Game Dev Tycoon vs Melon Sandbox
Game Dev Tycoon
Greenheart Games
Google Play
$94.8K/mo
~$1.14M/yr · 1.6M installs
VS
Melon Sandbox
playducky.com
Google Play
$378.4K/mo
~$4.54M/yr · 99.2M installs
Revenue winner
Melon Sandbox wins
+299% vs other
Installs winner
Melon Sandbox wins
+6165% vs other
MAU winner
Melon Sandbox wins
+3617% vs other
Rating winner
Game Dev Tycoon wins
+3% vs other
Why Melon Sandbox is winning
Top 3 reasons - backed by the public App Store / Play Store numbers.
- Melon Sandbox earns roughly 4× more per month than Game Dev Tycoon - $378.4K vs $94.8K.
- Subscription model. Melon Sandbox runs a $11.29/mo subscription that compounds; Game Dev Tycoon relies on one-shot IAP or ads.
- Bigger install base. Melon Sandbox has ~99.2M lifetime installs vs Game Dev Tycoon's ~1.6M - 62.7× the funnel top.
→ Find more apps with this revenue gap · Full Melon Sandbox report
Side-by-side metrics
Bars scale to whichever app is bigger on that row. Green = winner.
Game Dev Tycoon
vs
Melon Sandbox
Monthly revenue (est.)?
$94.8K
▶
$378.4K
Annual revenue (est.)
$1.14M
▶
$4.54M
Lifetime installs (est.)
1.6M
▶
99.2M
Monthly active users (est.)?
93K
▶
3.5M
App Store rating
4.80★
◀
4.64★
Total ratings
173K
▶
1.1M
US grossing rank
-
=
-
Cheapest monthly sub
No sub
▶
$11.29
IAP tiers detected
0 tiers
=
0 tiers
- Category
- Simulation
- Price
- USD4.99
- Released
- Jan 31, 2018
- Last updated
- Oct 13, 2025
- File size
- -
- Content rating
- Everyone
- Version
- 1.6.18
- Languages
- -
- Category
- Simulation
- Price
- Free
- Released
- Dec 23, 2022
- Last updated
- May 8, 2026
- File size
- -
- Content rating
- Teen
- Version
- 35.4
- Languages
- -
Game Dev Tycoon trajectory
Melon Sandbox trajectory
FAQ
Which makes more money, Game Dev Tycoon or Melon Sandbox? v
Melon Sandbox earns about $378.4K per month, while Game Dev Tycoon earns about $94.8K. That is a 4.0× revenue gap (~$283.5K more per month for Melon Sandbox). Annual revenue: Game Dev Tycoon ≈ $1.14M/year, Melon Sandbox ≈ $4.54M/year. Estimates are derived from public Google Play signals - grossing rank, scraped IAP tiers, ratings and category benchmarks.
Which has more downloads, Game Dev Tycoon or Melon Sandbox? v
Melon Sandbox leads with about 99.2M estimated downloads vs 1.6M for Game Dev Tycoon - a 62.7× gap. Game Dev Tycoon reports 1,000,000+ installs on Google Play. Melon Sandbox reports 50,000,000+ installs on Google Play.
Are Game Dev Tycoon and Melon Sandbox in the same Google Play category and competing for the same money? v
Yes - both apps sit in the Simulation category, which means they compete directly for the same paying users and category-level wallet share. Direct competitors, head-to-head.
What in-app purchases and subscription pricing do Game Dev Tycoon and Melon Sandbox offer? v
Game Dev Tycoon: no IAP detected on the public listing. Melon Sandbox: IAP range $0.49 - $259.99 per item. Game Dev Tycoon runs a "Paid app ($4.99)" monetization model; Melon Sandbox runs "Free game · IAP-driven (0 packs, ~$0.30/MAU)". Scraped tier prices and detected subscription pricing drive the bulk of the per-app revenue estimate above.
Which has better ratings, Game Dev Tycoon or Melon Sandbox? v
Game Dev Tycoon edges ahead with ★ 4.8 vs ★ 4.6 (gap of 0.2 stars). Rating volume: Game Dev Tycoon 17K ratings, Melon Sandbox 48K ratings. Higher rating volume = stronger ASO signal even when star averages are close.
How accurate are these Game Dev Tycoon vs Melon Sandbox revenue estimates? v
Directional - typically within 2-3× of actual money earned for popular apps. The $94.8K for Game Dev Tycoon and $378.4K for Melon Sandbox are derived from Google Play grossing rank, scraped IAP tiers, ratings volume and category benchmarks (Simulation) - net of the 15-30% Apple/Google store cut. Real revenue depends on country mix, retention, refunds and ad fill rate, none of which Apple or Google publish.
How do I compare Game Dev Tycoon or Melon Sandbox to a different Google Play app? v
Use the search box at the bottom of this page or paste any two Google Play links into the homepage tool. We auto-generate a permanent comparison URL with revenue, downloads, IAP tiers, subscription pricing and grossing rank for both apps.