Comparison

Victorian Idle City Builder vs Idle Forge

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

Head to head
About

Victorian Idle City Builder

Build and manage a thriving Victorian-era city. Expand your empire by constructing diverse buildings, managing your population's needs, and optimizing intricate supply chains. Engage in strategic resource management and handle city incidents to create a prosperous civilization.

Highlights
  • Build a Victorian city empire
  • Manage population needs and happiness
  • Strategic resource and supply chain management
  • Construct diverse buildings and industries
  • Handle city incidents and social order
  • Manage multiple cities simultaneously
Features
Read full description

Welcome to Victorian Idle, where you'll embark on an extraordinary journey of city-building in the age of innovation and industry! BUILD YOUR EMPIRE Start with a modest settlement and watch it flourish into a bustling Victorian paradise. Construct essential buildings, establish trade routes, and create a thriving ecosystem where every decision shapes your city's future. MANAGE YOUR POPULATION Guide your citizens from peasants to scientists Provide housing, food, and essential services Keep your population happy and productive React to their evolving needs and demands STRATEGIC RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Master intricate supply chains Balance production and consumption Trade resources with merchants Optimize your city's efficiency DIVERSE BUILDINGS AND INDUSTRIES Construct homes for different social classes Build factories and workshops Establish markets and trading posts Create entertainment venues and public services UNIQUE GAMEPLAY FEATURES Handle unexpected city incidents Use propaganda to maintain social order Manage multiple cities simultaneously Engage in challenging mini-games for crucial decisions PLAYER-FRIENDLY EXPERIENCE Intuitive interface designed for mobile Cloud saves to secure your progress IMMERSIVE VICTORIAN ATMOSPHERE Step into a beautifully crafted world where industrial progress meets architectural elegance. Every building, every citizen, and every decision you make contributes to your unique Victorian story. Can you transform your humble beginning into a prosperous Victorian empire? The challenge awaits in Victorian Idle! Note: Victorian Idle is regularly enhanced with new content and features to ensure a fresh and engaging experience for our players.

About

Idle Forge

Features
Read full description

A little forge that doesn't need you. Light the hearth, hire an apprentice, and watch the smithy fill with workers, furnaces and stranger things. Idle Forge is an idle clicker built to be calm: it earns while you're away, asks for nothing when you return, and never punishes you for having a life. MADE TO RESPECT YOUR TIME • Progress continues while the app is closed. Sleep is a strategy • No daily-streak guilt, no timers that expire while you're at work • Rewarded ads are always optional, always a bonus, never a toll • Tapping helps, but it's a pleasure, not a duty: your workers swing the hammers A FORGE WITH SOMEWHERE TO GO • Dozens of generators, from apprentice to things physics won't explain • Reforge to melt it all down for Embers and permanent power • Then Recast: melt the golden anvil down for Gold, and spend it on perks that change how the next climb plays • A living workshop you can watch: every worker you hire is down there on the floor, hammering • Catch drifting fire wisps for a frenzy of production • Achievements, milestones, a daily gift, and yes, an actual ending at the top of the ladder QUIET BY DESIGN • The forge's own sounds (hammer, embers, quench), no music, no noise • Every effect can be switched off, from vibration to embers • Your save is yours: export it as a code, carry it anywhere, no account Free to play. Rewarded ads are opt-in, and everything they grant can also be earned by playing. A short ad may play after a Reforge, at most once every five minutes.

Screenshots

Victorian Idle City Builder4 screens
Idle Forge4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Idle Forge at none against Victorian Idle City Builder's 4. On price, update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Victorian Idle City Builder sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Idle Forge asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Victorian Idle City Builder ships an update weekly, Idle Forge every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Victorian Idle City Builder versus Idle Forge: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVictorian Idle City BuilderIdle Forge
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (211 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews82.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings211 — better—
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 6 days — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size127 MB78 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlexandre DuboisErik Tobias Rinde Tharaldsen

Bugs and requests

Victorian Idle City Builder

Reported bugs

17 issues
  • Lost all progress after offline play
  • Game freezes on startup
  • Game crashes after a while or during mini-games
  • Music loop stops and game freezes
  • Phone overheating and lagging
Show 12 more
  • Interface issues in offline mode on phone
  • Cannot remove certain buildings (e.g., gun turrets)
  • Newspaper system glitches
  • Ads cause music to stop
  • Game not truly offline
  • Starting with negative money
  • Income not increasing despite upgrades
  • Buildings disappearing during epidemics
  • Sliding puzzles (4x4) are unsolvable
  • Trade routes not working offline
  • Depot missing on island
  • Game freezes after a few seconds on startup

Requested features

31 requests
  • Battery saving feature
  • Automatic RAM optimization
  • Automatic trading/buying/selling
  • More new houses (e.g., Horse farm, Military barracks)
  • More cultural, industrial, agricultural houses from different regions
Show 26 more
  • More map areas
  • More technology boards
  • Feature to change flag
  • Better overview of buildings
  • Combine 'Resources' and 'Overview' menus
  • Calculator for ship cargo
  • Option to keep newspaper settings
  • Turn off tutorial after first use
  • More information on building outputs
  • Add visual city view
  • Improve ship upgrade system
  • Add timer for trade routes
  • Increase cargo capacity for ships
  • Make puzzles easier or fix 4x4 slide puzzle solvability
  • Add a Discord button
  • Add a building to automatically manage peasant needs
  • Add sugar processing building on islands
  • Improve offline mode interface
  • Add visual city/building details
  • Improve income generation
  • Make game more accessible for blind players
  • Add record of events like fires/riots/illness
  • Fix music stopping after ads
  • Add exponential building creation when holding button
  • Rework incident system (hospitals, etc.)
  • Add more variety to background music

Idle Forge

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Victorian Idle City Builder

One-time4
  • 50 gems$0.49
  • Ads free$3.49
  • 500 gems$3.49
Show 1 more
  • 1000 gems$5.99
None

Idle Forge

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Victorian Idle City Builder free?
Victorian Idle City Builder is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Idle Forge free?
Idle Forge is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Victorian Idle City Builder or Idle Forge have ads?
Both Victorian Idle City Builder and Idle Forge show ads.
Which is updated more often, Victorian Idle City Builder or Idle Forge?
Victorian Idle City Builder ships an update weekly, and Idle Forge every 6 days. Most recently, Victorian Idle City Builder was updated on November 4, 2026 and Idle Forge on October 29, 2026.

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