Comparison

Mini Metro vs Balatro

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

About

Balatro

This game blends poker and solitaire mechanics with unique rule-bending twists. Build powerful poker hands, discover game-changing Joker cards, and create exciting combos to defeat challenging Boss Blinds. Explore different decks and game modes for endless replayability.

Highlights
  • Poker and Solitaire hybrid gameplay
  • Rule-bending mechanics
  • Collect over 150 unique Joker cards
  • Create powerful combos
  • Campaign and challenge modes
  • Pixel art visuals
Features
Read full description

Welcome to the official Balatro mobile game! Hypnotic and endlessly satisfying, Balatro is a magical mix of card games like Solitaire and Poker, that lets you twist the rules in ways never seen before! Your goal is to beat the Boss Blinds by making strong poker hands. Find new Jokers that change the game and create awesome and exciting combos! Win enough chips to beat tricky bosses, and find hidden bonus hands and decks as you play. You’ll need all the help you can get to beat the big boss, win the final challenge, and win the game. Features: * Remastered controls for touch screen devices. * Each run is different: every pick-up, discard and joker can dramatically alter the course of your run. * Multiple game items: discover over 150 Jokers, each with special powers. Use them with different decks,upgrade cards and vouchers to boost your scores. * Different Game modes: Campaign mode and challenge mode for you to play. * Beautiful Pixel Art: Immerse yourself in the CRT fuzz and enjoy detailed, hand-crafted pixel art.

Screenshots

Mini Metro4 screens
Balatro4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Balatro at every 5 days against Mini Metro's every 2 months. Balatro also leads on chart position (#2 vs #22) and ratings volume (105K vs 31K). Mini Metro's advantage is price ($3.99 vs $9.99). On rating, review sentiment, 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

Mini Metro costs $3.99 and Balatro $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Mini Metro against 5.0 for Balatro. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 31K and 105K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 88% of Mini Metro's written reviews are positive against 81% of Balatro's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mini Metro ships an update every 2 months, Balatro every 5 days. Both last shipped on September 28, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Mini Metro versus Balatro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMini MetroBalatro
Price$3.99 — better$9.99
Rating4.9 (31K ratings)5.0 (105K ratings) — better
Positive reviews87.6% of reviews — better81.1% of reviews
Number of ratings31K105K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#22#2 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better13.5
Further details — not scored
Size179 MB93 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperDinosaur Polo ClubPlaystack Ltd

Customer experience

Mini Metro

All ratings31,463 ratings
Positive97.5%
Neutral1.2%
Negative1.3%
Written reviews588 reviews
Positive87.6%
Neutral4.4%
Negative8.0%

Balatro

All ratings105,357 ratings
Positive99.2%
Neutral0.3%
Negative0.6%
Written reviews1,833 reviews
Positive81.1%
Neutral5.2%
Negative13.7%

User reviews

Mini Metro

From 31K App Store ratings

What 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

Balatro

From 105K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎮 Addictive gameplay
  • 💎 Unique and compelling mechanics
  • 👍 Easy to learn, hard to master
  • 🎨 Charming pixel art and music
  • 💰 Great value for money

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Bugs and save issues
  • 🔍 Small text and UI elements
  • 🔋 Battery draining
  • 🔇 No background music support

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

Balatro

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Unlocks and achievements not registering properly
  • Crashes and freezes on certain devices
  • Joker and card interactions not working as expected

Requested features

3 requests
  • Cloud save sync across devices
  • Portrait mode option
  • Customizable UI and accessibility settings

In-app purchases

None

Mini Metro

No in-app purchases

None

Balatro

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Mini Metro free?
Mini Metro costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Balatro free?
Balatro costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Mini Metro or Balatro?
Balatro is rated higher. Mini Metro averages 4.9 out of 5 from 31K ratings, while Balatro averages 5.0 from 105K ratings.
Do Mini Metro or Balatro have ads?
Neither Mini Metro nor Balatro shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Mini Metro or Balatro?
Mini Metro ships an update every 2 months, and Balatro every 5 days. Most recently, Mini Metro was updated on September 28, 2026 and Balatro on September 28, 2026.
Which is more popular, Mini Metro or Balatro?
Mini Metro currently peaks at #22 in the App Store charts, and Balatro at #2. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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