Comparison

Idle City Builder ! vs Horizon Bound

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

Head to head
About

Idle City Builder !

Build and grow a thriving city empire from humble beginnings. Customize buildings, manage villagers, and explore for resources and treasures. Fulfill visitor requests and strategically reset your city for permanent bonuses.

Highlights
  • Build and customize city layout
  • Unlock and upgrade buildings
  • Assign villagers to resource production
  • Send explorers on expeditions
  • Fulfill visitor requests and trade
  • Reset city for permanent perks
Features
Read full description

Create and grow your own thriving empire — start small, stack up, and watch your city come to life with new buildings, resources, and upgrades! CUSTOMIZE Stack houses to form cool vibrant city. Unlock several different types of buildings. Move your buildings to create your perfect layout. Change villager skins to personalize your city. Buy decorations like amusement park rides and more. Total landscaping freedom in the end game EXPLORE Send explorers on expeditions to gather resources and discover treasures. Discover new feature buildings as your city expands MANAGE Assign your villagers to work to optimize resource production. Command them to gather resources around your city VISITORS Fulfill visitor requests and trade resources with them. Decorate your city to see visitors interact with it REBUILD Sell your old city to restart building a new one. Unlock a reset feature that grants permanent perks (bonuses). Discover new map themes with reset Idle City Builder offers all this — and much more! Build, manage, explore, and create the city of your dreams! Please find our Privacy Policy at this link https://www.funcellgames.com/privacy-policy Terms of Use at this link https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Horizon Bound

Guide survivors of a plane crash on a mysterious island. Explore, gather resources, craft tools, and build a camp to stay alive. Uncover ancient secrets and forge connections with unique characters.

Highlights
  • Cozy survival gameplay
  • Explore diverse island environments
  • Craft tools and build shelters
  • Discover unique characters and quests
  • Uncover ancient island secrets
  • Repair ship to escape
Features
Read full description

Are you ready to survive the unknown? After a devastating airplane crash, a group of survivors—Jake, Andrea, Miguel, Yumiko, Brave Max the loyal dog, and others—wash ashore on a mysterious tropical island. With no way out and dangers lurking in the shadows, they must band together to stay alive. In Horizon Bound, players will guide the survivors as they explore, build, and uncover the ancient secrets of their new home. Gather food, craft tools, construct shelters, and expand your camp to withstand the island’s harsh challenges. Explore deeper and you’ll meet characters who feel like they walked right out of a storybook: a gentle sea warrior who watches the waves, a pirate captain with more charm than sense, and even a curious alien visitor from the stars. They don’t just offer quests—they bring comfort, surprises, and a sense of connection. And just when your group starts to feel like home, a new discovery shakes everything: a second island riding on the back of a giant sea turtle, waiting beyond the horizon. Repair your ship and escape… but the more you explore, the more it becomes about the people beside you. The meals you share. Brave Max curled up by the fire. The mysteries you solve together. The moments that make you want to stay just a little longer. In Horizon Bound, survival becomes friendship—and adventure becomes something you never want to end. Features - - Cozy Survival: Gather, craft, cook, and build a camp that feels like home. A Story-Rich First Island: Explore beaches, caves, ruins, a silent volcano, and a forgotten shipwreck. - A Magical Second Island: Discover a drifting island carried by a giant ancient turtle. - A Cast You’ll Love: Meet the sea warrior, the cheerful pirate captain, the mysterious visitor—and the iconic Miguel on his lawn-chair

Screenshots

Idle City Builder !4 screens
Horizon Bound4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Idle City Builder ! at 4.8 against Horizon Bound's 3.6. Idle City Builder ! also leads on ratings volume (755 vs 14). Horizon Bound's advantage is monetization model (ad-supported vs free with in-app purchases) and review sentiment (40% vs 30%). On price, update cadence, ads 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. Idle City Builder ! sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per 7 days and Horizon Bound 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

Idle City Builder ! holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Idle City Builder ! has 755 ratings behind it against 14, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 30% of Idle City Builder !'s written reviews are positive against 40% of Horizon Bound's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Idle City Builder ! ships an update every 2 weeks, Horizon Bound every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 8, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Idle City Builder ! versus Horizon Bound: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterIdle City Builder !Horizon Bound
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (755 ratings) — better3.6 (14 ratings)
Positive reviews30.3% of reviews40.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings755 — better14
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size287 MB409 MB
Age rating9+9+
DeveloperFUNCELL GAMES PRIVATE LIMITEDDmytro Demchuk

Customer experience

Idle City Builder !

All ratings755 ratings
Positive96.4%
Neutral1.1%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews33 reviews
Positive30.3%
Neutral9.1%
Negative60.6%

Horizon Bound

All ratings14 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral28.6%
Negative21.4%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive40.0%
Neutral30.0%
Negative30.0%

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Idle City Builder !

Subscriptions1
  • Vip weekly subscription$7.997 Days
One-time9
  • Storage upgrade$2.99
  • First purchase Premium Bundle$3.99
  • No Ads IAP$4.99
Show 6 more
  • Premium Currency - Small$5.99
  • Production Boost Bundle$7.49
  • Disaster Blocker Bundle$7.49
  • Premium Currency - Medium$11.99
  • Star Road Elite Pass$14.99
  • No Ads Bundle$14.99
10 purchases

Horizon Bound

One-time10
  • Huge Tickets Pack$2.99
  • Equipment Set Offer$4.99
  • Mega Tickets Pack$4.99
Show 7 more
  • Huge Tokens Pack$4.99
  • Mega XP Pack$9.99
  • Complete Golem Offer$9.99
  • Hooks Pack Polishing$9.99
  • Ultimate Tickets Pack$9.99
  • Limited Hero Fishing Pack$12.99
  • Ultimate XP Pack$19.99

Questions

Is Idle City Builder ! free?
Idle City Builder ! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Horizon Bound free?
Horizon Bound is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Idle City Builder ! or Horizon Bound?
Idle City Builder ! is rated higher. Idle City Builder ! averages 4.8 out of 5 from 755 ratings, while Horizon Bound averages 3.6 from 14 ratings.
Do Idle City Builder ! or Horizon Bound have ads?
Both Idle City Builder ! and Horizon Bound show ads.
Which is updated more often, Idle City Builder ! or Horizon Bound?
Idle City Builder ! ships an update every 2 weeks, and Horizon Bound every 3 weeks. Most recently, Idle City Builder ! was updated on November 8, 2026 and Horizon Bound on October 30, 2026.

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