Line-draw air traffic control gameplay
  • Multiple maps
  • HD graphics with particle systems
  • Retina and full iPad support
  • 60 FPS framerates
  • Game Center integration
Features
Read full description

Are you the best air traffic controller (ATC) worldwide? Now you can prove it with ATC Mania! ATC Mania is an addictive line-draw air traffic control game for your iPhone, iPod or iPad. But don´t tell us we didn´t warn you. It´s really addicitive. It features: - Three Maps (more coming soon) - HD graphics (incl. particle-systems) with retina- and full iPad-support - steady framerates with 60 FPS on most devices - Full "Game Center"-support And it´s free! And now have fun with ATC Mania!

About

Planes Control!

Guide aircraft to safe landings while avoiding hazards like storms and enemy attacks. Control over 60 different planes and helicopters across 13 challenging levels. Engage in aerial combat, fight wildfires, and manage air traffic in this addictive simulation game.

Highlights
  • Draw flight paths for aircraft
  • Avoid collisions and environmental hazards
  • Pilot over 60 types of planes and helicopters
  • Engage in aerial combat
  • Fight wildfires with air tankers
  • Navigate diverse and challenging levels
Features
Read full description

Take control of the sky and land your planes avoiding collisions and enemies. Guide your planes to ensure safe landing in this incredibly easy to learn yet surprisingly addictive game! Get an adrenalin rush while avoiding dangerous collisions, blazing storms and tornadoes, put out forest fire, get ready to repel an attack of enemy fighters and fight off an alien invasion! GAMEPLAY Planes Control is an game with simple controls. Draw lines with your fingers to determine the path each plane will follow as they find their way to land or to engage the enemy. This sounds easy? You will need fast fingers and strategy to manage all your planes and keep the sky under control. AIRCRAFTS You can navigate more than 60 different planes and helicopters including airliners, WWII fighters, jet planes and tilt rotors while playing Planes Control. Beside this, you will enjoy flying the SR-71 Black Bird (the world's fastest plane), the Antonov 225 (the largest aircraft in the world to fly multiple times) and famous combat planes like the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, the F-14 Tomcat or the Apache AH-64 combat helicopter. LEVELS Planes Control has 13 awesome levels for mobile devices plus 6 new levels full of challenges created for tablets. More levels are on the way. • Earn your wings on a holiday resort, guiding your planes and helicopters. • Aerial combat! Shoot down hostile planes and helicopters over the scorching desert. • Air Tankers: Fight wildfires by dropping water with your planes and helicopters. • Storm Carrier landings: Command your military fighters and helicopters between the clouds and rain. • Navigate canyons in the Arizona’s Desert. • Successfully land your Aircraft during a tornado outbreak. • Night landings: Switch your landing lights on and find your way around the airfield. • Keep an eye on emergency calls and give priority landing to the planes that are running out of fuel. • Avoid cargo planes flying around your air space. • Land your planes in the middle of an alien invasion ! READY FOR A CHALLENGE? Earn new and different achievements in every level and challenge yourself to the limit. Please sit back, fasten your seatbelt and enjoy taking control of the sky – download Planes Control now! ⓘ For the latest inside information from Rarepixels: ► Like us at https://www.facebook.com/planesApp ► Visit us at http://rarepixels.com/games/planes-control/ ► Follow us at https://www.twitter.com/planes_control

Screenshots

ATC Mania4 screens
Planes Control!4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: ATC Mania at none against Planes Control!'s shown. ATC Mania also leads on iOS requirement (8.0 vs 12.0). Planes Control!'s advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.3) and ratings volume (6.8K vs 30). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. ATC Mania sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Planes Control! sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Planes Control! holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Planes Control! has 6.8K ratings behind it against 30, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 87% of ATC Mania's written reviews are positive against 79% of Planes Control!'s, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ATC Mania ships an update every 3 weeks, Planes Control! monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 3, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
ATC Mania versus Planes Control!: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterATC ManiaPlanes Control!
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (30 ratings)4.7 (6.8K ratings) — better
Positive reviews86.6% of reviews — better79.1% of reviews
Number of ratings306.8K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size62 MB40 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSprakelsoft GmbHAntonio Calvino Esquer

Customer experience

ATC Mania

All ratings30 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral6.7%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews127 reviews
Positive86.6%
Neutral7.9%
Negative5.5%

Planes Control!

All ratings6,833 ratings
Positive94.0%
Neutral2.9%
Negative3.0%
Written reviews421 reviews
Positive79.1%
Neutral8.1%
Negative12.8%

User reviews

ATC Mania

From 30 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 😊 Highly addictive and engaging gameplay
  • 👍 Simple and easy-to-learn mechanics
  • 🎮 Fun and entertaining time killer
  • 🧠 Requires strategic thinking and concentration
  • ⚡ Smooth performance and stability

Room to improve

  • 📺 Ads obstruct gameplay and cause crashes
  • 🎮 Difficulty ramps up too quickly
  • 📱 Small screen makes gameplay difficult on phones
  • 🔄 Limited content and repetitive gameplay
  • ⚠️ No pause functionality without crashing

Planes Control!

From 6.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fun game
  • 👍 Simple yet challenging
  • 🚀 Addictive gameplay
  • 👍 Good variety of levels
  • 🚀 Responsive controls

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and bugs
  • 🔋 Drains battery quickly
  • 🐛 Progress not saved
  • 🐛 Collision detection issues
  • 🐛 Planes spawning off-screen

Bugs and requests

ATC Mania

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • Ads block aircraft and prevent control
  • Game crashes when paused
  • Freezes on iOS 5 compatibility
  • Aircraft fly over runway instead of landing
  • Simultaneous helicopter and airplane collisions not handled
Show 2 more
  • Game orientation issues on some devices
  • High score interface doesn't work properly

Requested features

10 requests
  • More maps and airports
  • Additional aircraft types and variety
  • Ad-free premium version
  • More difficulty levels or settings
  • Pause functionality that works properly
Show 5 more
  • Screen rotation/orientation support
  • More runways and landing options
  • Beep notification for new aircraft
  • Score logging for all attempts
  • Improved graphics and realistic aircraft designs

Planes Control!

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Game freezes on iOS 14
  • High score not recorded correctly
  • Planes colliding off-screen
  • Notification bar interfering with gameplay

Requested features

5 requests
  • More level options and customization
  • Ability to pause and resume games
  • Improved tutorial and instructions
  • Difficulty settings for each level
  • Leaderboards and achievements

In-app purchases

1 purchases

ATC Mania

One-time1
  • Remove ads$1.99
10 purchases

Planes Control!

One-time10
  • Pack of 5× Rescue Teams.$0.99
  • Unlock all HD Levels$0.99
  • Classic levels$0.99
Show 7 more
  • Unlock "Time Machine" levels!$0.99
  • Unlock "10th Anniversary" levels!$0.99
  • Three crashes per game.$1.99
  • Classic levels and no ads$2.99
  • Pack of 20× Rescue Teams.$2.99
  • No Ads.$2.99
  • Pack of 50× Rescue Teams.$4.99

Questions

Is ATC Mania free?
ATC Mania is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Planes Control! free?
Planes Control! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ATC Mania or Planes Control!?
Planes Control! is rated higher. ATC Mania averages 4.3 out of 5 from 30 ratings, while Planes Control! averages 4.7 from 6.8K ratings.
Do ATC Mania or Planes Control! have ads?
Planes Control! shows ads; ATC Mania does not.
Which is updated more often, ATC Mania or Planes Control!?
ATC Mania ships an update every 3 weeks, and Planes Control! monthly. Most recently, ATC Mania was updated on September 3, 2026 and Planes Control! on September 24, 2026.

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