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 combinable superpowers. Unlock over 99 unique abilities, discover synergistic power combinations, and face procedurally generated enemies and items in each unique run. Overcome challenges to unlock new upgrades and adapt your playstyle.

Highlights
  • Unlock 99+ superpowers
  • Combine powers for synergies
  • Procedurally generated items
  • Roguelike gameplay
  • Idle RPG mechanics
  • Unlockable upgrades
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
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 (836 vs 186). Magic Research's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) 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 10 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 — 836 and 186 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 fortnightly, Magic Research every 4 days. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.

Scorecard7 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 (836 ratings) — better4.7 (186 ratings)
Positive reviews75.2% of reviews95.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings836 — better186
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 4 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size180 MB25 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperLutz SchoenfelderMatias Ezequiel Colotto

Customer experience

Idle Superpowers

All ratings836 ratings
Positive95.2%
Neutral2.5%
Negative2.3%
Written reviews101 reviews
Positive75.2%
Neutral11.9%
Negative12.9%

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 836 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 186 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

10 purchases

Idle Superpowers

One-time10
  • 500 Gems$3.99
  • No Ads$8.99
  • Starter Pack$8.99
Show 7 more
  • 1000 Gems + 100 Free$8.99
  • Season Pass$9.99
  • 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 836 ratings, while Magic Research averages 4.7 from 186 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 fortnightly, and Magic Research every 4 days. Most recently, Idle Superpowers was updated on November 3, 2026 and Magic Research on November 3, 2026.

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