Pocket Planes: Airline Tycoon Reviews

I had written a review before for this game but wanted to revise it. I’ve loved this game since I was quite young. It probably is the only good plane/airline tycoon game for free on PocketPlanes Store today. It’s easy to catch on to, it’s not complex under any circumstances. It’s just flying from city to city moving product and people.

The reason why I’m not giving this game 4 or 5 stars is because it still feels lacking in a sense. There should be more cities included in the game. I feel like certain countries are completely left out of the game for no apparent reason. Also, the game after a while gets somewhat boring after playing it for a certain amount of time, it gets repetitive. If there were some micromanaging aspects to the game other then changing your aircraft’s color then I think it could maybe improve that a bit. I also think that it takes far too long to get medium and long range aircraft on the market. The game is based around a rank system, the higher your rank, the better planes you get. The problem lies in the fact that it takes far to long to get up to the required rank to get a decent aircraft. Don’t get me wrong if you enjoy grinding out for a plane and gaining that satisfaction, then this is the game for you, personally I’m not that kinda guy.

All in all this game was great for its time, just wish it got a few new tweaks and mechanics to spice up the gameplay

I love this game with all my heart. I used to play it in middle school but I’ve recently downloaded it again due to the current global circumstance and because college doesn’t start until August. Though I still have a lot of fun planning my routes and figuring out the most cost efficient ways to manage my flights, I wish there was a bit more. Firstly, the game resolution doesn’t fit the newer iPhones screen sizes and it makes it feel a bit out dated. Also, I wish that the major cities had unique backgrounds instead of reused backgrounds for each region and city size. Finally, I would like to see them update the population, because they are now inaccurate, and I would like them to add more cities. Some regions feel empty, such as the Middle East, and could have some cities added. I was a bit surprised to see that Dubai isn’t even a location in the game. An overall visual update however would really deepen the games immersion and would make the game a lot more polished compared to its current contemporaries. In conclusion, these are nitpicks and I really want to emphasize how the game is still fun so many years later, but a bit of polish wouldn’t hurt :D

This game was and still is one of the best airline tycoon games out on the market. Unfortunately, it seems NimbleBit has left it alone, while other games like Tiny Tower and it's new city game (can't remember the title) are being updated all the time. I hope that NimbleBit realizes the amount of people that still play this game and hope for an update. If NimbleBit isn't going to update the game anymore, could we at least get one final mega update consisting of new planes, airports, and more customizable options. Maybe for the airport you could customize your gate to increase appeal and increase customers based on appeal. Also adding different ways to get money or giving more money per flight. If Pocket Planes is going to be left untouched for the rest of it's days, could we, the players, get one more mega update to give the game a longer enjoyment time. Thanks!!!

P.S.-Happy 5th anniversary Pocket Planes!!!

I am by no means any bot far ahead in the game, but it is already apparent to me what things I desire that are lacking here. I see that we can add friends, and I have done so. I see that we can gift items to friends, that's wonderful. You can represent the same team in global contest. But it would be really great if you could see your friend's planes on your own map, or if you could manage your added friend's flights while they are away. This doesn't have to be an absolute feature, perhaps you could have additional personalization settings to disallow this kind of behavior. The only issue is that there is very little in the way of teamwork options. I don't want to feel alone with a friends list full of names, I want to feel like there is the option for tangible and active teamwork in a fashion that helps every party involved.

Alas, this is my only complaint thus far, it is a wonderful game and I am still enjoying the features it does have. I would love to see the developers revisit this game and bring in more potential for its players.

I’ve been playing this game off and on for years. Even before this game came out I was playing Tiny Tower hardcore. This is a game I always keep on my phone. I love the details in this game and overall gameplay. HOWEVER, my biggest peeve about this game is how I have so many airports it’s very hard to locate my next waypoint sometimes. Indeed it does slightly flash the airport city you need to send your plane to, however I wish it were more noticeable at highlighting the airport on the map. Maybe a more intense flashing or a different color perhaps? Instead of the tiny white flashing font on the map. Sometimes when choosing the next waypoint I have difficulty locating the next needed location because the font is so tiny and they don’t make it obvious where the city is that you need to land. Fixing this would make the game so much more enjoyable to play, rather than visually having to scan several countries looking for that one airport.

I started this game when it first came out and enjoyed it. Several years later, my iPad died and I lost everything. I restarted it again a year or so later. I’m up to level 74 and it is always a fun way to kill time.
I was surprised, and happy, to see the developer update the game a few weeks ago and continue to tweak it. I love the VIP in-app purchase. For me, the additional layover slots plus the 4th aircraft upgrade enhanced my gameplay. The other perks are a welcome bonus.
I like how I can earn extra bux, coins, aircraft parts, and additional perks by watching ads. Normally, I don’t like ads in games but the developer makes them optional and, in my gameplay, the rewards for watching are worth it.
I’m happy the developer allows syncing through their own server. In my opinion, much more reliable than GC.
Finally, I like the way the global events are set up now. I think there were only a couple of teams anyway because I did not play in a team and could hit 3rd place consistently on my own. The rewards under the old way were not as robust as the rewards in the new events.
Finally, yes it can be a grind but, at least for me, that is part of this game. I spent many years working for a cargo airline and it is a grind in real life.
Great job NimbleBit. I’m happy you are back updating this game. Thank you.

I have played this game on and off for about 5 years. I just hate that you must restart every time you redownload this game. There isn’t a place for you start where you last left off. I think that this game is doing better but I know that it will get better. I mean there has been times that people may have paid to play this game.

However, I think this game does have potential but they need to update the game by simply making sure that we can track planes a little better. Having data being able to break down by city. And to know which planes to get rid of. Because the only thing that it does show is the potential you can make an hour is all. However, I haven’t really looked into this but I think if we can do that it would be cool if we got those details fixed and this game will be better.

The core gameplay loop of Pocket Planes is to send passengers and packages on planes to their destination. The more flights you do the more cash you make and can expand you airports. It’s charming to see people and places around the world in bit form and it’s fun to watch your airline empire grow. However it becomes tedious having to manually direct flights for something that can be done automatically by a flight scheduler. Basically, the more people / cargo + the longer distance + special events / VIPs = more money. It’s satisfying making money the first few times directing flights this way, but it becomes boring after a while because there’s little strategy to it. It would have been better to set a scheduler for flights, but that would break the game’s monetization system. And a final note; PocketPlanes is a bit dated; it’s UI hasn’t been updated in 3 years so the screen is a bit smaller on displays without a home button. Overall a pretty cathartic game, but lacks interesting gameplay elements.

This is the only app I have had on my phone for more than 2 years. This game is perfect in its execution and it’s in-game currency concept. I have never been bored with PocketPlanes, due to its ever-eventful leveling up process. There is always more to do and more to unlock. While it has in game purchases, it is certainly not a pay to win. This game is so good, I wish the developers would come out with new updates and features for it. There is still room for expansion with more planes, towns, etc. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been an update in almost a year. This is one of my all time favorite apps, and I hope the developers see this and add more updates and features. This is not a dying app. There is an amazing concept, and people still play PocketPlanes. So please release more updates and features, this could be the number 1 app on the market.

Let me set something straight, this game is a gem, the fact that nimble bit stopped supporting it is a mistake. I have been playing pocket planes for around 4-5 years, and I have many accounts. I know the wonderful devs at nimblebit are working on another great game, but could they take a bit of time to revisit the game? Maybe give it an update? Maybe even make a sequel, I think almost every pocket planes player would pay 99 cents for an upgraded sequel, and with thousands of players willing to pay, that would make nimblebits time worthwhile. I would really like an update including more planes, Color schemes, and more realistic demand and ticketing systems. If any of the great devs at nimblebit are reading this, please take this up with the rest of the dev team, and thanks for all the great games!

Their is a glitch where you can’t earn bucks by watching ads anymore it always says the ads are unavailable. it is extremely difficult to expand my planes and get parts for the planes as passenger bucks only come in not that often.
Can you guys do an update to the game and add new things to the game please and fix the glitch with not being able to earn bucks to I can get plane parts. I love this game but this game needs an update with like new and bigger planes, Challenges so played can try to complete them and earn bucks completing challenges. Also I think it would be cool to add in like a logo feature even if we can only pick between like 5 logos so we can add it to the sides of the planes for like branding like real airlines do.
It would add that extra features for players to feel more into the game with customization and more game play with the challenges.
But please can you do an update to fix not being able to earn bucks in the game.
Thank you!

I love this game and have had it for as long as I can remember. Although the game is fun and super addictive, I have a few requests to grow the game. I first of hate the planes that you get that I think are called class 2 and class 3. You have to update your airports for a large amount of money, and it isn’t even worth it. I feel like everyone would benefit from taking this away from the game, and if it doesn’t work bringing it back. Also, you have a lot of airports but I wish you would put more smaller ones that don’t cost much. For example, something like Newark airport or Huntsville airport. I feel that would make it a lot easier to get a start and people would benefit a lot. Thank you for reading and (hopefully) acknowledging my future for this amazing game.

I first go Pocket Planes when I was 9 on my IPod touch. I feel in love with this game and played it for hours in family road trips. I fell apart from it until I got my iPhone 8, it was such a nice relaxing and nostalgic feeling to be playing a game from when I was so young. Now I play it on my iPhone 11, the game is exactly as I remembered it. Though there is one caveat to it now, and that is that it doesn’t fit onto my screen fully. There are two significantly large black bars on both sides of my phone. I have checked on nimblebit’s Twitter and they say there are working on it as of the summer of 2021. However I fear that a resolution fix will not be out anytime soon. I also have noticed that the game is no longer supported by ads which is concerning as there are no ways to get free bux anymore.

I have downloaded this game a few times, and every time I delete it off my phone, within a couple of weeks, I put it back. Simply put it is the best simulation game in the market that allows you to advance at a reasonable pace without having to spend real world money. Sure if you wanna spend extra dollars you can to advance faster but I like the challenge of building slowly and not spending the money. There’s zero ads for the game by the way you don’t even have to pay for PocketPlanes itself it’s all completely free. I do not know how the developer is able to do this but the game is phenomenal and a lot of fun and it’s very addicting. I can’t say enough about it, for being the type of game that it is; definitely five stars.

I love this game dearly and it is very fun to pass the time away and grow your airplane empire. Even to compete with friends at school. But my one issue is that the game hasn’t received a content update in well over 3 years and it makes me kind of sad to eventually get to the point where you can’t do anything anymore.... I don’t really know what you would add but honestly the game is very fun. I believe if you guys up in HQ could maybe spend a little of your time to maybe increase the content. ALSO I was thinking what if you made another game similar to this and pocket trains BUT POCKET GALAXY!!! or something where are you by spaceships and traveled from planet to planet instead of airport to airport. Kind of like some Syfy stuff

I was a latecomer to this game, as I downloaded it in the summer of 2016. But it still is the most addicting game I've ever played. I made the right decision starting in Australia. Everything was cheap and since I've expanded from there. Sometimes, I took months long breaks from the game, so I've only expanded as far as Nagasaki, Bhutwal, and Shanghai. Still, vastly addicting, but one issue is the lack of updates. More new planes on the game would be awesome. However, this game hasn't been updated since February of 2017, and those were just bug fixes. It is now January 2018, and nothing new has come. Please update this game nimblebit. Also, I think it takes way too long to level up. Otherwise, you've got a great game. 👌🏻✈️😁

It’s fun to manage airports and planes in pocket planes, figuring out the right route for every bit of profit is satisfying and the system seems to be decently balanced. However, there does feel to be a slight lack of detail, something is a little off about the graphics (yes I know it’s that 8 bit style) and the game feels a little “un-complicated”, unlike tiny tower, the only events are closing of airports, no unique challenges while planes are up in the air. It’s fun just, feels like it needs an update after such a long time since the last one.

Last thing I would suggest, rewards from achievements, at least something for my efforts and achievement within the game would be nice, maybe just a single buck or 500 coins. A cool little surprise here and there would be nice.

I enjoy the game a lot, and have been playing it on and off for a while now. However, there are some things I find lacking:

1) Bux
It is always a struggle for me to collect enough bux to build and aircraft. I find more often than not, I have to watch a good fifteen ads just to buy something from the market. If there was a reverse bank, then it would become much easier to cope with.

2) Market
I find it extremely difficult to find the parts of the planes I need, and would prefer not to check every ten minutes if they have it, and panic when it turns out I’m missing the bux. This is something I would however accept paying extra bux for.

3) Gifts/friends
I have used the gift system many times before, and think it’s a great idea, but it just needs more interaction. If there was a “neighborhood” of sorts or a flight crew/ guild type, that would be amazing. The only part I can think of is that it would be nice to be able to gift an entire plane all at once, rather than it parts.

Keeping all these complaints in mind though, I find this to be a fun, simple, and easy game, and I will continue to enjoy this game, regardless of my complaints. I would not, however, be opposed to a future update. :)

Told you I wrote another review. (First one being on pocket trains for those who don’t know). So. I kinda spent an unhealthy amount of time on this game😂. Leveling up and exploring all the new planes you can get. I’m level 10 btw, not that it matters. And I just couldn’t help but leave a review on how rewarding this game feels. When you level up and visit the market to see what new planes you can buy. It honestly feels like a new adventure in itself. And getting bux is a tad time consuming(watching ads...a lot of ads) but it’s fair how it works. I love bitbook and every bitizens witty humor about their flight or any reference in general😂. I honestly can’t find anything wrong with this game. I’m happy it’s still playable after all these years

Hello, BitsNinja Here
Hopefully one of the devs there up at NimbleBit will read this. So, I love this game and started playing it in 2018, just the past week. My favorite part about this game is how many planes there are, and how quickly and easily you can earn (and lose) coins and bux. However, I think it could do for some updates, such as, Fixing the Ad you can watch to get free bux. I would watch the ad but then it wouldn’t give me the bux but instead it only crashes my game. Also, I really hate it that you have to pay bux in order to give something to a friend. Over all, the game is great it just needs some bug fixes and updates.
—Sincerely, BitsNinja

P.S.: Happy Gaming!

I have been occasionally playing (the only way to play) for a couple months now. This is a great little strategy game with airplanes - I love airplanes - I’m an aerospace engineer…so this is the perfect thing to do when not working. You can play without spending any money, so this should totally be a top free app. But it’s good to support the devs and enjoy the perks, so spend your coffee money sometimes.

A couple suggestions: please make cities grow larger than 10m - proportional to their real populations ideally. Consider programming a way to automate some flights so their can be idle earning - it would be cool to have “domestic fleets” that automatically service continent interiors as well as international fleets that can be actively managed…the domestic fleets would have user-preprogrammed routes and would generate idle income, and then the international fleet would require inputs.. what do you think?

I absolutely love this game. I started playing it when my son showed it to me. It is super cool, and I play it every day all day long. I love playing in the events and look forward to them. My only issue, and I don’t believe it is an issue with the game itself is that I never get rewarded for the events. I am always in the top 100 and should be rewarded the bucks afterwards, but I never get them. The reason I don’t get them is that I keep getting a message when I check the events stats is that I am not logged in to Game Center. I never log out of it. Ever!! So, I don’t know what to do about this. I don’t want to complain to the game after every event. That would get annoying. So, I just play to play and have fun. I would rate the game 5 stars if it were not for that small issue.

Redownloaded after 4 years of not playing and it still feels same as it was in 2015. Unlike other reviews want you to think, VIP is not needed to advance in the game

Suggestions I have for future updates:

- Daily Reward System

Some rewards I can think of:

1) Free Bux

2) All cities advertised for 12 hours

3) All flights gain x2 profit and x2 speed for 6 hours

4) Free parts of special planes

- Add more airports

The USA, China, Europe, India, and Japan especially should get 10+ more airports in game if Australia has as much as they do

- Make the number of unlocked airports and complimentary bux increase as your level increase

Expansion is a breeze up until level 15 or so, but after that a major wall is hit and even going balls to the wall for a week results in minimal progress being made in leveling up. As for increasing rewards?

Start - Level 5: 2 bux and 2 new airports

Level 5 - Level 7 - 3 bux and 2 new airports

Level 8 - Level 10 - 3 bux and 3 new airports

Level 11 - Level 15 - 5 new bux and 3 new airports

Level 15 - Level 20 - 6 new bux and 3 new airports

Level 21 - Level 25 - 6 new bux and 4 new airports

Level 26 - Level 30 - 7 new bux and 5 new airports

Level 31+ - 10 new bux and 5 new airports

"Pocket Planes is an absolute gem of a game, offering a delightful blend of simplicity and depth that keeps me hooked for hours on end. What I adore most about it is its ease of play; navigating through the skies feels effortless and intuitive, making it accessible to players of all skill levels. The fun rewards sprinkled throughout the game are like little treats that keep me motivated to keep flying and expanding my airline empire. Moreover, the clear goals provide a sense of direction without feeling overly restrictive, allowing for a satisfying sense of progress. Unlike many games inundated with gimmicks, Pocket Planes stands out for its straightforward gameplay and genuine enjoyment factor. It's not an exaggeration to say that some of my fondest gaming memories have been made while soaring through the virtual skies in Pocket Planes. It's a testament to the game's timeless appeal and sheer joy it brings to players."