Comparison

Mini Metro vs ci

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

ci

Control a growing circle by touching and dragging. Absorb smaller circles to increase your size while avoiding larger ones. Compete for the top score on the leaderboard in this addictive game.

Highlights
  • Touch and drag circle control
  • Absorb smaller circles
  • Avoid larger circles
  • Grow your circle
  • Compete on leaderboard
  • Addictive gameplay
Features
Read full description

ci - 12th in "focus" (aa, uu, ff, au, rr, ao, rl, sp, th, ki, ci, sn, lo, ba, ov, sh, fi, do, ru & ti) Touch and drag the circle. Smash and absorb circles smaller than you, avoid circles larger. See how big you can get by eating the smaller ones and growing. You can also top the leaderboard and compete for the best score / largest circle. Get stuck into the addiction of ci right now, a fresh addition to your collection of focused General Adaptive apps. Thanks for all your support, I hope you're enjoying the "focus" series thus far. Handmade in Australia, General Adaptive

Screenshots

Mini Metro4 screens
ci2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: ci at Free against Mini Metro's $3.99. ci also leads on iOS requirement (8.0 vs 13.0). Mini Metro's advantage is rating (4.9 vs 3.9) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). On 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

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

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Mini Metro holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mini Metro has 32K ratings behind it against 101, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 89% of Mini Metro's written reviews are positive against 65% of ci's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mini Metro ships an update every 2 months, ci every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
Mini Metro versus ci: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMini Metroci
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating4.9 (32K ratings) — better3.9 (101 ratings)
Positive reviews88.8% of reviews — better64.9% of reviews
Number of ratings32K — better101
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#14 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size191 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDinosaur Polo ClubGeneral Adaptive Apps Pty Ltd

Customer experience

Mini Metro

All ratings31,792 ratings
Positive97.4%
Neutral1.2%
Negative1.3%
Written reviews1,509 reviews
Positive88.8%
Neutral4.5%
Negative6.7%

ci

All ratings101 ratings
Positive72.3%
Neutral9.9%
Negative17.8%
Written reviews77 reviews
Positive64.9%
Neutral10.4%
Negative24.7%

User reviews

Mini Metro

From 32K 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

ci

From 101 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Addictive gameplay
  • 👍 Fun and engaging
  • 👍 Good time killer
  • 👍 Simple and easy to use
  • 👍 Works offline

Room to improve

  • 😠 Forced reviews to play
  • 😠 Ads everywhere
  • 😠 Game progression blocked
  • 😠 Redirects to app store
  • 😠 Repetitive gameplay

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

ci

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Game glitches out
  • Game crashes
  • Game freezes
  • Game won't let you continue playing
  • Redirects to App Store

Requested features

2 requests
  • Option to remove ads
  • Control pad option

In-app purchases

None

Mini Metro

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

ci

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$1.99

Questions

Is Mini Metro free?
Mini Metro costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is ci free?
ci is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Mini Metro or ci?
Mini Metro is rated higher. Mini Metro averages 4.9 out of 5 from 32K ratings, while ci averages 3.9 from 101 ratings.
Do Mini Metro or ci have ads?
Neither Mini Metro nor ci shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Mini Metro or ci?
Mini Metro ships an update every 2 months, and ci every 4 months. Most recently, Mini Metro was updated on October 25, 2026 and ci on October 24, 2026.

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