Star Empire vs Mini Metro
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Star Empire
Engage in tactical space combat with a Match 3 twist. Defend your sector against four alien races, each with unique abilities. Strategically maneuver ships, manage resources for repairs and upgrades, and make critical decisions to destroy enemy bases.
- Tactical space combat
- Match 3 gameplay
- Defend against alien races
- Resource management
- Ship upgrades
- Strategic decision-making
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Match 3 meet Tactical Space Combat! Star Empire amps up the Galactic conflict with more tactical aspects as you defend your sector from four different Invading races, each with their own technology focus and special abilities. The Krill, Reproroc and Bial return in this strategic board game of fierce deep space combat! Maneuver your ship skillfully around enemy vessels setting up the perfect kill shot, string resources together to charge shields and repair battle damage, and collect tech to upgrade your weapons and defences! You must make difficult decisions between offence, defence and tech to punch through waves of enemies and destroy their base of operations. Simple game mechanics with serious depth and a wealth of powerful technology to discover and master will engage your mind like never before.
Mini Metro
Design and manage a subway system for a growing city. Draw lines, start trains, and adapt your network as new stations open. Strategically use limited resources to keep the city moving and achieve the highest score.
- Design subway maps
- Draw lines between stations
- Manage train routes
- Adapt to random city growth
- Utilize limited resources
- Over two dozen real-world cities
- Variety of upgrades
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Mini Metro, the sublime subway simulator, now on iPhone and iPad. • Included in the App Store Best of 2016 • Mac Game of the Year in over 30 countries • BAFTA-nominated • IGF award-winning • IGN Mobile Game of the Year nominee • Included in Gamespot's Best Mobile Games of 2016 Mini Metro is a game about designing a subway map for a growing city. Draw lines between stations and start your trains running. As new stations open, redraw your lines to keep them efficient. Decide where to use your limited resources. How long can you keep the city moving? • Random city growth means each game is unique. • Over two dozen of real-world cities to test your planning skills. • A variety of upgrades so you can tailor your network. • Normal mode for quick scored games, Endless to relax, or Extreme for the ultimate challenge. • Build your metro exactly how you want to with the Creative mode. • Compete against the world every day in the Daily Challenge. • Colorblind and night modes. • Responsive soundtrack created by your metro system, engineered by Disasterpeace. "If you love the city-planning aspect of Sim City but can't handle the pressure of playing god, then you may have just found your new favorite time-waster." - Ashley Feinberg, Gizmodo "Take my word for it that a game about mass-transit system design can be a tense, white-knuckle thriller." - Owen Faraday, Pocket Tactics "Mini Metro: fun game simulates planning and running public transit system." - Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Star Empire at Free against Mini Metro's $3.99. Star Empire also leads on iOS requirement (5.1.1 vs 13.0). Mini Metro's advantage is rating (4.9 vs 3.7) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). On 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
Star Empire is free to download; Mini Metro costs $3.99 up front. Star Empire sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Mini Metro asks for nothing beyond the download.
Mini Metro holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mini Metro has 32K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 63% of Star Empire's written reviews are positive against 89% of Mini Metro's.
Star Empire ships an update every 23 months, Mini Metro every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Star Empire | Mini Metro |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $3.99 |
| Rating | 3.7 (3 ratings) | 4.9 (32K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 62.5% of reviews | 88.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 32K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 23 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #11 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 5.1.1 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 28 MB | 191 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | DeadRatGames | Dinosaur Polo Club |
Customer experience
Star Empire
Mini Metro
Bugs and requests
Star Empire
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Mini Metro
Reported bugs
3 issues- Leaderboard issues with daily challenges
- Crashes and compatibility problems on certain devices
- Unexpected behavior when trains skip stations
Requested features
5 requests- Undo/redo functionality
- Ability to create branching lines
- More detailed statistics and analytics
- Additional game modes (e.g. career, scenarios)
- Integration with real-world transit data
In-app purchases
Star Empire
- Full Version$0.99
Mini Metro
No in-app purchases
