Comparison

Hero Realms vs Aether Chronicles

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

Head to head
About

Hero Realms

Engage in strategic deckbuilding combat, recruit powerful champions, and level up your heroes. Enjoy PvP, co-op against AI bosses, or a single-player campaign. The free version offers core gameplay with optional expansions.

Highlights
  • Deckbuilding combat
  • Recruit champions
  • Hero leveling system
  • Online PvP
  • Cooperative play vs AI
  • Single-player campaign
  • Multiple character classes
Features
Read full description

Become a hero! Choose your class, perform mighty actions, and recruit powerful champions to your cause as you grow in power. Awarded Origins Fan Favorite Best Card Game. From the makers of the award-winning Star Realms® Deckbuilding Game, Hero Realms® combines the fun of deckbuilding games with the interactivity of trading card game-style combat. As you play, use Gold to add new actions and champions to your deck. When played, those actions and champions generate powerful effects, give you additional gold, and attack your opponent and their champions. If you reduce your opponent's health to zero, you win! [Non-Collectible Deck Building Game] Hero Realms does not require you to collect new cards. You start every game with a basic deck, and will acquire cards from the shared center row to build up your deck and defeat your opponent. Victory rewards skill, and not your collection of rare cards! [Level Up Your Heroes] Create a hero from one of several classes (free players start with the Fighter and Wizard available). Level them up with new skills, abilities and equipment, and take them to battle in thrilling Online PVP. Hero Realms uses fair match making, only allowing matches between equal levelled heroes. However, if you feel daring, you can choose to engage in combat against higher levelled opponents for additional XP and bragging rights. [Cooperative Online Play] Hero Realms also features online co-operative play. Battle against challenging AI bosses with another human player as a partner. Free players have access to the Pirate Lord mission, with other co-op missions available with the Base Set purchase. [Single Player Campaign] For offline play, take on the Welcome to Thandar campaign. Fight your way through scripted, story-based chapters against varied AI opponents. [Free Version] Free players will get to experience: - Addictive Deckbuilding Game with Player VS Player Combat. - Play VS the AI - Play with the Fighter and Wizard character classes - Level-up your characters up to Level 3 - Play the first 3 missions in the Welcome to Thandar campaign - Play the Pirate Lord co-op mission Purchasing the Base Set will unlock the full Hero Realms experience: - Unlocks hard AI difficulty level - Unlocks the Cleric, Ranger, and Thief character classes - Level-up your characters to Level 12 - Unlocks the entire Welcome to Thandar campaign. - Unlocks the Necromancers, Inquisition, and Orc Riot co-op missions. Please note that Hero Realms purchases are not compatible with Family Sharing.

About

Aether Chronicles

Engage in fast-paced, tactical battles in this dark fantasy collectible card game. Summon creatures, cast spells, and strategize to defeat your opponents. Explore a story campaign, collect over 1,000 unique cards, and compete in ranked PvP or co-op dungeons.

Highlights
  • Tactical card battles
  • Story campaign mode
  • Collect over 1,000 cards
  • Deck building
  • Ranked PvP duels
  • Co-op dungeon delves
Features
Read full description

Aether Chronicles is a dark fantasy collectible card game built for quick, tactical battles. Summon creatures into three lanes, time your spells, and break your rival's Soul before they break yours. Every card has a job: steadfast guardians, burning berserkers, creeping poison, unseen assassins, wild cards that roll the dice, and legends that change the whole board. STORY CAMPAIGN Follow a story campaign across a broken world, with chapters, boss battles and choices that shape who stands beside you. COLLECT OVER 1,000 CARDS Open packs, craft the cards you need and chase rare foils. Play a card enough and you unlock its mastery alternate art. BUILD YOUR DECK Mix elements and archetypes in a full deck builder, or start from a ready-made deck and make it your own. RANKED PVP Duel real players on the ranked ladder, climb through the seasons and earn rewards. CO-OP DUNGEON DELVES Team up with a friend and fight through dungeon floors together. AND MORE Daily puzzles, the Arena, drafts, weekly challenges, and a friends list with direct messages. Aether Chronicles is free to play. Optional in-app purchases are available for gems, which open card packs and unlock cosmetics. Card pack drop rates are shown in the shop. An account is required so your collection follows you across devices.

Screenshots

Hero Realms4 screens
Aether Chronicles4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Aether Chronicles at 5.0 against Hero Realms's 4.3. Aether Chronicles also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 60%) and update cadence (daily vs every 2 weeks). Hero Realms's advantage is ratings volume (219 vs 1). On price, 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

Both are free to download. Hero Realms sells 13 one-off in-app purchases and Aether Chronicles sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Aether Chronicles holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hero Realms has 219 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 60% of Hero Realms's written reviews are positive against 100% of Aether Chronicles's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hero Realms ships an update every 2 weeks, Aether Chronicles daily. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Hero Realms versus Aether Chronicles: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHero RealmsAether Chronicles
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (219 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews60.2% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings219 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size435 MB811 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperWhite Wizard GamesDustin Sinclair

Customer experience

Hero Realms

All ratings219 ratings
Positive80.8%
Neutral5.0%
Negative14.2%
Written reviews133 reviews
Positive60.2%
Neutral10.5%
Negative29.3%

Aether Chronicles

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Hero Realms

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Crashes when trying to play online
  • Inability to access purchased content
  • Freezing and black screen issues
  • Incorrect character level progression
  • Matchmaking problems and long wait times

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more expansions and additional content
  • Implement a friends list and social features
  • Improve the campaign mode with more levels and challenges
  • Add an option to check the contents of your deck before playing
  • Implement a turn timer to prevent players from stalling

Aether Chronicles

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

13 purchases

Hero Realms

One-time13
  • 80 Gems$0.99
  • 200 gems$2.29
  • Four Journeys Campaign$3.99
Show 10 more
  • 500 Gems$4.99
  • Hero Realms: Call to Arms$4.99
  • Journeys Expansions$4.99
  • Journeys Promo Expansion$4.99
  • Dungeons Expansion$7.99
  • 1200 Gems$9.99
  • Hero Realms Base Set$9.99
  • 2500 Gems$19.99
  • 6500 Gems$49.99
  • 14000 Gems$99.99
6 purchases

Aether Chronicles

One-time6
  • Aether Shard$0.99
  • Pouch of Gems$4.99
  • Satchel of Gems$9.99
Show 3 more
  • Chest of Gems$19.99
  • Dragon's Hoard$34.99
  • Aetherwell Vault$69.99

Questions

Is Hero Realms free?
Hero Realms is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Aether Chronicles free?
Aether Chronicles is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Hero Realms or Aether Chronicles?
Aether Chronicles is rated higher. Hero Realms averages 4.3 out of 5 from 219 ratings, while Aether Chronicles averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Hero Realms or Aether Chronicles have ads?
Neither Hero Realms nor Aether Chronicles shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Hero Realms or Aether Chronicles?
Hero Realms ships an update every 2 weeks, and Aether Chronicles daily. Most recently, Hero Realms was updated on November 2, 2026 and Aether Chronicles on October 31, 2026.

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