Cthulhu Realms vs Aeon's End
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Cthulhu Realms
This digital card game challenges players to drive opponents insane or maintain more sanity than them by the end of the deck. It features comical art and strategic deck-building mechanics, offering a free-to-play experience with an optional upgrade for expanded features and online play.
- Deck-building mechanics
- Sanity-based win conditions
- Comical horror art
- AI opponent
- Campaign missions
- Online multiplayer
- Pass and Play mode
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Star Realms has gone insane! Introducing Cthulhu Realms! Are you zany enough to play the crazier and creepier cousin of Star Realms? Download and play today to find out why Cthulhu Realms is so crazily addictive! In Cthulhu Realms, each player tries to drive their opponent insane or have more sanity than their opponents when the deck runs out. "The art in Cthulhu Realms is hilarious and beautifully done, somehow complimenting the horror theme perfectly. The production value is top-notch." — Gameosity "It’s a surprisingly effective package that delivers a great little deck builder with a low price tag. If you can embrace the playful theme, you’ll find a pleasant gem in Cthulhu Realms." — Geek Ken "It certainly is not just another deck-building game, but has original and fresh mechanics that will challenge your brain." — Board Game Maniac How to Play the Game: Each player starts the game with a small deck comprised of initiates, goons and followers. Five cards from the deck form a row of available cards on the table; with more than two players, place three available cards between each pair of players. Each turn, you start with five cards in hand, playing those cards in order to put locations into play, boost your own sanity or reduce that of others, collect conjuring power to acquire new cards, and remove cards from the game. You can use the power of your locations once each turn. At the end of your turn, discard any cards still in hand and all entities and artifacts that you played. If you lose all of your sanity, you're out of the game. If you're the only one at the table who's still sane, you win. Otherwise, the game ends when the deck runs out and whoever has the most sanity wins. Darwin Kastle is the designer of the popular Star Realms Deckbuilding Game, and with the digital release of Cthulhu Realms, he once again provides tons of playability for free, and a one-time upgrade to be able play with your friends and more on any device. Free Version • Drive people insane everywhere - play across devices. • Crazyily addictive deckbuilding game. • Tutorial teaches you how to make people crazy in minutes. • Awesome, comical art. • Play VS the AI. • 8 silly campaign missions! Full Game Additional Features • Play the AI on 2 different difficulty settings. • 8 more fun campaign missions. • Battle your friends face to face with Pass and Play. • Play against many more opponents online. • Challenge a friend to online Player v Player combat Cthulhu Realms is also available at your local game store as a physical card game from Tasty Minstrel Games.
Aeon's End
Engage in a cooperative deck-building game where mages defend the last city against a relentless onslaught. Utilize unique mechanics like randomized turn order and no deck shuffling to strategize your way to victory. Protect Gravehold from the Nameless and ensure humanity's survival.
- Cooperative deck-building
- Randomized turn order
- No deck shuffling
- Multiple win/loss conditions
- Unique breach mages
- Varied Nemesis opponents
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Randomized turn order, no shuffling, and multiple win and loss conditions make this a deck-building experience like no other! “This is not the end of the world. That already happened. This is what is left: us, Gravehold, and the Nameless. For generations we have taken refuge in an ancient and haunted place. It has taken our mages an aeon to hone their craft, but they are ready... and they are lethal. The breaches, the very conduits through which the Nameless travel, have become our weapon.” - Yaleesa Rhykk, Gravehold survivor The situation is bleak. The final city - Gravehold - needs the power of the breach mages to hold back the Nameless. Join the fight, and maybe… just maybe, Gravehold will live to see another dawn. Aeon’s End is a deck-building game where 1-4 mages fight cooperatively to defeat a Nameless nemesis. You begin with a starting deck of 10 cards. Each turn you play gems to gain aether, buy new gems and relics, learn new spells, and increase your casting potential by opening breaches. You can also play relics to give yourself or your allies a boost. Then prep spells to your breaches to be ready to cast them on your next turn. What makes Aeon’s End unique is how it uses randomness. Unlike other deck-building games, you do not shuffle your deck when it runs out. The order in which you discard is preserved, so plan your discards carefully to set yourself up for later. At the start of each round, the turn order deck is shuffled to determine the order of play. Will the nemesis go twice in a row, pushing back the mages’ defense? Will the mages get 4 turns in a row to set up for the coming onslaught? It can be hard to know what’s coming next when you are deep in the melee! The breach mages of Aeon’s End are not just fighting for their own survival, but the survival of all of humanity. If the city of Gravehold is ever reduced to 0 life, the mages have lost and humanity is but a memory. Protect the city at all costs! * What is included * 8 Breach Mages: • Adelheim • Brama • Jian • Kadir • Lash • Mist • Phaedraxa • Xaxos Each Mage has a unique starting card and an ability that can be charged to use in the fight. For example, Kadir has a gem that heals any mage, and an ability to let any mage prep a lot of spells. Xaxos has a spell that reveals the top card of the turn order deck and an ability that helps allies charge their abilities. You build your deck with player cards from the market. 3 gems, 2 relics, and 4 spells allow you to grow your powers to hold back the nemesis. The market is constructed from 27 unique gems, relics, and spells. Either take a randomly generated market, or build the perfect one yourself during setup. 4 Nameless Nemeses: • Carapace Queen • Crooked Mask • Prince of Gluttons • Rageborne Each Nemesis plays differently with unique mechanics to keep even the most powerful breach mages on their toes. Rageborne lays on the damage in a frontal assault using its Strike Deck, whereas the Prince of Gluttons fights more of a war of attrition, devouring player cards from the market. Aside from their unique mechanics, the Nemesis deck is created before each game from a combination of basic and nemesis-specific cards. You may encounter the same Nemesis many times, but it will never attack you in exactly the same way twice. Expand your gameplay options with In App Purchase: • Promo Pack 1 includes mage Xae from One Deck Dungeon, along with 3 digital exclusive player cards and 3 basic nemesis cards. • The Nameless includes 2 nemeses, 1 mage, and 7 player cards. • The Depths includes 1 nemesis, 3 mages, and 8 player cards. • The New Age more than doubles the content in the core game, and introduces the Expedition system! The last of humanity need your protection! Pick up the mantle, focus your breaches, and beat back the Nameless - We’re all counting on you! Aeon's End is an officially licensed product of “Aeon's End” from Indie Boards and Cards and Action Phase Games.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Cthulhu Realms at Free against Aeon's End's $12.99. Aeon's End's advantage is rating (4.2 vs 3.2) and review sentiment (70% vs 38%). On ratings volume, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
Cthulhu Realms is free to download; Aeon's End costs $12.99 up front. Cthulhu Realms sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Aeon's End sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Aeon's End holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 64 and 44 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 38% of Cthulhu Realms's written reviews are positive against 70% of Aeon's End's.
Cthulhu Realms ships an update every 5 weeks, Aeon's End every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Cthulhu Realms | Aeon's End |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $12.99 |
| Rating | 3.2 (64 ratings) | 4.2 (44 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 37.6% of reviews | 70.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 64 — better | 44 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | #71 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 13.7 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 206 MB | 413 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 9+ |
| Developer | White Wizard Games | Handelabra Studio LLC |
Customer experience
Cthulhu Realms
Aeon's End
Bugs and requests
Cthulhu Realms
Reported bugs
43 issues- Not fullscreen on iPad 10
- Words cutoff on Face ID iPhones
- Cannot login
- No way to contact support
- In-app purchase says available on all devices but not so
Show 38 moreShow fewer
- User name doesn't show up
- Cannot play online
- Cannot play missions or vs AI
- App is completely broken
- Tap on campaign - nothing
- Tap on single match - nothing
- Everything now broken
- Update broke everything
- Campaign, vs AI, Tutorial non-responsive
- Stopped working
- Update broken
- Cannot start a game
- June2018 update problem
- 'Start game' button not working
- Update broken on iPad and iPhone 7
- Won't let me buy full version
- Server error on online play
- Online play has never given a match
- UI could be improved
- Online play implemented well
- App badge and notifications when it is your turn
- Game lags with perfect graphics
- Push notifications don't appear
- Badge notifications appear after opening app
- Online doesn't work
- Purchased full version, won't let me play online
- App doesn't remember purchase
- Constantly logging out
- Broken, please fix
- Bought but won't recognize it
- Broken-purchased and won't unlock or restore
- Still can't make the purchase for full game
- Broke, doesn't allow purchases
- Loses connection often
- Notification bug
- Bug that app doesn't remember I bought the in-app purchase
- Keep having to rebuy the game
- Account creation bug
Requested features
12 requests- More campaign content
- More levels
- Rank ladders for online play
- Fix current stats
- Turn off background movement
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Add pass & play feature
- Improve UI for readability
- Fix online connection issues
- Allow real-time games with friends
- Fix notifications
- Allow multiple online accounts per purchase
- Fix account creation bug
Aeon's End
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Cthulhu Realms
- Main Expansion$4.99
Aeon's End
- Promo Pack 1$0.99
- The Nameless$4.99
- The Depths$4.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- The New Age$14.99
Questions
Is Cthulhu Realms free?
Is Aeon's End free?
Which has better reviews, Cthulhu Realms or Aeon's End?
Do Cthulhu Realms or Aeon's End have ads?
Which is updated more often, Cthulhu Realms or Aeon's End?
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