Head-to-head
Treasure Party vs Idle Planet Miner
A puzzle-board hybrid against a pure incremental — which fits how you actually spend a spare ten minutes?
These are the two highest-rated games in our catalogue, and they represent opposite answers to the same question: what should a short session actually ask of you? Treasure Party wants your thumbs and your attention for match-3 boards and a customisable explorer. Idle Planet Miner wants almost nothing from you in the moment and pays that patience back in numbers that grew while you were doing something else entirely.
Neither is "better" in the abstract — they are built for different moods, and most people who like one will still find a use for the other. This page sets them side by side on the things that actually change how a session feels, rather than repeating the review of either game.
Side by side
| Aspect | Treasure Party: Puzzle Fun! | Idle Planet Miner |
|---|---|---|
| Core loop | Match-3 boards plus a dice-driven board game | Tap, upgrade, automate, check back later |
| Attention required | Active — needs your thumbs the whole session | Minimal — most progress happens while you are away |
| Typical session | 5–10 minutes of focused play | Under 2 minutes to check in, longer if you want |
| Genre hub | Treasure Hunt Adventures | Gold Mining Tycoon |
| Setting | Customisable explorer on a board game trail | A growing space mining empire |
| Editorial score | 4.4 / 5 | 4.1 / 5 |
| Best for | A short session where you want something to actively do | A game that keeps moving between visits without asking for attention |
Which one should you actually install
If the appeal of a spare ten minutes is solving something — clearing a board, landing a good dice roll, watching your explorer's story move forward — Treasure Party is the better fit. It wants engagement and gives a proportional amount back in return, and the customisable explorer gives you a reason to stay invested beyond the puzzle mechanics alone.
If you would rather open an app, glance at a number that grew since yesterday, make one or two quick decisions, and close it again, Idle Planet Miner is built exactly for that rhythm. Its pacing rewards patience over presence, and the smelting layer gives just enough decision-making to keep check-ins from feeling like pure autopilot.
Neither game asks for a long, uninterrupted sitting to make sense, which is worth noting if your spare time comes in short, unpredictable bursts rather than a reliable block each evening — both are built to survive being picked up and put down constantly.
Plenty of players end up with both installed for exactly this reason: one for when you have ten focused minutes, the other for the thirty seconds between other things. Full details on either are in their individual reviews, linked below.
