Hay Day vs Octodad: Dadliest Catch

How do Hay Day and Octodad: Dadliest Catch compare on difficulty, ad pressure, in-app-purchase pressure and what real reviewers say? A side-by-side look, grounded in App Store data.

	Hay Day	Octodad: Dadliest Catch
Genre	Family	Family
Price	Free	Paid
Difficulty	easy	hard
Ad intensity	low	none
In-app-purchase pressure	medium	none
Typical session	variable	medium
Rating	4.7 / 5	4.3 / 5
Ratings count	647,285	2,815
Reviews say	What players like Long-term engagement (players report 9-10+ years) Creative freedom and farm customization Frequent meaningful updates Common complaints App crashes and won't load (especially iPad) Account theft/security issues not resolved by support Accidental diamond purchases too easy	What players like Hilarious physical comedy with wobbly, floppy tentacle controls Heartfelt story about deception and family love Creative level design with memorable moments Common complaints Controls are notoriously difficult and unintuitive Learning curve is steep, unclear camera/movement mechanics at start Can become repetitive after beating it once

Hay Day — Build and decorate your dream farm, trade with neighbors, and grow your tycoon empire through crops, animals, and crafting. (rated easy difficulty, low ad pressure) Octodad: Dadliest Catch — Control an octopus pretending to be human as he fumbles through daily life and family secrets with hilariously unwieldy tentacles. (rated hard difficulty, none ad pressure)

Data: Apple App Store, as of 2026-08-24. Last updated 2026-08-24.