Comparison

Grimoire Incremental 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

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.

Highlights
  • Non-formulaic gameplay
  • Branching narrative choices
  • Idle and clicker mechanics
  • Unlockable mechanics
  • Opt-in ads for bonuses
  • Single in-app purchase option
Features
Read full description

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.

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

Grimoire Incremental4 screens
Magic Research4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Grimoire Incremental versus Magic Research: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGrimoire IncrementalMagic Research
PriceFree — better$3.99
Rating4.8 (544 ratings) — better4.7 (188 ratings)
Positive reviews86.9% of reviews95.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings544 — better188
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 4 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#99 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size70 MB25 MB
Age rating9+12+
DeveloperGraham GoldsteinMatias Ezequiel Colotto

Customer experience

Grimoire Incremental

All ratings544 ratings
Positive96.0%
Neutral1.5%
Negative2.6%
Written reviews107 reviews
Positive86.9%
Neutral5.6%
Negative7.5%

Magic Research

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

User reviews

Grimoire Incremental

From 544 App Store ratings

What 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 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

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
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

1 purchases

Grimoire Incremental

One-time1
  • Remove Advertisements$6.99
None

Magic Research

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Grimoire Incremental free?
Grimoire Incremental 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, Grimoire Incremental or Magic Research?
Grimoire Incremental is rated higher. Grimoire Incremental averages 4.8 out of 5 from 544 ratings, while Magic Research averages 4.7 from 188 ratings.
Do Grimoire Incremental or Magic Research have ads?
Grimoire Incremental shows ads; Magic Research does not.
Which is updated more often, Grimoire Incremental or Magic Research?
Grimoire Incremental ships an update every 3 months, and Magic Research every 4 days. Most recently, Grimoire Incremental was updated on September 19, 2026 and Magic Research on September 22, 2026.

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