Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Monster Legends vs Dragon City

Monster Legends 4.8★ · Free + IAP 65
Winner Dragon City
Dragon City 4.8★ · Free + IAP 70

Dragon City has a slight edge due to its slightly better handling of ads and a more established, albeit still flawed, gameplay experience, despite both games struggling with 'pay-to-win' accusations and technical issues.

Full reviews: Monster Legends · Dragon City

Both Monster Legends and Dragon City are free-to-play monster/dragon collecting and battling games with in-app purchases. While both are praised for being fun and engaging, they share common complaints about excessive ads, 'pay-to-win' mechanics, and frustrating bugs, with Dragon City having a slightly higher volume of positive reviews and fewer critical issues regarding lost progress.

Head to head

Features and Gameplay tieR5R6R19R34
Monster Legends Monster Legends offers a good beginner guide, challenging gameplay, and the ability to battle, feed, and name monsters, with some players enjoying the dungeon mode and treasure chests R5R34. However, some users find the game overwhelming with too many pop-ups and side quests , and there are complaints about long waiting times for actions like breeding R6. Some players also feel the game is unoriginal, ripping off Pokémon concepts R19.
Dragon City Dragon City allows players to hatch, breed, and duel dragons, offering a creative 'dragon empire' experience . Users appreciate the dragon animations and the variety of things to do . However, some features advertised, like scanning real-life objects for dragons, are reported as missing . There are also complaints about outdated skins and portals , and a lack of things to do, leading to boredom quickly for some .
Ease of Use and Progression tieR5R7R10R15
Monster Legends Monster Legends has a good beginner guide R5 and can be fun for new players R10. However, progression becomes difficult at higher levels, with many users feeling the game becomes a 'pay-to-win' mess R7R10R16R33. Earning gems without paying is hard R15, and the game is described as too grindy .
Dragon City Dragon City can be easy to understand once players 'figure out the game' . However, progression is often slow at the beginning and time-consuming . Many users feel forced to buy items to upgrade due to excessively long waiting times, making it difficult to battle and level up without spending money R72. Some players are also restricted from using stronger orbs to summon dragons, making rewards worthless .
Reliability and Bugs tieR11R28R31R43
Monster Legends Monster Legends has reports of significant bugs, including lost inventory items and buildings disappearing R28R31. Some users also experience issues with quests not working R43. The game has been described as 'never let me down' by long-term players R11, but recent reviews highlight frustrating glitches.
Dragon City Dragon City also suffers from bugs, with users reporting issues like battles not registering , being kicked out of events after paying gems , and getting stuck on loading screens or tutorial screens . Some players have had to delete and redownload the app multiple times to fix bugs . There are also claims of glitches designed to use up resources and force spending .
Price/Value (Free vs. Paid) tieR7R10R15R16
Monster Legends Monster Legends is criticized heavily for being 'pay-to-win' R7R10R16R33. Users report that it's impossible for free-to-play users to progress and that the game is very overpriced for those who do pay . Earning gems without paying is difficult R15.
Dragon City Dragon City is also widely criticized for its 'pay-to-win' mechanics and excessive microtransactions . Players feel forced to buy items due to long wait times R72 and some events require purchases to progress . One user even claimed that 'nothing costs money' and it's 'actually free' , which contradicts the majority of reviews.
Ads and Pop-ups tieR9R24R25R57
Monster Legends Monster Legends users are highly frustrated by frequent and intrusive ads and pop-ups. Ads appear randomly during gameplay R9R25, with some having no option to close them, forcing a game restart R24. This significantly ruins the experience R25R57.
Dragon City Dragon City also has a significant problem with ads and pop-ups. Many users report too many pop-ups when opening the game and random ads during gameplay R66. Some ads are described as inappropriate or false advertising . However, a few users claim there are 'no ads' or 'not a lot' . One user noted that ads appear every 30 seconds after an update, replacing optional ads .
Age Restrictions and Access tieR35R39R49R51
Monster Legends Monster Legends has issues with its age verification system, with multiple users reporting being unable to play despite being over the stated 9+ age rating R35R39R49R51.
Dragon City Dragon City also faces similar problems with age restrictions, with users aged 9+, 15, and 16 being unable to play due to the system incorrectly deeming them too young or due to country restrictions R81.
Pick Monster Legends if

you prefer a monster-collecting game with a clear beginner guide and enjoy battling, feeding, and naming creatures, and are willing to navigate potential 'pay-to-win' elements and ad interruptions R5R34.

Pick Dragon City if

you are looking for a dragon-collecting game with adorable dragon animations, a strong sense of building your own empire, and a wide variety of activities, and don't mind occasional bugs or the pressure to spend money .

Evidence note: Both apps have a high volume of positive lifetime ratings, but recent reviews skew negative, focusing on similar issues like 'pay-to-win' mechanics and excessive ads. The 'free vs paid' asymmetry is evident, as much of the negativity stems from free-tier friction, but the paid aspects are also heavily criticized.

Frequently asked

Are Monster Legends and Dragon City truly free to play?
Both Monster Legends and Dragon City are free to download and play, but many users report that progression becomes extremely difficult without spending money, leading to a 'pay-to-win' experience R7R16R33R72.
Do these games have a lot of ads?
Yes, both Monster Legends and Dragon City are heavily criticized for frequent and intrusive ads and pop-ups that appear randomly during gameplay and often disrupt the user experience R9R25R57R66.
Are there issues with age restrictions in Monster Legends or Dragon City?
Yes, both games have reports of issues with their age verification systems, where users, including teenagers over the stated 9+ age rating, are prevented from playing due to incorrect age assessments or country restrictions R35R39R53R81.

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. [R5] Monster Legends 5/5 · US Very good beginner guide: The beginning of the game gives new players a good chance to get a idea of the game and guides us through the game until we get the hang of things which is very handy n why i rate this game an 5 stars c
  2. [R6] Monster Legends 3/5 · US Could be better: The game is really fun and I like the challenges it gives you but the way a little longer like a lot longer like five hours
  3. [R19] Monster Legends 2/5 · US My rating of this game: What I don’t like about this game is they don’t just rip off the concept of Pokémon they make knockoffs of individual Pokémon, which is which is lazy and unoriginal
  4. [R34] Monster Legends 5/5 · US Monster legends-battle game: Really fun, great experience and if you’re looking for a better experience start battling
  5. [R7] Monster Legends 1/5 · US pay to win: can’t even enjoy the game without spending money
  6. [R10] Monster Legends 1/5 · US H: The game is fun when you are a beginner but now im in level 53 the game is horrible and nothing is even fair now and there is so much pay to win
  7. [R15] Monster Legends 3/5 · US Gem problem in my opinion: In my opinion it’s a good game but you run out of gems fast and it’s to earn more without paying
  8. [R11] Monster Legends 5/5 · US Great: Been playing for years. Has never let me down
  9. [R28] Monster Legends 1/5 · US Where's my temple of nature??????: I've buildy a temple of nature and level up monster to 50. I out game later, then log in, wow that building was disapeared and I couldn't build it again???
  10. [R31] Monster Legends 1/5 · US I e been playing this game for years: Hi I’m Alex when I started playing this game many years ago it was my favorite now half of my inventory is gone a $200 (or more) valved just gone would not recommend playing for long term or spending money into this game
  11. [R43] Monster Legends 2/5 · GB Suggestions for improvement: Bring back the bestiary and free monsters for doing season pass for free and multiplayer coins!. And also stuck on the breed for skipples quest I have done this multiple times and still doesn’t work
  12. [R16] Monster Legends 1/5 · US FOR THOSE LOOKING TO DOWNLOAD…: Skip this game. It isn’t worth it. It’s a P2W mess where the developers don’t listen to the community. The game may be fun at first, but you quickly realize that the charm falls off. Every aspect about this game is either about wasting time or hoping that you’re lucky.
  13. [R9] Monster Legends 3/5 · US Ads????: This game is good and progression is actually fun!! The pop ups get really annoying fast and I wish there was a way in settings to hide all the extra or unnecessary UI but the reason I’m writing a review is because after the recent update all of a sudden I’m getting ads randomly in the middle of my gameplay. That is so so frustrating and so annoying and if it’s not fixed I will not be kee
  14. [R24] Monster Legends 3/5 · GB Ads: The game is good lots of things to do but it’s annoying when ads come on and theirs no option to cross it off I have to re load the game back up to get off the ad
  15. [R25] Monster Legends 1/5 · US Ads: do not like it when ads pop up out of no where it’s ruined the experience playing the game
  16. [R57] Monster Legends 1/5 · GB Ads: So many ads i hate the game
  17. [R35] Monster Legends 1/5 · GB Age: Says 9 plus ( I’m 13) but when I put 0-17 it said I can’t play?
  18. [R39] Monster Legends 1/5 · GB It wouldn’t let me play: I clicked that I was under 18 and it said I was to young to play
  19. [R49] Monster Legends 1/5 · GB Bad: I accidentally out rhe wrong age and now i cant play it
  20. [R51] Monster Legends 1/5 · GB Trash: This game and I am going to tell the truth this is the worst game ever it said that because I had to do a verification it under estimated my age so I could not play
  21. [R33] Monster Legends 1/5 · US too much pay to win: everything has some sort of pay to win aspect of it lol
  22. [R72] Dragon City 3/5 · US So/so: It’s and ok game it’s can be fun but it’s a lot of being force to by things to upgrade because the time wait is crazy long ,witch means you can’t upgrade that leads to not being about to battle then you can’t level up so you’ll stuck just collecting until you earn enough to do everything witch will Mean a longer wait for the next level ..so I really don’t see my self passing the game on or
  23. [R66] Dragon City 3/5 · US Adds: Too many pop ups when you open the game, the red notification circles never go away or come back randomly, adds can be annoying bc they pop up randomly while playing
  24. [R53] Monster Legends 1/5 · GB Age: I’m 16 and it says my account is took young to play??????
  25. [R81] Dragon City 3/5 · GB I was 9 and it was saying you cannot play because your country and IT SAYS 9+: 3 stars

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