Comparison

SimCity BuildIt vs Outlanders

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

Head to head
About

SimCity BuildIt

Design and build a bustling city metropolis, managing resources, citizen happiness, and urban challenges like traffic and pollution. Trade with other players, compete in city wars, and unlock unique landmarks and regional styles to create your dream city.

Highlights
  • Design and build city metropolis
  • Manage citizen happiness and services
  • Solve urban challenges like traffic
  • Trade with other players
  • Compete in Club Wars and contests
  • Unlock landmarks and regional styles
  • Build and customize train networks
Read full description

Includes optional in-game purchases of virtual currency that can be used to acquire virtual in-game items, including a random selection of virtual in-game items. Welcome, Mayor, to the city builder and simulator! Be the hero of your very own city metropolis. This is the city-building game to design and create a beautiful, bustling town or metropolis. Every decision is yours as your city simulation grows larger and more intricate. You need to make smart building choices as a city builder to keep your citizens happy and your skyline growing. Then build, trade, chat, compete, and join clubs with fellow city-building Mayors. The city game that lets you build your city, your way! BRING YOUR CITY METROPOLIS TO LIFE Build your metropolis with skyscrapers, parks, bridges, and much more! Place buildings strategically to keep your taxes flowing and your city growing. Solve real-life city-building challenges like traffic and pollution. Provide your town and city services like power plants and police departments. Strategize, build and keep traffic moving with grand avenues and streetcars in this fun city builder and simulator. PUT YOUR IMAGINATION AND CITY ON THE MAP The possibilities are endless in this town and city-building simulator! A worldwide city game, build Tokyo-, London-, or Paris-style neighborhoods, and unlock exclusive city landmarks like the Eiffel Tower or Statue of Liberty. Make building rewarding and discover new technologies with the Future Cities while getting athletic with sports stadiums to become a pro city builder. Build and decorate your town or city with rivers, lakes, forests, and expand along the beach or mountain slopes. Unlock your city-builder strategies with new geographic regions for your metropolis, such as the Sunny Isles or Frosty Fjords, each with a unique architectural style. The city-building game where there’s always something new and different to make your city simulation unique. BUILD AND BATTLE YOUR WAY TO VICTORY The city-building game that lets you defend your city metropolis against monsters or compete against other mayors in Club Wars. Plot winning city-builder strategies with your Club mates and declare war on other cities. Once the battle simulation is on, unleash crazy disasters like the Disco Twister and Plant Monster on your opponents. Earn valuable rewards to use in battle, in building or to improve your city. In addition, take on other players in the Contest of Mayors, where you can complete weekly challenges and climb the League ranks toward the top of this city game. BUILD A BETTER CITY WITH TRAINS The city-building game to improve as a city builder with unlockable and upgradeable trains. Discover new trains and train stations for your dream metropolis! Build, expand and customize your rail network to fit your unique city simulation. BUILD, CONNECT AND TEAM UP Join a Mayor’s Club to trade city supplies with other members who love and chat about city-building strategies and available resources. Collaborate with other town and city builders to help someone complete their personal vision as well as get support to complete yours. Build big, work together, lead other Mayors, and watch your city simulation come to life in this city-building game and simulator! ___ Important Consumer Information. This app: Requires a persistent Internet connection (network fees may apply). Requires acceptance of EA’s Privacy & Cookie Policy and User Agreement. Includes in-game advertising. Contains direct links to the Internet and social networking sites intended for an audience over 13. The app uses Game Center. Log out of Game Center before installation if you don’t want to share your game play with friends. User Agreement: http://terms.ea.com Privacy and Cookie Policy: http://privacy.ea.com Visit https://help.ea.com/en/ for assistance or inquiries. EA may retire online features after 30 days’ notice posted on www.ea.com/service-updates.

About

Outlanders

Guide a group of people to build a thriving town, balancing resources and follower happiness. Make tough decisions to overcome unique challenges in distinct levels. Enjoy a charming simulation with light storytelling and a satisfying audio-visual style.

Highlights
  • Town-building simulation
  • Resource management
  • Follower happiness
  • Level-based challenges
  • Decree system
  • Building selection
Features
Read full description

Outlanders is a charming town-builder simulation game that lets you play as the leader of a group of regular people building a town together. Some want to survive, while others want to build amazing things. It’s up to you to guide them towards their goal. Take control of the will of a town leader and balance your resources carefully to lead the town to prosperity. Every choice you make directly affects the progress of your town and has an impact on the happiness of your followers. Features: - Play through a series of distinct levels, each with its own unique flavour and set of challenges to overcome, with many more to come soon. - Engaging gameplay with no hand-holding! Carefully manage your resources and keep your followers happy or they might revolt! - Crisp and clean audio-visual style with an atmospheric touch that lingers with you after you put the game down. - Light but rich storytelling follows the tales of different town leaders in their search for a hassle-free natural lifestyle. - A wide selection of buildings to choose from, with specific functions that are vital to the success of your community. - Decree system lets you make the tough decisions, granting you a useful bonus in exchange for a small sacrifice.

Screenshots

SimCity BuildIt4 screens
Outlanders4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Outlanders at none against SimCity BuildIt's 11. Outlanders also leads on ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (66% vs 49%). SimCity BuildIt's advantage is ratings volume (86K vs 4.3K) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, device support and iOS requirement 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. SimCity BuildIt sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Outlanders asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Outlanders holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SimCity BuildIt has 86K ratings behind it against 4.3K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 49% of SimCity BuildIt's written reviews are positive against 66% of Outlanders's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SimCity BuildIt ships an update every 3 weeks, Outlanders every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
SimCity BuildIt versus Outlanders: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimCity BuildItOutlanders
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (86K ratings)4.3 (4.3K ratings) — better
Positive reviews49.2% of reviews66.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings86K — better4.3K
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#67 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — better
Requires iOS13.013.0
Further details — not scored
Size345 MB1.3 GB
Age rating9+12+
DeveloperElectronic ArtsPomelo Games

Customer experience

SimCity BuildIt

All ratings85,884 ratings
Positive77.1%
Neutral7.0%
Negative16.0%
Written reviews10,476 reviews
Positive49.2%
Neutral9.9%
Negative40.9%

Outlanders

All ratings4,313 ratings
Positive81.5%
Neutral7.4%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews654 reviews
Positive66.2%
Neutral14.2%
Negative19.6%

User reviews

SimCity BuildIt

From 86K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🌟 Great game
  • 🌇 Beautiful graphics
  • 🕹️ Enjoyable gameplay
  • 🤝 Supportive club community
  • 🕰️ Relaxing and not too demanding

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive in-app purchases
  • 🕰️ Slow progression without paying
  • 🔍 Difficult to find needed items
  • 🤖 Aggressive monetization tactics
  • 🤯 Frustrating club war mechanics

Outlanders

From 4.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🌟 Charming and relaxing gameplay
  • 🎨 Beautiful graphics and aesthetics
  • 🕰️ Addictive and engaging experience
  • 🧠 Challenging and strategic
  • 🕰️ Suitable for both short and long play sessions

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
  • 🕰️ Slow progression and limited content
  • 🤔 Unclear instructions and lack of guidance
  • 🧠 Difficulty balancing resources and managing population

Bugs and requests

SimCity BuildIt

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Cars phasing through trains
  • Inconsistent traffic patterns
  • Disappearing delivery trucks
  • Frequent crashes and connection issues

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add city layout editor
  • Allow raising/lowering train tracks
  • Improve free-to-play experience
  • Introduce search function for trade depot
  • Add option to disable construction bubbles

Outlanders

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Followers not going to the bonfire or pub as required
  • Stockpiles not functioning properly
  • Population growth capping at around 200 followers
  • Followers not collecting or delivering resources efficiently

Requested features

5 requests
  • Expand sandbox mode with more customization options
  • Add more building types and production chains
  • Introduce animals, transportation, and other new gameplay elements
  • Improve pathfinding and resource management AI
  • Allow for more population growth and expansion

In-app purchases

10 purchases

SimCity BuildIt

One-time10
  • Small Daily SimCash$0.99
  • Pocketful of SimCash 3$1.99
  • Premium Vu Pass Level I$2.99
Show 7 more
  • Pocketful of SimCash$4.99
  • Premium Vu Pass Level II$5.99
  • Premium Mayor's Pass +$8.99
  • Little Stack of SimCash$9.99
  • Nice Pile of SimCash$19.99
  • Briefcase of SimCash$34.99
  • Big Sack of SimCash$49.99
None

Outlanders

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SimCity BuildIt free?
SimCity BuildIt is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Outlanders free?
Outlanders is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SimCity BuildIt or Outlanders?
Outlanders is rated higher. SimCity BuildIt averages 4.1 out of 5 from 86K ratings, while Outlanders averages 4.3 from 4.3K ratings.
Do SimCity BuildIt or Outlanders have ads?
SimCity BuildIt shows ads; Outlanders does not.
Which is updated more often, SimCity BuildIt or Outlanders?
SimCity BuildIt ships an update every 3 weeks, and Outlanders every 2 months. Most recently, SimCity BuildIt was updated on September 25, 2026 and Outlanders on September 22, 2026.

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