Comparison

Merchant RPG vs Progress Knight

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Merchant RPG

Manage a fantasy shopkeeping empire by sending heroes on quests for materials and using crafters to create gear. Balance crafting, selling, and hero upgrades to build your trade empire and conquer foes. This offline idle RPG blends tycoon mechanics with traditional RPG elements.

Highlights
  • Send heroes on quests
  • Craft weapons and armor
  • Manage shop economy
  • Upgrade heroes and crafters
  • Raid bosses
  • Customize characters
Features
Read full description

Be the Merchant of your very own empire! Quest, Craft, Profit, Upgrade! As the Merchant, you are the commander of your own domain! Blending together traditional RPG systems, tycoon mechanics, and a fantasy overworld, Merchant aims to reimagine the traditional mobile RPG. In Merchant, players take the role of a shopkeeper who must manage a team of Heroes and Crafters. Heroes are sent out on quests in order to fight enemies and gather materials. Crafters then use those materials to create weapons and armor. As the shopkeeper, players must balance their micro-economies between selling items for gold and crafting items to better ensure success for the Heroes. * * * TAKE REIGN OF YOUR MARKET - Send Heroes out on epic adventures! - Pay Crafters to create gear! - Earn gold and dictate the direction of your economy! - Grow your inventory and profit from your trade empire! VICTORY THROUGH CONQUEST - Choose your cast of characters from multiple Hero classes! - Ride out to battle to bring back items and loot! - Customize your champions with weapons and armor! - Band together to raid powerful bosses as a party! - Better performance leads to greater rewards! CRAFT YOUR LEGACY - Utilize the unique Crafters to create items and gear to use and sell! - Train the Crafters to create better items, allowing them to master their trade! - Ensure the victory of your Heroes by outfitting them with superior items! * * *

About

Progress Knight

Engage in strategic PvP combat in a medieval fantasy world. Gather gold, develop skills, and climb the ranks of The Order by defeating opponents. Reset your progress with retained power for faster advancement.

Highlights
  • Incremental PvP combat
  • Skill and ability progression
  • Gold gathering
  • Rank climbing
  • Strategic resets
  • Fantasy medieval world
Features
Read full description

Progress Knight: Multiplayer is an exciting incremental player versus player game that builds on the success of its predecessor, Progress Knight: Mobile. Set in a rich fantasy/medieval world, players must gather gold and progress their skills to fight against their opponents. As a novice of The Order, you start at the bottom rung of the ladder. However, through your faith and dedication, you can discover new skills and abilities that allow you to overpower your rivals and climb the ranks of The Order. You must choose whether to rely on their wits and skills alone, embrace your belligerent side, or use your dedication to deter potential attackers. In Progress Knight: Multiplayer, combat is a key aspect of the game. You can engage in battles with other players to steal their gold and gain ranks. But be warned, you can only attack those of a lower rank than you. Eventually, you will hit a plateau and find it difficult to progress further. However, among the ranks of The Order, you may discover a way to start over while retaining some of your power to progress even faster than before. This adds an extra layer of strategy to the game, as you must balance short-term gains with long-term planning.

Screenshots

Merchant RPG4 screens
Progress Knight4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Progress Knight at fortnightly against Merchant RPG's every 4 months. Merchant RPG's advantage is iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.1). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Merchant RPG sells 12 one-off in-app purchases and Progress Knight sells 9 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Merchant RPG against 4.7 for Progress Knight. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 265 and 313 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 69% of Merchant RPG's written reviews are positive against 75% of Progress Knight's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Merchant RPG ships an update every 4 months, Progress Knight fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Merchant RPG versus Progress Knight: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMerchant RPGProgress Knight
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (265 ratings)4.7 (313 ratings) — better
Positive reviews68.9% of reviews75.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings265313 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size67 MB64 MB
Age rating9+9+
DeveloperRetora Game StudiosNoe LE PHILIPPE

Customer experience

Merchant RPG

All ratings265 ratings
Positive91.3%
Neutral2.3%
Negative6.4%
Written reviews161 reviews
Positive68.9%
Neutral10.6%
Negative20.5%

Progress Knight

All ratings313 ratings
Positive94.6%
Neutral1.6%
Negative3.8%
Written reviews57 reviews
Positive75.4%
Neutral1.8%
Negative22.8%

User reviews

Merchant RPG

From 265 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Addictive gameplay
  • 👍 Simple yet deep mechanics
  • 🎨 Lovely pixel art style
  • 💰 Fair monetization model
  • ⏱️ Quick progression

Room to improve

  • 🔇 Cuts off background audio
  • 🤔 Confusing for new players
  • 🤖 Lack of combat animations
  • 🧠 Repetitive gameplay loop

Progress Knight

From 313 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👥 Friendly and welcoming community
  • 😊 Engaging incremental/idle gameplay mechanics
  • 🎮 Unique PvP attacking system
  • ♿ Excellent accessibility features (VoiceOver support)
  • 💰 No aggressive monetization or pay-to-win mechanics

Room to improve

  • 🐛 UI and display bugs requiring app restart
  • ⚠️ Insular and toxic player base elements
  • 🚫 Inconsistent moderation and censorship
  • ❓ Poor in-game tutorials and explanations
  • 🔐 Privacy concerns with Discord login requirement

Bugs and requests

Merchant RPG

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Ads not working properly
  • Inventory management issues
  • Progression-blocking bugs

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add save slots or cloud sync
  • Improve equipment visuals
  • Implement auto-repeat quests
  • Provide more guidance for new players

Progress Knight

Reported bugs

8 issues
  • Prices and in-game information don't update without app restart
  • Infinite loading and server connection issues
  • Login functionality broken
  • Unable to change account name
  • Account deletion without warning
Show 3 more
  • UI glitches affecting gameplay
  • Inaccurate gold gain projections during attacks
  • Missing attack completion notifications

Requested features

10 requests
  • Guild or clan system for cooperative play
  • Team-based friendly events and competitions
  • Notification system for completed attacks
  • More in-depth story and cinematic elements
  • Housing or resource management system
Show 5 more
  • Improved PvP balance and incentives
  • Better tutorial for new players
  • Clearer chat moderation rules
  • Account name change functionality
  • AFK status indicators for players

In-app purchases

12 purchases

Merchant RPG

One-time12
  • 16 Inventory Slots$0.99
  • 16 Additional Inventory Slots II$0.99
  • 16 Additional Inventory Slots III$0.99
Show 9 more
  • 16 Additional Inventory Slots$0.99
  • Unlock the Jeweler$0.99
  • Hero Slot I$0.99
  • Hero Slot II$0.99
  • Enchanter Unlock$1.99
  • Unlock all Shop Themes$2.99
  • Frozen Tome Expansion$2.99
  • Scribe Expansion$3.99
  • Unlocks Everything$14.99
9 purchases

Progress Knight

One-time9
  • Remove ads$1.99
  • Longer boosts$1.99
  • Gift Remove Ads$1.99
Show 6 more
  • Gift longer boosts$1.99
  • Fast autolearn$1.99
  • Gift fast autolearn$1.99
  • Gift 5 boosts$9.00
  • Gift 10 boosts$18.00
  • Gift 20 boosts$35.00

Questions

Is Merchant RPG free?
Merchant RPG is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Progress Knight free?
Progress Knight is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Merchant RPG or Progress Knight?
Progress Knight is rated higher. Merchant RPG averages 4.6 out of 5 from 265 ratings, while Progress Knight averages 4.7 from 313 ratings.
Do Merchant RPG or Progress Knight have ads?
Both Merchant RPG and Progress Knight show ads.
Which is updated more often, Merchant RPG or Progress Knight?
Merchant RPG ships an update every 4 months, and Progress Knight fortnightly. Most recently, Merchant RPG was updated on October 13, 2026 and Progress Knight on October 9, 2026.

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