Nova Island vs Rage Mage
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Nova Island
Engage in strategic card battles with cute anime-inspired characters. Collect friends, powers, and skins while competing in PvP matches or embarking on an adventure. Build decks and master unique playstyles.
- Collectible card battles
- Strategic deck building
- PvP and PvE modes
- Character collection
- Cosmetic customization
- Daily challenges
- Draft mode
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Discover friends and card duels in this exciting strategic adventure game! Nova Island is an anime inspired card game with cute characters, amazing strategy, and an engaging adventure! And totally ad free! Looking for a unique collectible card game that combines strategy & chance? On Nova Island, you can take on challenges, play quick matches with friends, or compete against players from around the world to climb the leaderboard. Play cards to gain strength, deal damage, plan ahead, and disrupt opponents in ways they’ll never see coming. It’s fun! Try it out for free and discover its complete strategic freedom! Alert! A new Nova Researcher has arrived on the island! With your help and the various Pros by your side, collect all of the Friends, Powers, and customizable Skins found on this colorful island. Go out on an adventure of a lifetime and see all of the fun in store for you! Quick PvP Matches in Every Mode Compete in fast online Ranked Matches versus players around the world. Try out your strategic thinking in a unique single-player experience with new themes popping in the Daily Challenges. The Best of Your Favorite TCG and CCG Experiences Train your skills with the Turbo Chaos Draft Challenge against players around the world in a fast-paced draft mode. Challenge yourself with a PVE singleplayer journey around the island and tricky limited time game modes. Level up on Research Road and collect over 100 cards and over 1500 cosmetics, including: - 8 Pros, each with a thematic soundtrack and unique playstyle. - Over 70 Friends with cute animations, sound effects, and custom skins to change their look! So get in there and build your deck with strategy and style! Pick Your Prize or Try Your Luck: Use your winning Tokens on the Vending Machines to collect rewards, level up your favorite strategies, and unlock new cards. You’ll learn more about Nova Island, the Pros and Friends inhabiting the districts, and the challenges that await you as you explore! We have a growing community who love to chat! Discuss tips and tricks with some real Nova Island Pros! Join in for all fun things NOVA ISLAND! Discord: https://play.novaisland.com/discord Need SUPPORT? Visit our Website: https://novaisland.com or Email us: hello@thirteengames.com Just some important legal information: PRIVACY POLICY: https://novaisland.com/privacy-policy TERMS OF SERVICE: https://novaisland.com/terms-of-service
Rage Mage
Embark on a magical adventure on a mysterious island, drawing cards to acquire powerful equipment and upgrade your abilities. Explore ancient runes, forge mystical gear, and engage in strategic duels to conquer a world filled with challenges.
- Card drawing for equipment
- Equipment upgrading
- Star chart and gem bonuses
- Mystical altar and rune upgrades
- Ranking battles and magic duels
- Stage challenges and strategy building
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You can no longer hide as an ordinary person when you set foot on a magical island. This time, fate has chosen you and you will be determined to fulfil your mission. Yes, the gates of magic are opening to you. Discover the mysteries of card magic and formations, decipher the mysteries of forging mysterious equipment, whether the enchantment of runes and sacred weapons can help you conquer this crisis-ridden world of magic. This time, we're going to go on a rampage! [Simple Play & Easy Card Drawing] No need for complicated plays, just tap to draw mystery cards to obtain amazing equipment, and upgrade the cards to increase the equipment acquisition rate. Collect your exclusive equipment, create your own attributes and conquer the world of magic at your fingertips. [Star Chart & Free Matching] Gather the power of the stars to create your own battle style. Combine gems and star charts to provide additional bonuses to help you navigate the dangerous world of magic! [Mystic Altar & Runes Bonus] Capture abundant resources to upgrade your mystical altar, collect rune stones with different attributes and enjoy the bonuses of rune spirits! There are even elemental spirits of the clan level waiting to be unlocked! [Ranking Battle & Magic Duel] Who is the true king of magic? And who is the true master of strategy? Come and enjoy a fair fight in the dueling arena! Fair matching, magic duel, climb the path to magical glory and gain more magical resources! [Stage Challenge & Strategy Building] Facing elite bosses with different attributes, can you find out the best strategy against the enemy and break through the levels to get better resources! Complete the main level and unlock the elite level. Are you willing to accept the challenge!
Screenshots
Verdict
Nova Island and Rage Mage both sit at 4.3 stars, but that hides the real split: 60% of Nova Island's written reviews are positive against 52% of Rage Mage's. Rage Mage's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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
Both are free to download. Nova Island sells 66 one-off in-app purchases and Rage Mage sells 11 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.3 for Nova Island against 4.2 for Rage Mage. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 237 and 579 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 60% of Nova Island's written reviews are positive against 52% of Rage Mage's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Nova Island | Rage Mage |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (237 ratings) — better | 4.2 (579 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 60.4% of reviews — better | 51.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 237 | 579 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 262 MB | 137 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Thirteen Games, LLC | Modo Game |
Customer experience
Nova Island
Rage Mage
User reviews
Nova Island
From 237 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Unique gameplay mechanics
- 🎨 Appealing art style and animations
- 💰 Completely free-to-play, no pay-to-win
- 🕹️ Engaging strategic depth
- 🌟 Underrated and deserves more attention
Room to improve
- 🎲 Excessive reliance on RNG
- 🔁 Repetitive and swingy gameplay
- 🕰️ Slow progression and grindy unlock system
- ⚖️ Unbalanced card/character power levels
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and connectivity issues
Rage Mage
From 579 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Smooth gameplay
- ⏱️ Efficient auto-play features
- 💎 Generous free-to-play progression
- 🤝 Engaging guild system
Room to improve
- 💰 Heavily pay-to-win
- 🕰️ Repetitive and grindy progression
- 🔍 Lack of content and endgame
- 🤖 Unbalanced PvP matchmaking
Bugs and requests
Nova Island
Reported bugs
2 issues- Soft-locking tutorial
- Inconsistent performance on some devices
Requested features
4 requests- Offline mode or paid full version
- Ability to play with friends
- More character/card customization options
- Improved tutorial and onboarding experience
Rage Mage
Reported bugs
2 issues- Account reset issues
- Unreliable drop rates and event rewards
Requested features
4 requests- Faster card opening and rune activation
- More diverse character customization options
- Cross-server communication and events
- Improved guild management tools
In-app purchases
Nova Island
- 90 Island Credits$0.99
- Researcher’s Starter Bundle$0.99
- Circuit Boiz Bundle 2$0.99
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- Circuit Boiz Bundle 1$0.99
- 4th Anniversary Emotes Bundle1$0.99
- Halloween Juice Emote$0.99
- Max Halloween Emote$0.99
- Artillery Pack$0.99
- Doodle Branehart Emote$0.99
- 75 Island Credits2 variants$1.99
- Welcome Bundle$1.99
- Power Outage Pack$1.99
- Researcher's Starter Bundle2 variants$1.99
- Circuit Boiz Pack$1.99
- Rerun Activate$1.99
- Sprynk Activate$1.99
- Hackmaster Activate$1.99
- Escape Pod Activate$1.99
- Novas Special BF$1.99
- Food Emote Bundle$1.99
- Cosmicosi Legendary Skin$1.99
- Cannonball Level Up$1.99
- Welcome Party Bundle$2.99
- Mage Rerun$2.99
- Oddball Filthy Clean Skin$2.99
- Giving Tree Unlock$2.99
- Giving Tree Level Up$2.99
- New Season Novium Special$2.99
- Greenhouse Pack$2.99
- Daily Login Bonus$3.99
- Rainbow Gemma Skin$3.99
- Gemma Activate$3.99
- EOY Winter Skins 2024$3.99
- Unlock Sparki$3.99
- Nova Tree Giving Tree$3.99
- Cosmicosi Activate$3.99
- Crystal Kitten$3.99
- Arcade Pack$3.99
- Ghost Blazer$3.99
- Candy Weade$3.99
- Frankenjazzy$3.99
- 575 Island Credits$4.99
- ULTIMATE Welcome Bundle$4.99
- Welcome Party Bundle$4.99
- Bloom King BC Special$4.99
- 80s Sparki$4.99
- Observatory Pack$4.99
- 225 Island Credits$4.99
- Intranet Pack$5.99
- Activation Starter Bundle$5.99
- One Cent and IP$6.99
- Khrys and Flutter$6.99
- Crystal Cats$8.99
- 1175 Island Credits$9.99
- Nova Tree Bundle$9.99
- Welcome Bundle 5$9.99
- Boost Pack C$9.99
- Hooligan Bundle$9.99
- Boost Pack B$9.99
- 480 Island Credits$9.99
- Ancient 9 Skins$14.99
- EOY Credits Special 2024$14.99
- 2400 Island Credits$19.99
- Super Boost Pack C$19.99
- 1020 Island Credits$19.99
- 2155 Island Credits$39.99
Rage Mage
- Purchase Diamond 1$0.99
- In-game purchase service 1$1.99
- Month card$3.99
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- stone month card$4.99
- Purchase Diamond 2$4.99
- In-game purchase service 3$9.99
- In-game purchase service 6$14.99
- In-game purchase service 4$19.99
- Purchase Diamond 3$29.99
- Purchase Diamond 4$49.99
- Purchase Diamond 5$99.99








