Comparison

Mini Metro vs THE MACHINE

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

THE MACHINE

Engage with a mechanical puzzle box focused on experimentation and understanding cause and effect. Install and reorder parts to observe signal flow and solve objectives. Discover new hardware and deeper systems as the machine awakens.

Highlights
  • Mechanical puzzle box gameplay
  • Experimentation and cause/effect mechanics
  • 34 unique mechanism families
  • Stateful, order-sensitive puzzles
  • Tuning and Fusion systems
  • Offline play
  • Single optional purchase for full content
Features
Read full description

THE MACHINE is a mechanical puzzle box about experimentation, cause and effect, and learning a system by touching it. Install parts. Change their order. Send an input. Watch the signal travel through the machine. Every mechanism transforms, stores, redirects, amplifies, or relieves something. Solve each puzzle by making the whole machine satisfy its objectives. As THE MACHINE awakens, new hardware, tuning, fusion, routing, and deeper systems emerge. The rules stay consistent. The possibilities do not. • 34 mechanism families, each with its own behavior and physical identity • Stateful, order-sensitive puzzles where timing matters • Tuning and Fusion systems that turn familiar parts into new hardware • Five escalating Series, including the branching DUPLEX architecture • No ads, no subscriptions, no account required • Play offline on iPhone and iPad Series I and II are included. A single optional purchase unlocks Series III–V and everything beyond. Change something. Try again. Awaken THE MACHINE.

Screenshots

Mini Metro4 screens
THE MACHINE4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: THE MACHINE at Free against Mini Metro's $3.99. THE MACHINE also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 2 months). Mini Metro's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ratings volume (31K vs 1). On rating, ads 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

THE MACHINE is free to download; Mini Metro costs $3.99 up front. THE MACHINE sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Mini Metro asks for nothing beyond the download.

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 THE MACHINE. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mini Metro has 31K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mini Metro ships an update every 2 months, THE MACHINE daily. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Mini Metro versus THE MACHINE: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMini MetroTHE MACHINE
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating4.9 (31K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews89.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings31K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#16 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size179 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDinosaur Polo ClubIAN FABIAN FAGERSTROM

Customer experience

Mini Metro

All ratings31,463 ratings
Positive97.5%
Neutral1.2%
Negative1.3%
Written reviews1,506 reviews
Positive89.0%
Neutral4.4%
Negative6.6%

THE MACHINE

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

THE MACHINE

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Mini Metro

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

THE MACHINE

One-time1
  • THE MACHINE$4.99

Questions

Is Mini Metro free?
Mini Metro costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is THE MACHINE free?
THE MACHINE is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Mini Metro or THE MACHINE?
THE MACHINE is rated higher. Mini Metro averages 4.9 out of 5 from 31K ratings, while THE MACHINE averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Mini Metro or THE MACHINE have ads?
Neither Mini Metro nor THE MACHINE shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Mini Metro or THE MACHINE?
Mini Metro ships an update every 2 months, and THE MACHINE daily. Most recently, Mini Metro was updated on October 15, 2026 and THE MACHINE on September 29, 2026.

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