Comparison

Startup Dev Story vs Digicity

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

Head to head
About

Startup Dev Story

Features
Read full description

Found your own software startup and grow it from a one-person garage hustle into a world-changing tech giant, one pixel at a time. Startup Dev Story is a cozy, fast-paced business simulation inspired by the management-sim classics. Hire developers, designers, and marketers, organize them into teams, and cook up products in the Lab by mixing a type, an audience, and secret ingredients. Discover powerful combos, ship them, and watch the subscribers (and the cash) roll in. But the tech world never sits still. Survive and thrive across shifting eras, the SaaS & Mobile Boom, Crypto Winter, the AI Revolution and beyond, each one reshaping what sells and who your rivals are. FEATURES • Hire & grow a team, level up staff, manage energy, loyalty and burnout, and promote your stars. • The Product Lab, combine type + audience + ingredients to discover hidden synergy recipes. • Ride the eras, adapt as the market transforms decade after decade. • Rivals & market, competitors ship their own products; trends rise and fall. • Research & perks, unlock new product types and kit out your office. • Three difficulties, from a gentle Learn-the-Ropes run to a brutal lean-runway challenge. • New Game+, bank a veteran co-founder and a cash head start for your next venture. • Multiple save slots, run parallel companies. • Handcrafted pixel art and a chiptune soundtrack, all generated with love. Free to play, supported by ads. No account required, your progress is saved on your device. Can you survive the burn, out-ship your rivals, and IPO your way to the singularity? Your startup story starts now.

About

Digicity

Build and manage a city from 1900 through different eras, facing challenges like pollution and demand. Visualize city data to understand growth and make informed decisions.

Highlights
  • Isometric city building simulation
  • Zone residential, commercial, industrial areas
  • Manage power, water, and transportation infrastructure
  • Visualize city data layers (pollution, crime, etc.)
  • Scenario mode with era-based rule changes
  • Procedurally generated maps
  • Undo functionality
Features
Read full description

Start small. Think big. Build a city that feels like yours. Digicity is an isometric city builder for iPhone, iPad and Mac with Apple silicon. Turn a randomly generated 128x128 landscape into connected neighbourhoods, busy industry and a city shaped by your decisions. NEIGHBOURHOODS WITH CHARACTER Zone homes, shops and industry, then watch 22 building types develop through three visible stages. Streets, services, land value and nearby development shape what grows. Larger buildings can bring four lots together into one site. MAKE EVERY CONNECTION COUNT Lay roads, tram lines, freight rail, power lines and water pipes. Connect homes to jobs, provide essential services, and balance tax income against upkeep. Your choices affect traffic, pollution and demand. GET TO KNOW YOUR CITY Use data overlays and tile inspection to understand what helps your city grow—or holds it back. The city overview brings population, finances, utilities and transport together, with shortcuts to relevant map layers and controls. TAKE ON A NEW CHALLENGE Optional Scenario mode follows four historical eras: Rail, Motor, Service and Logistics. Start fresh or take charge of nine established challenge cities: Industrial River Town, Aging Tram City, Utility Squeeze, Budget Rescue, Safe Streets, Quiet Neighborhoods, Transit Turnaround, Boomtown and The Compact City. Choose transport priorities and emergency-service funding, review their costs, and compare city figures after policies take effect. Pursue seven optional ambitions and pin a goal while you play. Scenario access depends on the eras you own. Everyone can preview all nine challenge cities; starting one requires Ultimate. BUILD AT YOUR OWN PACE Pause to plan or choose Normal, Fast or Fastest. Open Build is a complete, free sandbox with every building tool and the whole map. No ads, energy meters or play timers. SAVE AND RECOVER YOUR CITY Saving your cities requires a one-time purchase. Without it, your city is lost if the app closes or the system terminates it. Saving and Ultimate include autosaves on this device, enabled by default. Keep up to three recent recovery versions per city history and restore an earlier checkpoint from the city menu. Named saves remain available separately. Force quitting can lose changes made after the last successful autosave. Scenario eras are sold separately. Ultimate includes saving, all Scenario eras and all nine challenge cities. Purchases are not subscriptions and do not expire. PLAY IN YOUR LANGUAGE Available in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Dutch. Digicity follows your supported device language, with English as the fallback. You can choose another supported app language in Settings. We use AI to translate from English into other languages. Translations may contain mistakes; English is the original source. Share suggested improvements through Translation feedback in the city menu. Play in landscape on iPhone, build on iPad, or use a Mac with Apple silicon. No account or sign-in is required. https://digicitybuilder.app/privacy

Screenshots

Startup Dev Story4 screens
Digicity4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Startup Dev Story at none against Digicity's 6. Startup Dev Story also leads on iOS requirement (14.0 vs 26.0). Digicity's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price 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. Digicity sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Startup Dev Story asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Startup Dev Story versus Digicity: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStartup Dev StoryDigicity
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.7 (12 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—12 — better
Update frequency—Every 10 days
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS14.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size85 MB165 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJAIME RICHARD DAZA GUZMANA Secret Company, LLC

In-app purchases

None

Startup Dev Story

No in-app purchases

6 purchases

Digicity

One-time6
  • Scenario: 1900-1930$1.99
  • Scenario: 1930-1970$1.99
  • Scenario: 1970-2010$1.99
Show 3 more
  • Scenario: 2010 onword$1.99
  • Save your cities$9.99
  • Everything, forever$19.99

Questions

Is Startup Dev Story free?
Startup Dev Story is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Digicity free?
Digicity is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Startup Dev Story or Digicity have ads?
Startup Dev Story shows ads; Digicity does not.

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