# Guildmaster Idle vs Arclight City

The clearest difference is ads: Arclight City at none against Guildmaster Idle's shown. Guildmaster Idle's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs monthly) and review sentiment (75% vs 59%). On price, rating, ratings volume and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Guildmaster Idle sells 9 one-off in-app purchases and Arclight City sells 6 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 — 4.7 for Guildmaster Idle against 4.7 for Arclight City. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 533 and 188 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 75% of Guildmaster Idle's written reviews are positive against 59% of Arclight City's.

Guildmaster Idle ships an update weekly, Arclight City monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Guildmaster Idle | Arclight City |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.7 (533 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/guildmaster-idle/id1588390905/reviews) | [4.7 (188 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/arclight-city-text-based-rpg/id6449096331/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **533** | 188 |
| Positive reviews | **74.7% of reviews** | 58.8% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | **Weekly** | Monthly |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 314 MB | 8 MB |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 13.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 9+ | 9+ |
| Developer | [Elvenry Studios](https://appshunter.io/developer/1588390907) | [Ching Huang](https://appshunter.io/developer/1541691334) |

## What reviewers say

### Guildmaster Idle

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/guildmaster-idle/id1588390905)

Manage and grow an interactive idle RPG guild. Engage in various minigames to gather resources, craft gear, and train adventurers for quests and dungeons. Attract new heroes and forge alliances to become a legendary guildmaster.

**Highlights:** Interactive idle gameplay, Professions minigames (mining, crafting, bartending, etc.), Questing and dungeon crawling, Guild and hero progression, Talent tree upgrades, Ad-free option

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (9)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1000 Runes | $1.99 | one-time |
| 2500 Runes | $4.99 | one-time |
| Increase Max Offline Work | $4.99 | one-time |
| Purchase Runes (Scrolls) | $4.99 | one-time |
| Purchase Rune Bundle | $4.99 | one-time |
| 7500 Runes | $9.99 | one-time |
| 15000 Runes | $19.99 | one-time |
| 50000 Runes | $49.99 | one-time |
| 100000 Runes | $99.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Practical idle game mechanics
- 🚀 Smooth and responsive gameplay
- 💡 Interesting concept and depth
- 🔒 No forced ads or paywalls

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
- 🐛 Bugs with certain features
- 🔍 Lack of in-game information and guidance
- ⏱️ Overly long dungeon timers

**Reported bugs**

- Game freezes and crashes
- Talent tree enhancements not working as expected
- Gear enhancements have no material requirements
- Unable to construct certain buildings

**Requested features**

- Add a wiki or knowledge base
- Improve UI and accessibility
- Reduce dungeon completion times
- Introduce character/guild customization


### Arclight City

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/arclight-city-text-based-rpg/id6449096331)

Engage in a cyberpunk MMORPG set in a neon-drenched city. Build your gang, explore procedurally generated dungeons, and customize gear. Master turn-based combat and rise to power in this text-based adventure.

**Highlights:** Unique mercenaries with special abilities, Unlimited weapons and gear customization, Procedurally generated dungeons, Turn-based combat, Anime and pixel art style, Idle and background progression, Auto farming

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (6)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| premium1 | $1.99 | one-time |
| premium2 | $4.99 | one-time |
| premium3 | $9.99 | one-time |
| premium4 | $19.99 | one-time |
| premium5 | $49.99 | one-time |
| premium6 | $99.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- ✨ Captivating and fun gameplay
- 🌌 Great cyberpunk aesthetic
- 🎵 Excellent soundtrack
- 🎮 Better mechanics than previous game
- 👍 Casual and fun for cyberpunk fans

**What reviewers complain about**

- 📉 Poor moderation and punishment
- 💰 Pay-to-play mechanics
- ⏳ Slow energy/psychosis removal
- 🚫 Zero to none drop rates
- 🔞 Embarrassing soft-core pornographic content

**Reported bugs**

- Unplayable on iPhone X and up due to screen issues
- Cannot access settings without finishing tutorial
- Screen shape issues on newer iPhones
- Nothing works when clicked unless in-game purchases are made

**Requested features**

- Add more soundtrack tracks
- Improve moderation and punishment system
- Implement character/avatar updates with equipment
- Add more dungeons and special keys for entry
- Add male mercenaries to the team


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Guildmaster Idle free?

Guildmaster Idle is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Arclight City free?

Arclight City is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Guildmaster Idle or Arclight City?

Guildmaster Idle and Arclight City are both rated 4.7 out of 5 on the App Store, from 533 and 188 ratings respectively.

### Do Guildmaster Idle or Arclight City have ads?

Guildmaster Idle shows ads; Arclight City does not.

### Which is updated more often, Guildmaster Idle or Arclight City?

Guildmaster Idle ships an update weekly, and Arclight City monthly. Most recently, Guildmaster Idle was updated on October 7, 2026 and Arclight City on October 16, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*