# Bloons Monkey City vs Realm Grinder

The clearest difference is rating: Bloons Monkey City at 4.7 against Realm Grinder's 4.5. Bloons Monkey City also leads on ratings volume (46K vs 3.1K) and review sentiment (77% vs 64%). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Bloons Monkey City sells 11 one-off in-app purchases and Realm Grinder sells 9 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Bloons Monkey City holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bloons Monkey City has 46K ratings behind it against 3.1K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 77% of Bloons Monkey City's written reviews are positive against 64% of Realm Grinder's.

Bloons Monkey City ships an update every 2 months, Realm Grinder every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Bloons Monkey City | Realm Grinder |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (46K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bloons-monkey-city/id918037679/reviews)** | [4.5 (3.1K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/realm-grinder/id1110149506/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **46K** | 3.1K |
| Positive reviews | **77.1% of reviews** | 63.8% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Every 6 weeks** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 125 MB | 53 MB |
| Requires iOS | **12.0** | 13.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 9+ | 9+ |
| Developer | [Ninja Kiwi Limited](https://appshunter.io/developer/386241773) | [Kongregate](https://appshunter.io/developer/491569846) |

## What reviewers say

### Bloons Monkey City

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bloons-monkey-city/id918037679)

Build and manage a thriving city while defending it from invading bloons in this strategic city-building and tower defense game. Expand your territory, upgrade towers, and compete with friends.

**Highlights:** City building and management, Tower defense gameplay, Territory expansion, Tower upgrades, Economic buildings (farms, banks), Social features (friends, contests), Player vs. player attacks

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (11)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Sci Fi Wall | $0.99 | one-time |
| Small Bloonstone Pack | $1.99 | one-time |
| $10,000 City Cash | $1.99 | one-time |
| Banana Farmer | $1.99 | one-time |
| Starter Pack | $2.99 | one-time |
| Medium Bloonstone Pack | $3.99 | one-time |
| Medium Bloonstone Pack | $4.99 | one-time |
| Wild Card Pack | $4.99 | one-time |
| 30 Monkey Knowledge Packs | $11.99 | one-time |
| Large Bloonstone Pack | $19.99 | one-time |
| King's Pack | $19.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Fun and challenging gameplay
- 🚀 Addictive and engaging
- 💡 Unique city-building mechanics
- 👍 Great combination of tower defense and city management
- 👍 Generous free-to-play model

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional progress loss/resets
- 🕰️ Lengthy upgrade/research times
- 📺 Intrusive and frequent ads
- 🔨 Accidental demolition/cancellation issues
- 🤯 Difficulty spikes and imbalanced levels

**Reported bugs**

- Tutorial issues and getting stuck
- Music/audio glitches
- Connectivity problems and login failures

**Requested features**

- Add sandbox/freeplay mode
- Improve social/multiplayer features
- Expand city customization options
- Reduce upgrade/research timers
- Implement difficulty selection for levels


### Realm Grinder

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/realm-grinder/id1110149506)

Build a vast kingdom from humble beginnings, earning wealth even offline. Explore deep strategic choices by aligning with diverse factions, unlocking hundreds of upgrades, and discovering new game systems. Enjoy frequent events and collect numerous achievements.

**Highlights:** Kingdom building and offline wealth generation, Deep strategic choices with multiple factions, Hundreds of upgrades and unique buildings, Unlock new game systems and content, Collect hundreds of achievements, Frequent in-game events

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (9)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Gift of the Heroes | $4.99 | one-time |
| Small Pack of Rubies | $4.99 | one-time |
| Gift of the Kings | $9.99 | one-time |
| Medium Pack of Rubies | $9.99 | one-time |
| Gift of the Faithful | $9.99 | one-time |
| Gift of the Myths | $14.99 | one-time |
| Gift of the Gods | $19.99 | one-time |
| Large Pack of Rubies | $19.99 | one-time |
| Huge Pack of Rubies | $49.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Fantastic game, getting even better
- 🚀 Best idle game imo
- 🚀 Really Good!
- 🚀 Great game, just hard to read the text
- 🚀 Amazing, Addicting, Creative, and Addicting Game!

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Scry not working - no response from support team
- 🐛 Crashes constantly
- 🐛 Impossible to read/play on iPhone 12
- 🐛 Impossible to read/play on iPhone 12
- 🐛 Broke

**Reported bugs**

- Scry not working since last release
- Crashes constantly
- Impossible to read/play on iPhone 12
- Impossible to read/play on iPhone 12
- Can't collect lava stone, only holy symbols

**Requested features**

- Have to add some faction wars
- Change the screen bigger for newer iPhone models please
- Please add Chinese
- Please add Chinese
- Suggestion


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Bloons Monkey City free?

Bloons Monkey City is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Realm Grinder free?

Realm Grinder is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Bloons Monkey City or Realm Grinder?

Bloons Monkey City is rated higher. Bloons Monkey City averages 4.7 out of 5 from 46K ratings, while Realm Grinder averages 4.5 from 3.1K ratings.

### Do Bloons Monkey City or Realm Grinder have ads?

Both Bloons Monkey City and Realm Grinder show ads.

### Which is updated more often, Bloons Monkey City or Realm Grinder?

Bloons Monkey City ships an update every 2 months, and Realm Grinder every 6 weeks. Most recently, Bloons Monkey City was updated on October 31, 2026 and Realm Grinder on October 29, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*