Control Tower vs The Workshop
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Control Tower
Guide aircraft to safe landing zones and prevent collisions by drawing flight paths. This strategy game requires quick reflexes and careful planning to manage air traffic and achieve high scores.
- Guide aircraft to landing zones
- Draw flight paths
- Classic game mode
- Online high scores
- Achievements
- Addictive gameplay
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Take control of the skies and feel the rush of bringing every flight home safely. Draw a line with your finger and watch planes, jets, helicopters and seaplanes follow it to their runway or helipad. You'll get it in seconds, and the busier the sky gets, the sharper you become. WHY YOU'LL LOVE IT • Play in seconds: just draw a line, your aircraft does the rest • Never get bored: 6 unique airports, from a sunny coastline to a polar research base • Pull off daring landings: touch down on an aircraft carrier drifting with the tide • Relax in beauty: switch anytime between crisp Classic art and a hand-painted world • Feel the rush: traffic keeps building until only the sharpest controllers survive • Prove you're the best: 19 achievements and a best score on every airport • Play your way: fast-forward when it's calm, choose dotted or dashed flight paths • Play in your language: fully translated into 51 languages • Made for your screen: looks great on every iPhone and iPad Quick to start and hard to put down. Perfect for a coffee break or a long flight. 51 LANGUAGES English, Српски, Srpski, Русский, Українська, Deutsch, Español, Português (PT), Português (BR), Polski, Čeština, Français, Suomi, Română, Ελληνικά, Svenska, Italiano, Slovenčina, Magyar, Dansk, Nederlands, Slovenščina, Türkçe, Eesti, Indonesia, Melayu, Filipino, Norsk, Lietuvių, العربية, فارسی, Afrikaans, Latviešu, বাংলা, 繁體中文, 简体中文, עברית, 한국어, Български, Català, Íslenska, ไทย, Tiếng Việt, हिन्दी, తెలుగు, தமிழ், اردو, नेपाली, Esperanto, O‘zbek, 日本語
The Workshop
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A brass ball falls. A hoop waits below. Between them, you build the machine that connects the two. The Workshop is a physics puzzle game about building small, satisfying contraptions. Each level hands you a few machines — a fan, a seesaw, a cannon, a conveyor — and an empty board. Where you place them, and which way they face, is the whole puzzle. Press GO and watch your machine run: if the ball lands home, it's on to the next one. If it doesn't, the fun is in seeing exactly why. BUILD WITH 20+ MACHINES Fans push, cannons launch, balloons lift, pipes teleport, magnets pull, and tar slows everything down. Machines are introduced one at a time across 100 hand-built levels, so there's always a new tool arriving just as you've mastered the last one. EVERY LEVEL IS SOLVABLE — PROVABLY Each level's solution is machine-verified before it ships: it works at any frame rate, survives imprecise placement, and needs every machine it gives you. If you're stuck, it's not the level. STUCK ANYWAY? YOU DECIDE HOW MUCH HELP Reveal the solution one machine at a time with a Nudge, buy a little more clock when the timer runs hot, or skip a level that's beaten you and come back later. Help is always optional and never forced on you. MAKE THE BALL YOURS Earn coins by solving levels and spend them on ball finishes — brass, jade, obsidian, prismatic — and trails that ribbon behind the ball as it flies. RESPECTS YOUR TIME AND YOUR PRIVACY No account. No sign-in. Works offline. The free version shows non-personalised ads — the game never tracks you across apps or websites — and a single one-time purchase removes ads forever, unlocks every level, and makes hints free. One ball. One hoop. One hundred machines between them. Welcome to the workshop.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: The Workshop at every 2 days against Control Tower's every 7 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. Control Tower sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and The Workshop sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Control Tower ships an update every 7 months, The Workshop every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Control Tower | The Workshop |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (194 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 44.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 194 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 82 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | 4 SAVE SOFT DOO NOVI SAD | Eran Amrani |
Bugs and requests
Control Tower
Reported bugs
11 issues- Planes spawn on screen edges and cannot be controlled
- App crashes when submitting scores
- App freezes mid-game with no save function
- Touch input delay and unresponsive controls
- Planes crash due to uncontrollable border spawns
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- Screen scaling issues on newer iPhone models
- Ad banner causes crashes when displaying
- Controls flip upside down (orientation bug)
- Pause function does not work properly
- Game won't load or start properly
- Planes don't respond to drawn flight paths
Requested features
9 requests- New maps and levels
- Restore original Flight Control game
- Better sound design and music
- Improved plane graphics and visual clarity
- Tutorial for new players
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- Faster plane spawn rates
- Multiple free levels instead of just one
- Option to disable ads with one-time payment
- Full-screen support for modern devices
The Workshop
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Control Tower
- Unlock FULL game$0.99
- Control Tower Pro$2.99
The Workshop
- 600 Coins$1.99
- The Workshop Premium$4.99
- 2,000 Coins$4.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- 5,000 Coins$9.99
Questions
Is Control Tower free?
Is The Workshop free?
Do Control Tower or The Workshop have ads?
Which is updated more often, Control Tower or The Workshop?
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