Comparison

Idle Hex Realms vs Incremental ELM Quest 2

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Idle Hex Realms

Features
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Idle Hex Realms is an incremental idle game (where you progress even when you are AFK), uniting multiple genres (idle, boardgames, city building, CCG). After the collapse of the Ruon empire you find yourself in one of the three remaining kingdoms trying to make a name for yourself. Your first city starts from the small land that the ruler has given to you in exchange for your services. You will be collecting resources (food, wood, stone, and gold) in order to upgrade your settlement. Once the settlement is self-sustaining, you can venture out and found a new city to get a boost on future progress. A growing empire never sleeps. Being a leader has its own benefits, as you don't have to supervise every tiny bit to keep things running. Feel free to take breaks, production will be taken care of. Just make sure you upgrade your warehouses, so there is place to stockpile the resources. While searching for the perfect location of your new city, you will meet Lorekeepers. Lorekeepers are knowledgable people as they were in charge of the Imperial Library back in the Ruon empire. They are willing to share their knowledge with you, in the form of Unique Hexes. These are special tiles with knowledge infused, making them capable of altering the environment, acting as power-ups in your gameplay. Every new city starts with a new randomly generated map and a random draw of three starting Unique Hexes from your gathered collection to help you grow your new city in various ways. This game contains In-App Purchases. Standard Apple Terms of Use applies: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Incremental ELM Quest 2

Explore a world where elemental forces are merging, cataloging creatures and uncovering a deep mystery. This offline RPG features extensive progression systems, a vast bestiary, and a narrative told through field reports. Earn rewards even while offline.

Highlights
  • Catalog over 4000 unique creatures
  • Level up over 300 hero classes
  • Explore elemental portals
  • Offline progression
  • Narrative told through field journals
  • Deep progression systems
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A free incremental RPG you can play entirely offline. No ads, no paywall, and every goal in the game is reachable without spending a cent. The world's eight elemental forces were once held apart. Now they are bleeding together, and everything is changing. You are a Cataloguer: a licensed scholar sent into the saturated zones to document what lives there. Encounter creatures, record them, and fill the Manifest, one species at a time. The more you catalogue, the more the world opens up, and the closer you come to the thing nobody wants to talk about: why everything is falling apart. If you've always wanted to play a uniquely idle monster collecting adventure with the patience of a nature documentary and the wit of a dungeon crawl, this is your chance. Explore portals, return to new species and new regions, and watch the Manifest fill in like a field journal. WHAT YOU'LL FIND • Over 4,000 creatures to find, fight, and catalogue. Each holds a small piece of the overall narrative. • Over 300 classes to equip and level up. Send your hero into elemental portals and take control as battles unfold. • Offline progression that unlocks early and never stops: your hero keeps earning and your disciples keep hunting while the app is closed. • Every portal is graded. The threat ratings are, unfortunately, accurate. • 16 narrators bring the world alive through their lost dossiers. Sixteen cataloguers came before you and its on you to find out why they stopped writing. • Deep progression: level classes, raise disciples, study at the university, upgrade your guild license, master insignias, power up skills, and more. • Rare enemy variants, an ever-expanding ladder of achievements, and Game Center leaderboards (purely optional). FAIR BY DESIGN The whole game is offline, free, and ad-free. The optional purchases are purely cosmetics that support a solo, part-time developer. I'm an incremental game fan who got bored waiting for the next one to drop. Made by one person as a part-time passion project. Thank you for giving it a shot!

Screenshots

Idle Hex Realms4 screens
Incremental ELM Quest 24 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Incremental ELM Quest 2 at every 4 days against Idle Hex Realms's every 11 months. Idle Hex Realms's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. Idle Hex Realms sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $2.99 per month and Incremental ELM Quest 2 sells 16 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Idle Hex Realms ships an update every 11 months, Incremental ELM Quest 2 every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Idle Hex Realms versus Incremental ELM Quest 2: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterIdle Hex RealmsIncremental ELM Quest 2
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.7 (49 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—83.3% of reviews
Number of ratings—49 — better
Update frequencyEvery 11 monthsEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS11.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size61 MB190 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperArtur NagyEric Marin

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Idle Hex Realms

Subscriptions1
  • Monthly Subscription$2.991 Month
16 purchases

Incremental ELM Quest 2

One-time16
  • Cosmetic: D- Pack$0.99
  • Support Tip$0.99
  • Support Coffee$4.99
Show 13 more
  • Cosmetic: S- Pack$6.99
  • Cosmetic: SS- Pack$7.99
  • Cosmetic: S+ Pack$7.99
  • Cosmetic: SS+ Pack$8.99
  • Cosmetic: SSS- Pack$9.99
  • Cosmetic: SSS Pack$9.99
  • Cosmetic: SSS+ Pack$9.99
  • Cosmetic: Letter of Patronage$9.99
  • Support Lunch$9.99
  • Cosmetic: Founder's Edition$19.99
  • Support Dinner$19.99
  • Support Updates$29.99
  • Support Next Game$49.99

Questions

Is Idle Hex Realms free?
Idle Hex Realms is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Incremental ELM Quest 2 free?
Incremental ELM Quest 2 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Idle Hex Realms or Incremental ELM Quest 2 have ads?
Neither Idle Hex Realms nor Incremental ELM Quest 2 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Idle Hex Realms or Incremental ELM Quest 2?
Idle Hex Realms ships an update every 11 months, and Incremental ELM Quest 2 every 4 days. Most recently, Idle Hex Realms was updated on October 7, 2026 and Incremental ELM Quest 2 on October 16, 2026.

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