Magic River vs Once Upon a Tower
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Magic River
Navigate a boat down a river, avoiding obstacles and exploring various locations. Collect gems to unlock new characters and boats. Simple tap controls change the boat's direction.
- River navigation
- Obstacle avoidance
- Location exploration
- Gem collection
- Character unlocks
- Boat customization
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Move through the river without hitting any obstacles! Explore different locations while drifting down the river! Collect gems to unlock awesome new characters and boats! Tap anywhere on the screen to change the direction of the boat.
Once Upon a Tower
Break free from your tower prison in this adventure game. Armed with a war hammer, you'll battle enemies and escape a dragon. Your rescue is up to you!
- Tower escape adventure
- Battle enemies
- Fight a dragon
- Princess protagonist
- Offline gameplay
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Ever wanted to escape somewhere else? Ever felt like you were trapped in a high tower? Ever found yourself waiting for the valiant knight to save you? Wait no more! Cause he isn't coming -- No, really, he isn't. He was literally eaten by that guardian dragon over there. But fear no more, you have all you need to set yourself free. The brave knight left behind his war hammer, I'm sure you can put it to good use, right? You can beat the enemies. You can escape the dragon. YOU CAN DO THIS! Now let the adventure begin, once upon a tower.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Once Upon a Tower at 4.7 against Magic River's 3.2. Once Upon a Tower also leads on review sentiment (75% vs 33%) and ratings volume (3.3K vs 196). Magic River's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (6.0 vs 12.0). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Magic River sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Once Upon a Tower sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Once Upon a Tower holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Once Upon a Tower has 3.3K ratings behind it against 196, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of Magic River's written reviews are positive against 75% of Once Upon a Tower's.
Magic River ships an update monthly, Once Upon a Tower every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Magic River | Once Upon a Tower |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.2 (196 ratings) | 4.7 (3.3K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 32.9% of reviews | 75.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 196 | 3.3K — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — better |
| Requires iOS | 6.0 — better | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 182 MB | 226 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Ketchapp | Pomelo Games |
Customer experience
Magic River
Once Upon a Tower
User reviews
Magic River
From 196 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎨 Beautiful graphics
- 🕹️ Addictive gameplay
- 💎 Fun and challenging
Room to improve
- 🌀 Ads disrupt gameplay
- 🐛 Glitchy controls
- 🕰️ Repetitive scenery
Once Upon a Tower
From 3.3K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💕 Addictive gameplay
- 🎨 Beautiful graphics
- 🎮 Simple but engaging mechanics
- 🚀 Great time killer
- 👍 Empowering female characters
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and freezes
- 🔍 Unclear instructions/tutorials
- 🔁 Repetitive levels
- 💰 Aggressive monetization with ads
- 🤖 Unresponsive controls
Bugs and requests
Magic River
Reported bugs
3 issues- Game crashes frequently
- Boat movement not responsive
- Leaderboard not updating properly
Requested features
3 requests- Ability to skip difficult missions
- More varied environments and obstacles
- Option to disable ads for a fee
Once Upon a Tower
Reported bugs
4 issues- Game freezes when watching ads
- Progress resets after crashes
- Challenges not tracking properly
- Compatibility issues on older devices
Requested features
5 requests- More character/princess variety
- Ability to save progress
- Difficulty settings
- Multiplayer mode
- Level editor
In-app purchases
Magic River
- Remove Ads$1.99
Once Upon a Tower
- Oscura$0.99
- Noriko$0.99
- Lives Pack x10$0.99
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Loriel$0.99
- Denise$0.99
- Dragon scales x20$0.99
- Lives Pack x25$0.99
- Lives Pack x25$1.99
- Lives Pack x60$3.99
- Lives Pack x200$9.99
