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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Better options than

Island Building alternatives

Users often leave Island Building due to excessive ads, game-ending content droughts, and frustrating glitches. Alternatives offer different merge mechanics, less aggressive monetization, or more consistent content updates.

Why users look for alternatives to Island Building

The alternatives

Family Island
4.8★ · 419,301 ratings · Free

Family Island offers a blend of adventure and farming, where players clear land, gather resources, and build up their island while following a storyline. However, it can become a 'money grab' in later stages, requiring significant purchases to progress due to high energy costs and low daily energy allowances R51R55R56R59.

Better for: Family Island is better for players who enjoy a story-driven game with exploration and resource management, and who are willing to either play in short bursts or spend money to bypass energy limitations R51R55R56.

Head-to-head: Island Building vs Family Island
EverMerge
4.6★ · 182,347 ratings · Free

EverMerge is a merge game that allows players to earn everything without mandatory purchases, offering a relaxing and entertaining experience for years R66R69. However, recent updates have introduced more ads that can cause the game to crash, and some players report bugs with merging items R67R68.

Better for: EverMerge suits players who want a merge game where they can progress without spending real money and enjoy a long-term, relaxing experience . It's also good for those who appreciate responsive customer support R66.

Head-to-head: Island Building vs EverMerge
Panthia®
4.7★ · 24,326 ratings · Free

Panthia® is an addictive and entertaining game that players find hard to stop playing, even without spending money R83. However, it struggles with frequent ads, limited energy that makes progression difficult without purchases, and issues with ads not returning to the game or not granting promised rewards R79R81R84.

Better for: Panthia® is better for players who enjoy highly addictive merge games and don't mind waiting for energy to regenerate or dealing with ad-related frustrations, as it's possible to play without spending .

Head-to-head: Island Building vs Panthia®
Merge County
4.8★ · 24,252 ratings · Free

Merge County is a challenging and fun merge game that can be very entertaining . However, recent changes have introduced new, unwanted ads and frustrating merging mechanics, such as automatic item dispensing and incorrect item placement R93R95R96R98. Some players also report losing significant progress and purchases .

Better for: Merge County is for players who enjoy a challenging merge experience and are willing to overlook some frustrating mechanics and recent monetization changes .

Head-to-head: Island Building vs Merge County
Happy Merge Home
4.5★ · 19,823 ratings · Free

Happy Merge Home is a fun and addictive merge game where players earn coins to decorate rooms, though it's not like the misleading ads R111. It faces criticism for too many forced ads, low energy levels, and increasing item prices that push players towards in-app purchases R108R109R110.

Better for: Happy Merge Home is suitable for players who enjoy basic merge mechanics combined with home decoration, and who can tolerate frequent ads and energy limitations R111.

Head-to-head: Island Building vs Happy Merge Home
Stick with Island Building if

You should stick with Island Building if you enjoy its specific puzzle and building mechanics, find the gameplay fast enough to be entertaining without being overwhelming, and appreciate the multiple progression systems . It's also a good option if you need an offline game .

Evidence note: No alternatives had too-thin evidence.

Frequently asked

Why do players find Island Building boring?
Players find Island Building boring because the tutorial is too long, upgrades like the grill take two hours, and the overall gameplay can feel slow and repetitive with an unclear end goal R4R13R18R24.
Are there many ads in Island Building?
Yes, Island Building is heavily criticized for having an excessive number of ads, with some users reporting ads every step of the game, every 10 seconds, or being forced to watch them to advance R1R10R12R21. Even paying for VIP doesn't always remove all ads R25.
Does Island Building receive regular updates?
No, Island Building does not receive regular updates, leading players to finish all available content and tasks, with some reporting no updates for over six months or even a year R11R26R28R32.
Is Island Building free to play?
While Island Building can be played for free, many users feel forced to watch ads to progress, and in-app purchases like the VIP pack for $4.99 or $5.99 a month don't always work as advertised to remove ads or provide perks R1R21R25R37.
What kind of issues do players have with in-app purchases in Island Building?
Players have reported issues with in-app purchases in Island Building, such as purchases failing, being charged but not receiving perks or ad removal, and not getting promised benefits from VIP subscriptions R1R25.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R1] Island Building 1/5 · US False advertisement: Not only do I think these reviews are fake but for you guys to sell something you don’t even receive. it said no ads yet not only did I get ads I got 3 of them in one! Yet you want what $4.99 or $5.99 a month??? It didn’t even work…. Then to make things worse you send a vip pack to “go gold”?!?! Wild.. never in my life.
  2. [R10] Island Building 1/5 · US Commercials Commercials Commercials: The game benefits the creator of the game all I have seen were commercials every step of the game. Can’t even have fun.
  3. [R12] Island Building 3/5 · US OK Game BUT!!!: Its an interesting game when you are bored to death but it forces you to watch ads, and pop up screens for upgrades for a gazillion times it is annoying! It drains battery on your phone too, its summer right now so my phone is getting too hot from using the app.
  4. [R21] Island Building 3/5 · US Eh: Game is pretty fun, but it would be better if I wasn’t forced to watch ads every five minutes when I try to buy an upgrade only to get one gem, and if it weren’t so expensive to buy everything. The only way I would be able to get enough money to just buy one thing is if I leave the app until I get a notification then have to buy double the money just to repeat the process until I can buy somet
  5. [R11] Island Building 5/5 · US DREAM ISLAND SUPERB GAME!!! 👍: I updated a while back and the name had changed. It was AMERICAN DREAM for years. I love it. So many things to do. But I’m disappointed. I’ve upgraded all my buildings on my island and have nothing to spend my gold bars on. No more tasks to do. I was stunned when I went to see what my tasks were and it was empty. My heart sank. The developer said it sounds like I
  6. [R14] Island Building 5/5 · US I love this game so much: So I just finished the game because I played it so much idk what to do now since I finished it I love this game
  7. [R20] Island Building 5/5 · US Is this the end?: I really enjoy this game it’s my end of the night before I go to sleep relaxer! My computers have reached 88 so is this the end of the game or are additional levels being added in the near future?
  8. [R23] Island Building 5/5 · US Does it only get to level 60?: Not sure because it seems like I can’t get past that. I have 2147483647 xp out of 2147483647 and it says level 60 on the left and 61 on the right but it isn’t changing
  9. [R9] Island Building 3/5 · US Great game: This is a great game and it’s fun but it drains my phone battery fast and is really glitchy. I’ll watch ads to skip deliveries and it will freeze. After I got this game and the ad problem started, it happened to the rest of my phone. Still a good game though.
  10. [R40] Island Building 1/5 · US Glitching: My game is currently glitching. When I click on the plan to take me to my island or to the hotel my game will just shut off. It’s really aggravating Bc I enjoy playing this game.
  11. [R4] Island Building 1/5 · US DO NOT BUY THIS GAME: Slightly boring , upgrade grill takes two hours!!!!
  12. [R13] Island Building 1/5 · US Long tutorial: Tutorial too long.
  13. [R18] Island Building 3/5 · US Good: I just started this game and it is fine I guess kind of boring but ok
  14. [R24] Island Building 3/5 · US Very Boring and Stupid: I saw the add for this game and it made it sound like it was THE game to get but after the download I was very disappointed. It takes FOREVER to get enough money for stuff, and it once made me so bored I LAJIT fell to sleep. Not a good game to get AT ALL 🙁I was very disappointed.
  15. [R15] Island Building 3/5 · US Stolen sound bit: Good game so far from what I’ve played, but I cant help but notice that the computers make the same noise that slimes do in the game slime rancher..... kinda sus if you ask me
  16. [R16] Island Building 1/5 · US Stole sounds from another game: The game will probably face a copyright issue soon, they stole audio from slime rancher. I already saw them deny it. Don’t support this game. I’m in the official discord server for slime rancher and already notified them.
  17. [R19] Island Building 1/5 · US This game steals sounds: This hame is a sound stealer form another game slime rancher.
  18. [R25] Island Building 2/5 · US Purchase problems.: Love the game. I bought a starter pack, but it told me the purchase failed. I got a refund from Apple. I tried the VIP, and it confirmed I was approved and scheduled to be charged, but it gave me nothing of the perks, nor removal of ads; like I never had any benefits. Is there a way to solve? I’d really like to buy IAP.
  19. [R7] Island Building 1/5 · US Forget it: Any reference to Trump, parody or otherwise, is why I will NEVER play your game again. Are you people crazy?!
  20. [R43] Island Building 1/5 · US Too many political ads: I had to delete the game. There were far too many political ads. Why in the world are there political ads in a game of merging computers???
  21. [R48] Island Building 3/5 · GB INSANE amount of notifications: So the game is ok... Exactly the same as many many other games like it. Quite fun but limited. I haven’t touched the app for a long time but have recently noticed the extremely CONSTANT and invasive notifications. I appreciate that I can turn off notifications in my phone settings but this is not the point... anything that needs to spam you every hour is not qui
  22. [R51] Family Island 1/5 · US can play for 2 min at a time: very low energy given and when you progress in the game you cant get anything without waiting on and off. its also impossible to get materials after cleaning up the first island the beavers don't give you anything compared to what you need to make stuff required to move forward. overall just boring like i want to play the game not sit and wait until it decides i'm al
  23. [R55] Family Island 4/5 · US Game is fun but,: Game is fun but, low daily energy given for daily use so you get stuck waiting to play the game. I want to play but can’t. The prices to purchase energy that’s not something I would do personally because, in the scheme of things I might come closer to paying for rubies or other parts of game but the energy should definitely be more available in a day. The keys are hard to come b
  24. [R56] Family Island 3/5 · US Wish I could love this game!: At first it is fun. Lots of rewards of energy but as you move up through the game. It costs so much energy that you cannot proceed unless you pay. I wanted to love this game but and at first I would get lost in the game fir far too long but since I could still level up it was worth it. But now after mere minutes I can’t play any further I am out of energy. I made a c
  25. [R59] Family Island 3/5 · US Money grab: Once you get into the higher level islands you need to spent $40 to complete 1 single island. It’s ridiculous.
  26. [R66] EverMerge 5/5 · US Played for YEARS: I’ve a senior citizen and been playing for years. Recently I had a problem on a Friday night. I sent a message on the support tab. By Saturday morning when I opened it to check the status, it was fixed. LOVE IT!,
  27. [R67] EverMerge 3/5 · US Game play delayed by ads: I have played this game for quite some time. I have for the most part enjoyed the game as being relaxing and entertaining however, in the last few sessions I have noticed an increase is the number of ads that pop up when moving from one portion of the game to another. Or when collecting special items the market marketplace. This has prompted me to think about deleting the
  28. [R68] EverMerge 1/5 · US Broken Game: I am sure that in an effort to make more money, it was decided to add advertisement to things that didn’t previously have them, like moving from one area to the next, playing the mini game to get ‘free’ energy and to claim the bonus ‘free’ chests. While adding these advertisements are annoying on their own, they are also broken. My game crashes whenever I attempt to click on the above
  29. [R69] EverMerge 5/5 · US Nice fun merge game: Easy play
  30. [R79] Panthia® 1/5 · US Misleading: Was offered 10,000,000 coins to reinstall the game and never got the coins.
  31. [R81] Panthia® 3/5 · US Hate Ads: Really enjoy this game but all the ads and the energy it takes to complete tasks are frustrating
  32. [R83] Panthia® 5/5 · US My all time favorite game EVER!!: This has been one of my favorite games ever…. I give it five stars.
  33. [R84] Panthia® 3/5 · US Not free: You need to get ads to keep going. When you open an advertisement it doesn’t get you back to the game, you don’t get your objects, and I haven’t been able to get my Panthia free objects for downloading the game.
  34. [R93] Merge County 1/5 · US Frustrating when moving pieces: This game needs a merge confirmation. Or a way to toggle Off 3 merges.
  35. [R95] Merge County 3/5 · US Weird merging: When you use the truck to organize, it doesn’t put items accordingly. More irritating in with the fish and tundra part. It will put animals in the wrong space. Like flamingos in the seal area. It’s like that for all the animals in the tundra part. I hate the area that uses the blue energy. That’s where you get the most stickers and extra points in the daily area. It the one on the
  36. [R96] Merge County 1/5 · US Game: When you were playing the game for us and those extra games which you are playing for us you’re not letting us tap anything by ourselves you’re making us have things you were circling things you were doing it for us and that takes it the fun. what is the point of playing the game? If you’re just gonna play it for the player I’ve asked you guys to do something about it and you guys ignore it.
  37. [R98] Merge County 3/5 · US A change i hate.: Been playing this game for years. Something recently changed within 24 hours where when you go digging, it automatically dispenses the items instead of you clicking on again to get it when you want.
  38. [R108] Happy Merge Home 4/5 · US To many adds: Used to love this game but lately it just has to many adds
  39. [R109] Happy Merge Home 3/5 · US More energy: The more levels you complete the more energy you should earn.
  40. [R110] Happy Merge Home 1/5 · US Merge home is a scam: The ads don’t work, and I hate that sometimes when I try to play it… IT WONT EVEN LOAD!!! IT won’t work I deleted it and will NEVER SUGGEST IT AGIAN! take ads away no one cares about someone trying to interrupt your Peace for some perfume! Having forced ads every 5 seconds is why I deleted it. MAYBE YALL SOULD FIX THAT NOW
  41. [R111] Happy Merge Home 5/5 · US Good game: This is a really fun game to play!💝you should play it. Im only 12 and i really like it!!👍
  42. [R26] Island Building 5/5 · US Great game: I really enjoy this game - but when will there be new content !? I’m all upgraded, kinda sad I don’t have anything else to buy =[ When are you adding more content it’s been a year !
  43. [R28] Island Building 1/5 · US Game ends at level 60: Nothing to do and there are never any updates. This is a dead game.
  44. [R32] Island Building 4/5 · US It’s good but No updates: It’s amazing but they haven’t updated the game in over 6 months and I finished the game and it’s just generally boring
  45. [R37] Island Building 1/5 · US Full of ads: Every 10 seconds you have to watch an ad to advance in the game. I don’t see how this is called a game you spend most of your time watching ads on this app

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store