Grimoire Incremental vs Magic Research
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Grimoire Incremental
Engage in a narrative-driven idle or clicker game where your choices shape society and unlock new mechanics. Progress through runs and prestiges with non-formulaic gameplay and optional ads.
- Non-formulaic gameplay
- Branching narrative choices
- Idle and clicker mechanics
- Unlockable mechanics
- Opt-in ads for bonuses
- Single in-app purchase option
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NON-FORMULAIC GAMEPLAY Make real choices through spells to favour, interactions with the populace, and other arcane projects. Focus on combining thematic effects to wield great power. Choose between idle and clicker mechanics as you progress through runs and prestiges. BRANCHING CHOICES Choose how you'll use the magic available to you to shape society, and witness the impact through a changing story and play style. COMPELLING NARRATIVE Experience a broad story arc that grows as you progress, and branches with the choices you make and actions you take. MANY AND VARIED MECHANICS Unlock new ways to make those numbers bigger with practice, research, spells, creations, lifestyle and expeditions. Each new mechanic offers a different twist and provides new opportunities for strategy. NO OBLIGATION Adverts are opt-in for a bonus only. No content is blocked behind ad walls. Single in-app purchase removes ad button and gives boost forever.
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.
- 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
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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
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Grimoire Incremental at Free against Magic Research's $3.99. Magic Research's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ads (none vs shown). On rating, ratings volume, 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
Grimoire Incremental is free to download; Magic Research costs $3.99 up front. Grimoire Incremental sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Magic Research asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Grimoire Incremental against 4.7 for Magic Research. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 544 and 188 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 87% of Grimoire Incremental's written reviews are positive against 95% of Magic Research's.
Grimoire Incremental ships an update every 3 months, Magic Research every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Grimoire Incremental | Magic Research |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $3.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (544 ratings) — better | 4.7 (188 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 86.9% of reviews | 95.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 544 — better | 188 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #99 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 70 MB | 25 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Graham Goldstein | Matias Ezequiel Colotto |
Customer experience
Grimoire Incremental
Magic Research
User reviews
Grimoire Incremental
From 544 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Great game
- 👍 Simplicity and minimalism
- 👍 Non-intrusive ads
- 👍 Engaging gameplay
- 👍 Rewarding progression
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes
- 🐛 Slow progress in late game
- 🐛 Imbalanced builds
- 🐛 Lack of content variety
Magic Research
From 188 App Store ratingsWhat 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
Grimoire Incremental
Reported bugs
2 issues- Progress loss on crash
- Compatibility issues on older devices
Requested features
4 requests- More content and updates
- Better late-game balance
- Detailed progression tracking
- Story expansion
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
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- 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
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- 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
Grimoire Incremental
- Remove Advertisements$6.99
Magic Research
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Grimoire Incremental free?
Is Magic Research free?
Which has better reviews, Grimoire Incremental or Magic Research?
Do Grimoire Incremental or Magic Research have ads?
Which is updated more often, Grimoire Incremental or Magic Research?
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