Comparison

My Planet Simulation vs Pico Islands

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

Head to head
About

My Planet Simulation

Control a planet and nurture a thriving population by managing sunlight and rain. This real-time simulation game requires daily check-ins to maintain optimal conditions for vegetation and prevent your people from starving or suffering from extreme weather. Can you reach a population of over one million?

Highlights
  • Virtual planet simulation
  • Population growth management
  • Sunlight and rain manipulation
  • Real-time gameplay
  • Vegetation level monitoring
  • Resource optimization
Features
Read full description

My Planet is a virtual simulation game where you take control of a planet and try to grow a healthy and thriving population! It is like a virtual pet or Tamagotchi game on a planetary level. Play God by manipulating the sunlight and the rain in order to grow as large a population as possible. My Planet runs in real time, even when the the game is closed. Therefore, you must keep checking back throughout the day to make sure your planet is running at optimal levels. The controls are simple to use, by mastery can take weeks. Can you achieve the ultimate goal of growing your planet to over 1,000,000 people? Or will your planet burn under the sun while your people anguish? The choice is yours! The ultimate goal of My Planet is to grow a happy and thriving population. Your population will continue to grow as long as you have a healthy level of Vegetation on your planet (represented by the green bar). The more vegetation you have, the faster your population will grow. Likewise, if your vegetation levels get too low, your people will starve to death and population will begin to decline. Vegetation grows when it has the proper amount of sunlight and water. For optimal vegetation and thus population growth, you must try to keep your Sun and Water levels in the sweet spot, indicated by your Sun and Water meters being 50% full. If you have too much sunlight, vegetation will dry up and your people will die. If you have too little sunlight, vegetation cannot grow and your people will starve. Same concept with water. If you have too much, vegetation will flood out and die. To little, and drought will set in. Check your planet every day to make sure you have the optimal amount of sun and water! I am always looking to improve my apps, so if you have any ideas on how to make My Planet better, please let me know. I will continue to update and improve the game, so let me know what you would like to see added in the future! This app is for you guys!

About

Pico Islands

Lead settlers to build a thriving medieval city, manage resources, and expand your empire across islands. Engage in trade, conquest, and technological discovery to achieve global domination or enjoy a peaceful simulation.

Highlights
  • Build and expand your city
  • Manage resources and production
  • Trade with neighbors
  • Conquer new islands
  • Research new technologies
  • Optimize building placement and transportation
Features
Read full description

You have landed on a small island with a group of settlers. As the new king of this land it is now up to you to enlarge your realm and lead your people to glory. Capture the resources of this world and let your small village grow to a respectable city. Trade with your neighbors, capture gold and diamonds with your conquests. Eventually you will cross the sea to conquer many more islands and fortify the domination of your civilization and discover the many secrets beyond the ocean. The real time strategy game Pico Islands is an economy simulation taking place in a medieval world. In the quest for prosperity you can pursue the conquest of the whole world or simply lean back and watch your townsmen bustle around. The game is self-explanatory and does not require knowledge of the English language. Features: * By effective placement of your buildings and a well organized network of tracks and roads you will optimize the productivity of your settlers. * Use the right tactics and strategies in building your town to use the natural resources of your land the most effective way. * Collect lumber and stone as building materials for your constructions. * Place tracks and roads for optimized transportation of your goods. * Produce grain in your farms, only with a working agriculture your bakers can provide bread for your citizens, while your fishermen supply your sailors with sufficient food. * Let your alchemists brew magical potions that will lead your way to the discovery of new technologies. * Provide your miners with sufficient food, the mines will produce stone, coal, iron, copper and of course gold which serve as crafting materials for your manufactories. * Build harbors to cross the seas with your ships and become a formidable conqueror * Forge tools, jewelry and swords that your sailors and knights will use to explore new islands, to trade or to pillage. Enter the fantasy world of Pico Islands now and become a fearless adventurer, an acclaimed leader, a formidable conqueror and the hero of your own empire in this RTS game! Do you like retro, tycoon, idle clicker or simulation games? Then you should take a look at Pico Islands! You can download and play Pico Islands free of charge, but you have the opportunity to enhance your gaming experience with In-App-Purchases for real money. Featuring music by Matthew Pablo https://matthewpablo.com

Screenshots

My Planet Simulation4 screens
Pico Islands4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Pico Islands at 4.2 against My Planet Simulation's 3.7. Pico Islands also leads on update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 3 months) and review sentiment (71% vs 60%). On price, ratings volume, 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. My Planet Simulation sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Pico Islands sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pico Islands holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 220 and 131 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 60% of My Planet Simulation's written reviews are positive against 71% of Pico Islands's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

My Planet Simulation ships an update every 3 months, Pico Islands every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
My Planet Simulation versus Pico Islands: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMy Planet SimulationPico Islands
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (220 ratings)4.2 (131 ratings) — better
Positive reviews60.3% of reviews71.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings220 — better131
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.613.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size34 MB102 MB
Age rating9+9+
DeveloperBrandon SteckleinBitSpree GmbH

Customer experience

My Planet Simulation

All ratings220 ratings
Positive62.7%
Neutral10.5%
Negative26.8%
Written reviews209 reviews
Positive60.3%
Neutral9.1%
Negative30.6%

Pico Islands

All ratings131 ratings
Positive79.4%
Neutral3.8%
Negative16.8%
Written reviews181 reviews
Positive71.3%
Neutral11.0%
Negative17.7%

User reviews

My Planet Simulation

From 220 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fast loading
  • 👍 Cute and charming
  • 🚀 Addictive gameplay
  • 👍 Unique concept

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Bugs and glitches
  • 🔋 Planet dies when not playing
  • 🕰️ Slow progression
  • 🙄 Repetitive gameplay

Pico Islands

From 131 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Promising game
  • 👍 Fun and addictive
  • 👍 Charming game
  • 👍 Interesting game
  • 👍 Good game

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Steep learning curve
  • 🔋 High battery drain
  • 🐛 Purchase records lost
  • 🐛 Crashes when changing islands
  • 🐛 Unintuitive UI

Bugs and requests

My Planet Simulation

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes on launch
  • Planet disappears or turns into a square
  • Supplies not reaching moon colony
  • Inconsistent sun/water levels

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more planets and solar system
  • Introduce more god-like powers
  • Implement a pause/save feature
  • Improve graphics and animations
  • Add more content and complexity

Pico Islands

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Forester lookups result in 404 errors
  • Inability to undo 10 map limit
  • Crashes when redeploying roads
  • Inconsistent cookie consent management

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add map selection/replay
  • Improve tutorial and documentation
  • Implement graphics settings
  • Add more content and progression
  • Introduce multiplayer/competitive modes
Show 1 more
  • Improve performance and optimization

In-app purchases

2 purchases

My Planet Simulation

One-time2
  • 100 Ape Coins$0.99
  • Advertising Removal$2.99
5 purchases

Pico Islands

One-time5
  • Buy 20 Gems$0.99
  • Buy 110 Gems$4.99
  • Remove ads$13.99
Show 2 more
  • Buy 500 Gems$19.99
  • Buy 1500 Gems$49.99

Questions

Is My Planet Simulation free?
My Planet Simulation is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pico Islands free?
Pico Islands is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, My Planet Simulation or Pico Islands?
Pico Islands is rated higher. My Planet Simulation averages 3.7 out of 5 from 220 ratings, while Pico Islands averages 4.2 from 131 ratings.
Do My Planet Simulation or Pico Islands have ads?
Both My Planet Simulation and Pico Islands show ads.
Which is updated more often, My Planet Simulation or Pico Islands?
My Planet Simulation ships an update every 3 months, and Pico Islands every 5 weeks. Most recently, My Planet Simulation was updated on November 5, 2026 and Pico Islands on November 3, 2026.

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