Comparison

Idle Superpowers 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

Idle Superpowers

Embark on a roguelike idle RPG adventure as a superhero with a vast array of unlockable, combinable superpowers. Experience unique runs with procedurally generated items and enemies, and overcome challenges that demand diverse playstyles.

Highlights
  • Unlock 99+ superpowers
  • Combine superpowers for synergies
  • Random power generation
  • Procedural items and enemies
  • Unlockable upgrades
  • Challenging gameplay
Features
Read full description

Idle Superpowers is a roguelike idle rpg where you are a superhero who can get multiple superpowers that are combinable and synergize with each other! - 99+ superpowers to unlock - random generation of powers ensures that each run plays different - combine superpowers to create overpowered synergies - procedural generated items and enemies - challenges to unlock new upgrades, which require different playstyles

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
Read full description

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

Idle Superpowers4 screens
Magic Research4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Idle Superpowers at Free against Magic Research's $3.99. Idle Superpowers also leads on ratings volume (830 vs 188). Magic Research's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 9) and ads (none vs shown). On rating, device support and iOS requirement 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

Idle Superpowers is free to download; Magic Research costs $3.99 up front. Idle Superpowers sells 9 one-off in-app purchases. Magic Research asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Idle Superpowers against 4.7 for Magic Research. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 830 and 188 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 75% of Idle Superpowers's written reviews are positive against 95% of Magic Research's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Idle Superpowers ships an update every 2 months, Magic Research every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Idle Superpowers versus Magic Research: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterIdle SuperpowersMagic Research
PriceFree — better$3.99
Rating4.8 (830 ratings) — better4.7 (188 ratings)
Positive reviews74.7% of reviews95.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings830 — better188
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 4 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#93 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size168 MB25 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperLutz SchoenfelderMatias Ezequiel Colotto

Customer experience

Idle Superpowers

All ratings830 ratings
Positive95.3%
Neutral2.5%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews99 reviews
Positive74.7%
Neutral12.1%
Negative13.1%

Magic Research

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

User reviews

Idle Superpowers

From 830 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Pretty good
  • 👍 LOVE THIS!
  • 👍 Never thought I'd be this invested
  • 👍 Best Idle Game to Date
  • 👍 my favorite mobile game

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Unskippable overlong ads
  • 🐛 Weirdly fun, but very limited
  • 🐛 Ads?
  • 🐛 Used to be fun
  • 🐛 Inventory management is bad

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

Idle Superpowers

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Fix new bug please
  • Money UI getting pixelated
  • Latest update (notifications) is causing crashes
  • Ok, so idk what I did but my game now crashes after about a minute of me being the game
  • Pretty fun, but extreme flickering bar on bottom of 12 pro max prevents playing for extended amounts of time

Requested features

6 requests
  • Beta
  • Give it a real chance
  • Needs an update
  • Updates
  • An amazing game with no random adds. Literally No random Adds!
Show 1 more
  • It can be improved

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

9 purchases

Idle Superpowers

One-time9
  • 500 Gems$3.99
  • No Ads$8.99
  • Starter Pack$8.99
Show 6 more
  • 1000 Gems + 100 Free$8.99
  • 2000 Gems + 250 Free$17.99
  • Hero Pack$35.99
  • Superhero Pack$44.99
  • 5000 Gems + 1500 Free$44.99
  • 10K Gems + 5K Free!$89.99
None

Magic Research

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Idle Superpowers free?
Idle Superpowers is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Magic Research free?
Magic Research costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Idle Superpowers or Magic Research?
Idle Superpowers is rated higher. Idle Superpowers averages 4.8 out of 5 from 830 ratings, while Magic Research averages 4.7 from 188 ratings.
Do Idle Superpowers or Magic Research have ads?
Idle Superpowers shows ads; Magic Research does not.
Which is updated more often, Idle Superpowers or Magic Research?
Idle Superpowers ships an update every 2 months, and Magic Research every 4 days. Most recently, Idle Superpowers was updated on September 24, 2026 and Magic Research on September 22, 2026.

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