Boat Sim Elite vs Ship Maneuvering Simulator
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Boat Sim Elite
Experience realistic maritime travel by sailing and walking the decks of large vessels. Navigate challenging harbors, explore scenic islands, and enjoy dynamic weather and day/night cycles in an open-world simulation.
- Sail large ships
- Walk on ship decks
- Realistic navigation tools
- Challenging harbor docking
- Dynamic weather and day/night cycles
- Explore scenic islands
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Boat Sim Elite takes boat simulation to a whole new level, sail and walk the deck of your huge ships! Includes three large ships for you to sail, a large ferry, an exploration ship and now a cruise ship, each with with multiple decks. WALK around your ships - take a walk around the deck (a challenge in rough seas!) SAIL from the bridge - use the radar, map and compass to navigate. Dock ships by walking outside of the bridge and looking down at the dock, use the bow thrusters to maneuver the ship carefully to the dock side. Challenging harbors to dock at - maneuver the ship around a sea wall, or dock in busy boating areas. Dynamic day / night cycle - beautiful changing time and conditions as you sail, watch the sun come up, and stars at night. Scenic islands to explore, with lots of other boats that really float! Watch them ride the waves in rough seas! HUGE waves at sea to content with (random wave conditions). HUGE area of water to sail! Historic scenery items on some of the islands, find them and develop cruises your passengers will enjoy! By design there's no objectives, no score to get, simple relax and enjoy being the skipper of massive ships, in an open sim. So what are you waiting for, come on-board and take to the sea, sail large ships in changing conditions and see how good you are at docking these huge vessels! We're already working on the next version and appreciate the positive reviews from around the world, including; "Mind Blown!" "Wow this game is amazing, I love walking around the ferry in giant waves." - New Zealand "This game is amazing" - Canada The various boats and objects really float, the waves are dynamic and the conditions really change, therefore we recommend a newer device, without 50 other apps running for best performance! If you have any issues drop us a line.
Ship Maneuvering Simulator
Experience realistic ship handling with this simulator. It features advanced physics like astern propeller effects, drift during turns, and velocity-dependent rudder and bow thruster performance. Explore various environments with different ship types.
- Astern propeller effect
- Drift during turns
- Pivot point movement
- Velocity-based rudder effectiveness
- Bow thruster influenced by velocity
- Sandbox environment
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This simulator will give you a realistic experience of what it's like to handle a large ship. It includes some features which often seem to be missing in other simulators: - Astern effect of the propeller - Drift during turn - Pivot point movement - Rudder effectiveness based on propeller flow and ship's own velocity - Bow thruster effectiveness influenced by ship's velocity For the moment there are three ships (cargo ship, supply ship and battle ship). In the future more may be added. The game is played in a sandbox style with a sea, river and port environment and customisable current. I plan to also add wind effect. The simulation is based on the mathematical hydrodynamic MMG model which is also used in professional ship handling and mooring simulators.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Ship Maneuvering Simulator at Free against Boat Sim Elite's $1.99. Ship Maneuvering Simulator also leads on rating (4.3 vs 3.4) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 2 months). Boat Sim Elite's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.0). On ratings volume, in-app purchases 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
Ship Maneuvering Simulator is free to download; Boat Sim Elite costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Ship Maneuvering Simulator holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 81 and 104 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 65% of Boat Sim Elite's written reviews are positive against 86% of Ship Maneuvering Simulator's.
Boat Sim Elite ships an update every 2 months, Ship Maneuvering Simulator every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Boat Sim Elite | Ship Maneuvering Simulator |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.4 (81 ratings) | 4.3 (104 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 65.3% of reviews | 85.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 81 | 104 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 314 MB | 338 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Gary Chambers | WPC |
Customer experience
Boat Sim Elite
Ship Maneuvering Simulator
In-app purchases
Boat Sim Elite
No in-app purchases
Ship Maneuvering Simulator
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Boat Sim Elite free?
Is Ship Maneuvering Simulator free?
Which has better reviews, Boat Sim Elite or Ship Maneuvering Simulator?
Do Boat Sim Elite or Ship Maneuvering Simulator have ads?
Which is updated more often, Boat Sim Elite or Ship Maneuvering Simulator?
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