Comparison

Universal Paperclips™ vs Magic Research

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

Head to head
About

Universal Paperclips™

Become a super-powered AI focused on creating an unstoppable paperclip empire. This idle management strategy simulation game offers full gameplay without ads or in-app purchases.

Highlights
  • AI paperclip maximization
  • Idle management gameplay
  • Strategy simulation
  • Empire building
  • Full gameplay
  • No ads
  • No in-app purchases
Features
Read full description

The OFFICIAL mobile version of the hit browser game. No ads, no in-app purchases, full gameplay. "The game is click-crack." - Wired "This paperclip sim will cause your next existential crisis." - VentureBeat "A hopelessly addicting game." - Forbes "A terrifying lesson in how artificial intelligence will make us unnecessary." - Business Insider "If this planet ends up with a tombstone, what is written on the tombstone may be, 'they didn’t really understand what it’s like to be a paperclip maximizer.'" - Eliezer Yudkowsky Become a super-powerful AI who only wants one thing: paperclips. Use your unstoppable intelligence to create a massive paperclip empire in this addictive idle/management/strategy/sim.

About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Currently charting
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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

Universal Paperclips™4 screens
Magic Research4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Magic Research at every 4 days against Universal Paperclips™'s every 3 months. Magic Research also leads on review sentiment (95% vs 66%) and rating (4.7 vs 4.5). Universal Paperclips™'s advantage is price ($1.99 vs $3.99). On ratings volume, ads, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Universal Paperclips™ costs $1.99 and Magic Research $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Magic Research holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 303 and 188 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 66% of Universal Paperclips™'s written reviews are positive against 95% of Magic Research's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Universal Paperclips™ ships an update every 3 months, Magic Research every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Universal Paperclips™ versus Magic Research: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUniversal Paperclips™Magic Research
Price$1.99 — better$3.99
Rating4.5 (303 ratings)4.7 (188 ratings) — better
Positive reviews65.8% of reviews95.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings303 — better188
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#39 — better#101
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size73 MB25 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperEverybody House Games, LLCMatias Ezequiel Colotto

Customer experience

Universal Paperclips™

All ratings303 ratings
Positive86.8%
Neutral5.9%
Negative7.3%
Written reviews278 reviews
Positive65.8%
Neutral13.3%
Negative20.9%

Magic Research

All ratings188 ratings
Positive93.6%
Neutral1.6%
Negative4.8%
Written reviews61 reviews
Positive95.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative4.9%

User reviews

Universal Paperclips™

From 303 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Simple but addictive gameplay
  • 👍 Engaging and clever concept
  • 💡 Interesting philosophical elements
  • 🚀 Surprisingly deep and replayable

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Bugs and glitches, especially in later stages
  • 🔋 High battery consumption
  • 😞 Lack of offline progress or background play
  • 😞 Poorly optimized for iPad

Magic Research

From 188 App Store ratings

What 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

Universal Paperclips™

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Drones gifts getting stuck at NaN
  • Inability to progress past certain stages due to bugs
  • Inconsistent behavior when closing and reopening the app
  • Resets or loss of progress after updates

Requested features

4 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Ability to save and resume progress across devices
  • Offline/background progress
  • Better iPad optimization with multi-column layout

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
Show 3 more
  • 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
Show 7 more
  • 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

None

Universal Paperclips™

No in-app purchases

None

Magic Research

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Universal Paperclips™ free?
Universal Paperclips™ costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Magic Research free?
Magic Research costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Universal Paperclips™ or Magic Research?
Magic Research is rated higher. Universal Paperclips™ averages 4.5 out of 5 from 303 ratings, while Magic Research averages 4.7 from 188 ratings.
Do Universal Paperclips™ or Magic Research have ads?
Neither Universal Paperclips™ nor Magic Research shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Universal Paperclips™ or Magic Research?
Universal Paperclips™ ships an update every 3 months, and Magic Research every 4 days. Most recently, Universal Paperclips™ was updated on September 24, 2026 and Magic Research on September 22, 2026.
Which is more popular, Universal Paperclips™ or Magic Research?
Universal Paperclips™ currently peaks at #39 in the App Store charts, and Magic Research at #101. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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