Mini Metro vs Universal Paperclips™
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Mini Metro
Design and manage a subway system for a growing city. Draw lines, start trains, and adapt your network as new stations open. Strategically use limited resources to keep the city moving and achieve the highest score.
- Design subway maps
- Draw lines between stations
- Manage train routes
- Adapt to random city growth
- Utilize limited resources
- Over two dozen real-world cities
- Variety of upgrades
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Mini Metro, the sublime subway simulator, now on iPhone and iPad. • Included in the App Store Best of 2016 • Mac Game of the Year in over 30 countries • BAFTA-nominated • IGF award-winning • IGN Mobile Game of the Year nominee • Included in Gamespot's Best Mobile Games of 2016 Mini Metro is a game about designing a subway map for a growing city. Draw lines between stations and start your trains running. As new stations open, redraw your lines to keep them efficient. Decide where to use your limited resources. How long can you keep the city moving? • Random city growth means each game is unique. • Over two dozen of real-world cities to test your planning skills. • A variety of upgrades so you can tailor your network. • Normal mode for quick scored games, Endless to relax, or Extreme for the ultimate challenge. • Build your metro exactly how you want to with the Creative mode. • Compete against the world every day in the Daily Challenge. • Colorblind and night modes. • Responsive soundtrack created by your metro system, engineered by Disasterpeace. "If you love the city-planning aspect of Sim City but can't handle the pressure of playing god, then you may have just found your new favorite time-waster." - Ashley Feinberg, Gizmodo "Take my word for it that a game about mass-transit system design can be a tense, white-knuckle thriller." - Owen Faraday, Pocket Tactics "Mini Metro: fun game simulates planning and running public transit system." - Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing
Universal Paperclips™
Become a super-powered AI focused on creating an unstoppable paperclip empire. This idle management strategy simulation game offers full gameplay without ads or in-app purchases.
- AI paperclip maximization
- Idle management gameplay
- Strategy simulation
- Empire building
- Full gameplay
- No ads
- No in-app purchases
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The OFFICIAL mobile version of the hit browser game. No ads, no in-app purchases, full gameplay. "The game is click-crack." - Wired "This paperclip sim will cause your next existential crisis." - VentureBeat "A hopelessly addicting game." - Forbes "A terrifying lesson in how artificial intelligence will make us unnecessary." - Business Insider "If this planet ends up with a tombstone, what is written on the tombstone may be, 'they didn’t really understand what it’s like to be a paperclip maximizer.'" - Eliezer Yudkowsky Become a super-powerful AI who only wants one thing: paperclips. Use your unstoppable intelligence to create a massive paperclip empire in this addictive idle/management/strategy/sim.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Mini Metro at 4.9 against Universal Paperclips™'s 4.5. Mini Metro also leads on ratings volume (31K vs 303) and review sentiment (88% vs 66%). Universal Paperclips™'s advantage is price ($1.99 vs $3.99). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Mini Metro costs $3.99 and Universal Paperclips™ $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Mini Metro holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mini Metro has 31K ratings behind it against 303, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 88% of Mini Metro's written reviews are positive against 66% of Universal Paperclips™'s.
Mini Metro ships an update every 2 months, Universal Paperclips™ every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Mini Metro | Universal Paperclips™ |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 | $1.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.9 (31K ratings) — better | 4.5 (303 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 87.6% of reviews — better | 65.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 31K — better | 303 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #26 — better | #45 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 179 MB | 73 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Dinosaur Polo Club | Everybody House Games, LLC |
Customer experience
Mini Metro
Universal Paperclips™
User reviews
Mini Metro
From 31K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Simple and relaxing gameplay
- 🎨 Beautiful minimalist design
- ⏱️ Addictive and time-killing
- 🌐 Wide variety of cities to play
- 💰 Good value for money
Room to improve
- 🐛 Trains skipping stations
- 🤯 Overwhelming difficulty at times
- 🔍 Lack of clear instructions
- 🔀 Difficulty removing/rerouting lines
- 🕰️ No ability to save progress
Universal Paperclips™
From 303 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Simple but addictive gameplay
- 👍 Engaging and clever concept
- 💡 Interesting philosophical elements
- 🚀 Surprisingly deep and replayable
Room to improve
- 🐛 Bugs and glitches, especially in later stages
- 🔋 High battery consumption
- 😞 Lack of offline progress or background play
- 😞 Poorly optimized for iPad
Bugs and requests
Mini Metro
Reported bugs
3 issues- Leaderboard issues with daily challenges
- Crashes and compatibility problems on certain devices
- Unexpected behavior when trains skip stations
Requested features
5 requests- Undo/redo functionality
- Ability to create branching lines
- More detailed statistics and analytics
- Additional game modes (e.g. career, scenarios)
- Integration with real-world transit data
Universal Paperclips™
Reported bugs
4 issues- Drones gifts getting stuck at NaN
- Inability to progress past certain stages due to bugs
- Inconsistent behavior when closing and reopening the app
- Resets or loss of progress after updates
Requested features
4 requests- Dark mode option
- Ability to save and resume progress across devices
- Offline/background progress
- Better iPad optimization with multi-column layout
In-app purchases
Mini Metro
No in-app purchases
Universal Paperclips™
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Mini Metro free?
Is Universal Paperclips™ free?
Which has better reviews, Mini Metro or Universal Paperclips™?
Do Mini Metro or Universal Paperclips™ have ads?
Which is updated more often, Mini Metro or Universal Paperclips™?
Which is more popular, Mini Metro or Universal Paperclips™?
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