Kittens Game vs Magic Research
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Kittens Game
Manage a growing village of kittens in this text-based simulation game. Gather resources, research technologies, and expand your settlement. This old-school experience is free of ads and micro-transactions.
- Village simulation
- Resource management
- Technology research
- Text-based gameplay
- Kitten management
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Kittens Game is a village simulation text game. You manage a village of kittens as they acquire resources and unlock new technologies. This is an old school game and a product of many years of love and hard labor. It does not have any ads or micro-transactions.
Magic Research
Lead a new magic institution to discover the secrets of magic and achieve fame. Research spells, build your campus, manage staff, and uncover hidden storylines to win the Tournament of Magic. Enjoy a complete game experience with no ads.
- Cast over 100 spells
- Research magic in various schools
- Build and manage campus
- Manage researchers and apprentices
- Discover hidden features and storylines
- Retirement bonuses for faster progress
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In Magic Research, you are the headmaster of a newly-created institution of Magic with one goal: to learn as much as possible about this power and get enough fame to be able to compete, and win, the prestigious competition of schools: the Tournament of Magic. But what will you discover along the way? * Cast over a hundred different spells with various effects * Research magic in various magical schools to discover new, surprising ways to use this power * Accumulate resources and build the school campus * Manage a team of researchers and apprentices to lead your school to fame * Discover tons of hidden new features - when will you unlock the next one? * Find over eight dozen secret storylines with permanent, game-altering effects * Restart the game and make faster progress each time with retirement bonuses * Optimized both for iPhone and iPad * No ads! This is the full, complete game. You can transfer save data from the demo by using the Export / Import Save feature available in both the demo and in the full game.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Magic Research at every 4 days against Kittens Game's every 4 months. Magic Research also leads on review sentiment (95% vs 68%) and rating (4.7 vs 4.5). Kittens Game's advantage is price ($2.99 vs $3.99) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.6). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and chart position 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
Kittens Game costs $2.99 and Magic Research $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Magic Research holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 322 and 188 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 68% of Kittens Game's written reviews are positive against 95% of Magic Research's.
Kittens Game ships an update every 4 months, Magic Research every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Kittens Game | Magic Research |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 — better | $3.99 |
| Rating | 4.5 (322 ratings) | 4.7 (188 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 67.9% of reviews | 95.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 322 — better | 188 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #87 — better | #134 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 22 MB | 25 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Dmitrii Popov | Matias Ezequiel Colotto |
Customer experience
Kittens Game
Magic Research
User reviews
Kittens Game
From 322 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Captivating gameplay
- 👍 Engrossing incremental game
- 💡 Impressive depth and complexity
- 🚀 Rewarding progression
- 👍 Minimal UI, focus on gameplay
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy UI, screen jumping
- 🐛 Inconsistent save/load behavior
- 🐛 Compatibility issues on newer devices
- 🐛 Broken or underperforming features
- 🔋 Slow progression can be tedious
Magic Research
From 188 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great idle/incremental game
- 💡 Deep and complex systems
- 🚀 Well-paced progression
- 💰 Worth the price
- ✨ No ads or microtransactions
Room to improve
- 🐛 UI layout issues
- 🐌 Can be grindy
- 🔋 High battery consumption
- 🐛 Text running off page/scrolling issues
- 🐛 Wood resource bug
Bugs and requests
Kittens Game
Reported bugs
4 issues- Disappearing buttons and UI elements
- Progress loss or reset when switching apps
- Broken or non-functional features (e.g. solar farms)
- Compatibility issues on iPhone X and newer devices
Requested features
5 requests- Bulk crafting/upgrading options
- Ability to disable pollution mechanics
- Better UI optimization for larger screens
- Vibration/notification support for events
- More detailed analytics and tracking
Magic Research
Reported bugs
8 issues- On new iPhones, switching away and back causes UI unresponsiveness
- Text running off the page, preventing interaction with buttons
- Wood resource counting backwards
- Becoming stunned for a full minute, unable to act
- Bosses running away from fights
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- Exploration difficulty jump
- UI layout issues on iPad Pro (long scrolling panels, cut-off inventory views, difficult spell favorite scrolling, useless event panel)
- Text pages not scrolling, making discoveries unreadable
Requested features
12 requests- Add background music
- Add Chinese language support
- Make monsters pixelated
- Adjustable times for apprentice auto-casting
- Display monstium collection counter during exploration
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- Allow apprentices to auto-craft potions
- Make the game accessible to the blind
- Add a way to start further into dungeons
- Automate crafting
- Improve quality of crafted items (armor, weapons)
- Add a 'Magic Smithing' school
- Allow players to avoid or cure silence effects
In-app purchases
Kittens Game
No in-app purchases
Magic Research
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Kittens Game free?
Is Magic Research free?
Which has better reviews, Kittens Game or Magic Research?
Do Kittens Game or Magic Research have ads?
Which is updated more often, Kittens Game or Magic Research?
Which is more popular, Kittens Game or Magic Research?
Other comparisons
