Planetary Idle vs Mars Mining Simulator
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Planetary Idle
Explore planets with a retro sci-fi idle theme. Hire scientists for passive income, tap for boosts, and research expeditions for discoveries. Prestige to reset with permanent upgrades and unlock perks with rare QBits.
- Hire Scientists for passive income
- Tap to boost active income
- Research expeditions for discoveries
- Prestige system with permanent upgrades
- Earn QBits for powerful perks
- Offline progress for 6 hours
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Discover planets with a retro sci-fi idle theme with Planetary Idle! • Hire Scientists - Generate steady passive income and scale your operation. • Tap to Boost - Tap for extra cash when you’re active. • Research Expeditions - Spend money and brave scientists on one-way missions for discoveries and income bonuses! • Prestige - Reset, keep permanent upgrades, blast past your previous best. • QBits & Upgrades - Earn rare QBits and unlock powerful perks. • Play Your Pace - Short bursts or long idles; progress for 6 hours when offline. • Game Center - Many achievements to unlock!
Mars Mining Simulator
Pilot a mining rig on Mars to extract valuable minerals and discover ancient relics. Upgrade your equipment, utilize tactical consumables, and survive treacherous caverns to complete challenges and rescue a trapped miner.
- Mine 10 unique minerals
- Discover 3 mega-rare Relics
- Upgrade 6 ship Parts
- Use 5 Tactical consumables
- Visit 4 Surface shops
- Complete 6 Challenges
- Engage in 1 Epic Boss fight
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Deep beneath the red dust of Mars lies a fortune in rare minerals—and a crew of miners who never made it back. Take control of a powerful mining rig, navigate treacherous underground caverns, and become the hero Mars needs. - Mine 10 unique minerals: Copper → Iron → Silver → Gold → Obsidian → Sapphire → Emerald → Ruby → Diamond → Bismuth - Discover 3 mega-rare Relics hidden in the deep: Ancient Tablet → Meteoric Metal → Fossilized Remains - 6 Upgradeable ship Parts, build the ultimate digging machine: Improve drill speed, extend your Cargo Bay, reinforce your Armor, optimize your Engine, expand your Gas Tank, upgrade your Radiator - 5 Tactical consumables, master your arsenal to survive the deep: Use TNT and Nukes to blast through solid rock. Deploy a Repair Bot when the damage gets critical. Pop a Portable Fuel Pod when you're low on gas. Try the Nexus Teleporter for an instant extraction to the surface! - 4 Surface shops to Buy/Sell/Upgrade/Repair - Service Station(Fuel), Mineral Shop, Upgrade Shop, Item Shop(Supplies) - 3 Unique Mining Rigs to play as - Basic Rig, Yellow Tiger Tank, Violet Vento - 6. Completable Challenges: 1. Mine all three rare relics 2. Mine five Bismuth minerals in a single haul 3. Fall 5,000 feet in a single drop 4. Sell over $500,000 to the Mineral Shop in a single transaction 5. Upgrade all of your mining rig components to elite 6. Defeat the final boss - 1 Full length quest: Rescue the trapped miner - 1 Epic Boss fight to beat the game Mars is waiting. Grab your gear, prep your explosives, and start your descent.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Mars Mining Simulator at 100% against Planetary Idle's 50%. Mars Mining Simulator also leads on update cadence (daily vs weekly) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). Planetary Idle's advantage is ratings volume (77 vs 4). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Planetary Idle sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Mars Mining Simulator sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Mars Mining Simulator holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Planetary Idle has 77 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Planetary Idle's written reviews are positive against 100% of Mars Mining Simulator's.
Planetary Idle ships an update weekly, Mars Mining Simulator daily. The most recent releases landed on September 12, 2026 and September 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Planetary Idle | Mars Mining Simulator |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (77 ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 77 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Daily — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 112 MB | 48 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Roberto Frias Nerio | Matthew Musto |
Customer experience
Planetary Idle
Mars Mining Simulator
In-app purchases
Planetary Idle
- Booster Pack$0.99
- Research Pack$2.99
- Quantum Pack$6.99
Mars Mining Simulator
- Violet Vento$0.99
- Remove Ads$2.99





