Comparison

Solar Explorer vs Melon Craft

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

Head to head
About

Solar Explorer

Features
Read full description

Solar Explorer is an interactive solar system flight experience built for iPhone. Take manual control of your spacecraft and navigate between planets, moons, the Sun, and the asteroid belt using responsive arcade-style flight controls. Use the planet compass, minimap, distance readouts, and navigation cues to orient yourself across interplanetary space without relying only on autopilot. Features include: • Manual flight controls tuned for quick, nimble movement • Planet selector for fast travel and exploration • Direction and distance guidance for nearby solar system bodies • Cockpit-style navigation arc with planet labels and distances • Minimap showing your position relative to planets and the asteroid belt • Detailed planet, moon, and Sun visuals • Asteroid belt objects for added scale and depth • Proximity protection to prevent flying inside planets or moons • Optional audio with engine and alert effects • NASA/JPL Horizons data used for planetary positions when available, with fallback orbital data for offline use Solar Explorer is designed for relaxed exploration, fast manual navigation, and a sense of scale as you move through the solar system.

About

Melon Craft

Build, destroy, and experiment in a physics-driven sandbox. Play with ragdoll characters, weapons, and interactive objects to create chaotic simulations and unpredictable battles. Customize the world with adjustable physics parameters for dynamic gameplay.

Highlights
  • Physics-based ragdoll sandbox
  • Interactive characters and weapons
  • Realistic destruction and collapse
  • Adjustable physics parameters
  • Grid-based building
  • Multitouch controls
Features
Read full description

Melon Craft: Ragdoll Sandbox is a physics-based sandbox game where you can build, destroy, fight, experiment, and create your own chaotic simulations. Play with ragdoll characters, weapons, blocks, tools, explosives, and interactive objects in a fully simulated world. Every movement, collision, impact, and destruction effect is driven by physics, making each experiment feel dynamic and unpredictable. Build structures with grid-based placement, then test their strength with weapons, explosions, pressure, and falling objects. Walls, blocks, and constructions can collapse under force, break into interactive fragments, and continue reacting inside the simulation. Use melee weapons, firearms, tools, and explosives to create physics-driven battles and destruction scenarios. Projectiles, recoil, particles, impact marks, and object reactions are all part of the sandbox system. Customize the world in real time by adjusting gravity, scale, force, object behavior, and other physical parameters through an easy control panel. With full multitouch support, you can move the camera, drag objects, build, fight, and experiment more smoothly. Ragdoll characters react dynamically to damage, impacts, and environmental forces. When multiple characters are present, combat situations can emerge naturally, creating spontaneous sandbox battles. A lightweight interactive tutorial is built directly into the world. A physical tutorial object demonstrates basic controls and can be ignored, moved, or destroyed at any time. Features: • Physics-based ragdoll sandbox gameplay • Interactive characters, weapons, blocks, and tools • Realistic destruction and structure collapse • Melee weapons, firearms, projectiles, and explosives • Adjustable gravity, force, scale, and object behavior • Grid-based building and construction • Pixel-style particles, impact effects, and persistent marks • Full multitouch controls for smoother interaction • Emergent combat and unpredictable experiments • Interactive in-world tutorial object Melon Craft: Ragdoll Sandbox is a complete physics playground where every action can lead to a new result. Build something stable, destroy it with force, start a ragdoll battle, or simply experiment with the simulation. Privacy Policy: https://swell.kz/privacy_policy Terms & Conditions: https://swell.kz/terms_and_conditions

Screenshots

Solar Explorer4 screens
Melon Craft4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Solar Explorer at none against Melon Craft's 1. Solar Explorer also leads on ads (none vs shown). Melon Craft's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.2). On price, update cadence 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. Melon Craft sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $7.99 per 7 days. Solar Explorer asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Solar Explorer versus Melon Craft: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSolar ExplorerMelon Craft
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.2 (48 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—55.6% of reviews
Number of ratings—48 — better
Update frequencyWeeklyWeekly
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.215.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size32 MB230 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperSteven HaighSWELL GAMES, TOO

In-app purchases

None

Solar Explorer

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Melon Craft

Subscriptions1
  • Premium Pass$7.997 Days

Questions

Is Solar Explorer free?
Solar Explorer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Melon Craft free?
Melon Craft is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Solar Explorer or Melon Craft have ads?
Melon Craft shows ads; Solar Explorer does not.
Which is updated more often, Solar Explorer or Melon Craft?
Solar Explorer ships an update weekly, and Melon Craft weekly. Most recently, Solar Explorer was updated on October 24, 2026 and Melon Craft on October 24, 2026.

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