Comparison

Make Action! PicoPicoMakerEX vs Pocket Marble Runs

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

Head to head
About

Make Action! PicoPicoMakerEX

Create and play your own action game stages with a simple tap interface. Design levels using various items, test your creations, and share them with friends. Discover and play stages made by other users worldwide.

Highlights
  • Create custom action game stages
  • Play a variety of user-created levels
  • Simple tap-based item placement
  • Test stages during creation
  • Search for popular and random stages
  • Share stages with friends via URL
  • Retro pixel graphics
Read full description

[PLAY] [MAKE] [SEARCH] The Power of imagination can touch the sky! Make your very own action game stages and share them with your friends & family! You can play this game absolutely free! This game is perfectly suited for everyone including KIDS. -Basic Instructions- There are [PLAY], [MAKE] and [SEARCH] option buttons on the main menu. Tap [PLAY] button: Play the games all you want! You have a variety of stages to choose from. The range of stage levels are widely prepared, from beginners to advanced level,including the extreme levels that are crazy difficult! Tap [MAKE] button: Make your own stages. You become the game creator! Simple tap controls make it easy! Select from 30 types of items you can place anywhere you want. Tap an item on the list and then tap on the position where you want to place it. (Squares like a chess board are shown in a stage screen in order to make this process simpler.) Once an item is placed, you can place the same item continuously by alternating between tapping the position (square) in a stage and the "PLACE" button. You can also tap an item you've already placed to see additional options. (e.g. You can choose specific settings for the speed of cannon shell movements and the moveable range of blocks!) Play & find out if you can complete the stage you made! You can even do the test play during the process of making a stage by using the "TEST" button in the upper right corner of the screen. Try your own brand-new stage right away! Tap [SEARCH] button: Find popular stages -- stages made by other users and more. -Random: Search for random stages made by players using this App. -History: Look through stages you've already played. (You can also check if you've completed a stage or not.) -Official Website: Open this App’s official website to start the search. When you have found the one you want to play, tap on the stage and use "START" button. -Enter ID: Paste the GameID and tap "Enter ID" button, if you are unable to start the stage after using "START" button in the official website. (32 alphanumeric characters shown on the official website is the GameID.) Now, you're ready to start the game you found. Enjoy! [Send your original stage to friends & family] If you want to share your original stage with someone, send them the copy of your stage's URL via email! (Downloading this App is required in order to play your stage.) Post your original stage on Twitter, Facebook and LINE are also available! You can also have fun searching online for "PicoPicoMaker" in your free time! Enjoy finding new stages other users have made! Everyone loves the retro-looking pixel graphics games they grew up with! Connect with people from all over the world with PicoPicoMaker! Start your global action game adventure!

About

Pocket Marble Runs

Create interactive marble runs and chain reaction machines by simply tracing the screen. Design unique paths and experiment with different devices to watch your creations come to life. This app offers a fun and intuitive way to build complex contraptions with ease.

Highlights
  • Trace screen to create paths
  • Draw lines to create devices
  • Change devices after creation
  • Adjust camera angle and zoom
  • Toggle sound effects and music
  • Enable/disable device shadows
Features
Read full description

Simply trace the screen to create a Marble Runs! An easy-to-use app designed for everyone – it allows them to create fun devices similar to those featured on Marble Runs (Chain reaction machine). Use a dragging motion to draw a line and create a simple device that follows that path, and then try changing the device afterward! The longer the straight line, the more devices you can choose from. Have fun making your device move in many different ways! We plan to add many more devices in the future! *Method of operation: - Trace the screen with your finger to create a path. - Lift your finger to create a simple device. - Tap the device to swap it for another one. - Press the Start button to start. Have fun by changing the angle and the zoom on the camera. - Sound effects: turn them on/off from the options on the top right of the top screen. - Music: turn it on/off from the options on the top right of the top screen. - Device shadows: turn them on/off from the options on the top right of the top screen. *If your smartphone is showing low performance, we recommend turning the shadows off.

Screenshots

Make Action! PicoPicoMakerEX3 screens
Pocket Marble Runs4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Pocket Marble Runs at 4.7 against Make Action! PicoPicoMakerEX's 4.2. Pocket Marble Runs also leads on ratings volume (2.1K vs 251). Make Action! PicoPicoMakerEX's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads 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. Pocket Marble Runs sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Make Action! PicoPicoMakerEX asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pocket Marble Runs holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pocket Marble Runs has 2.1K ratings behind it against 251, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of Make Action! PicoPicoMakerEX's written reviews are positive against 81% of Pocket Marble Runs's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Make Action! PicoPicoMakerEX ships an update monthly, Pocket Marble Runs every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Make Action! PicoPicoMakerEX versus Pocket Marble Runs: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMake Action! PicoPicoMakerEXPocket Marble Runs
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (251 ratings)4.7 (2.1K ratings) — better
Positive reviews72.6% of reviews80.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2512.1K — better
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size68 MB152 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperGlobalGear Co. Ltd.monois Inc.

Customer experience

Make Action! PicoPicoMakerEX

All ratings251 ratings
Positive79.7%
Neutral6.4%
Negative13.9%
Written reviews179 reviews
Positive72.6%
Neutral7.8%
Negative19.6%

Pocket Marble Runs

All ratings2,069 ratings
Positive91.2%
Neutral4.1%
Negative4.7%
Written reviews77 reviews
Positive80.5%
Neutral7.8%
Negative11.7%

User reviews

Make Action! PicoPicoMakerEX

From 251 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy-to-use level editor
  • 🎮 Fun and engaging gameplay
  • 🆓 Free-to-play with no WiFi required
  • 🎨 Creative level building mechanics
  • ⏰ Nostalgic experience for long-time players

Room to improve

  • 📺 Excessive and intrusive advertisements
  • 🐛 Frequent app crashes and force closures
  • 📱 Poor touch controls and responsiveness
  • 🎮 Inconsistent jump mechanics
  • 🔧 Broken wide/horizontal mode compatibility

Pocket Marble Runs

From 2.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Good game
  • 🙂 Fun and engaging
  • 💡 Helps understand physics
  • 🎨 Interesting style and variety of levels

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Glitches and bugs
  • 🛑 Annoying ads
  • 🤔 Some tricks don't work as expected

Bugs and requests

Make Action! PicoPicoMakerEX

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • App crashes on startup and during gameplay
  • Force closure on iPhone 15 and newer iOS versions
  • Wide version incompatible with latest iOS
  • Touch controls not registering properly
  • Direction keys becoming unresponsive mid-game
Show 7 more
  • Black rectangles obscuring gameplay
  • Inconsistent jump height and movement
  • Loading screen appearing too frequently
  • Levels with missing goals causing errors
  • Buttons not responding on certain devices
  • Spelling error: 'Backguoind' instead of 'Background'
  • Translation issues after recent update

Requested features

16 requests
  • More enemy types and variety
  • Additional power-ups and items
  • Boss battles and boss creation
  • Wider/longer level designs
  • Custom block creation tools
Show 11 more
  • Moving breakable blocks
  • Disappearing and appearing blocks
  • Mushroom power-up for damage protection
  • Checkpoints in levels
  • Race mode
  • World/level selection system
  • Avatar customization
  • Ability to name exported levels
  • Music selection options
  • Improved physics and movement mechanics
  • Persistent coin collection tracking

Pocket Marble Runs

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Premature activation of modules
  • Floating point errors
  • Inconsistent English descriptions

Requested features

5 requests
  • More save file slots
  • Ability to build custom tracks
  • New tricks and modes
  • Larger building area
  • Online level sharing

In-app purchases

None

Make Action! PicoPicoMakerEX

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Pocket Marble Runs

One-time4
  • No Ads Pack$2.99
  • Tricks Pack$2.99
  • Save Slot Pack$2.99
Show 1 more
  • Combo pack$4.99

Questions

Is Make Action! PicoPicoMakerEX free?
Make Action! PicoPicoMakerEX is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Pocket Marble Runs free?
Pocket Marble Runs is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Make Action! PicoPicoMakerEX or Pocket Marble Runs?
Pocket Marble Runs is rated higher. Make Action! PicoPicoMakerEX averages 4.2 out of 5 from 251 ratings, while Pocket Marble Runs averages 4.7 from 2.1K ratings.
Do Make Action! PicoPicoMakerEX or Pocket Marble Runs have ads?
Both Make Action! PicoPicoMakerEX and Pocket Marble Runs show ads.
Which is updated more often, Make Action! PicoPicoMakerEX or Pocket Marble Runs?
Make Action! PicoPicoMakerEX ships an update monthly, and Pocket Marble Runs every 2 months. Most recently, Make Action! PicoPicoMakerEX was updated on October 16, 2026 and Pocket Marble Runs on October 17, 2026.

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