Comparison

Running Fred vs Moon Child

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

Head to head
About

Running Fred

Guide a hapless hero through perilous traps and challenges in this fast-paced third-person platformer. Perform acrobatic maneuvers, utilize special items, and choose from multiple game modes to survive.

Highlights
  • Acrobatic maneuvers
  • Perilous traps
  • Multiple game modes
  • Special skills and perks
  • Unlockable characters and outfits
  • Cross-device progress saving
Features
Read full description

"What goes down, usually meets something hard on its way" The anticipated sequel to Falling Fred is here! Fred is back with a new host of painful antics, awesome acrobatic/desperate moves, special items and uber-cool locations. Take control of our hapless hero as he pursues his quest to remain among the living! Running Fred combines ludicrously natural controls and furiously paced action with the shameless buckets of gore praised on its prequel, making up a fantastic third person platformer unparalleled on mobile devices! Main Features: - Lots of acrobatic maneuvers - Dozens of perilous traps - Multiple game modes: Adventure, Challenge and our favourite Endless Survival! - Tons of special skills and perks - Lot of characters to choose from! - Pimp up your character with special outfits - Keep your progress across all your devices - Share your score with your friends via Game Center What reviewers say: "Bloody Brilliant!" - iFanzine "The sheer amount of content, replayability and fun that comes from deftly avoiding trap after trap is phenomenal" - AppSpy "For gamers who like runner-games, this game is easily a 5 out of 5 stars game" - fabela-imag "Those who love Falling Fred, just love the running Fred, the anticipated sequel to Falling Fred." - Best10App Skiing Fred, the new Fred adventure, is available now at App Store. Check it! SuperSonic Jack, a new here, a new adventure available at App Store Now!

About

Moon Child

Embark on a retro-inspired platforming adventure as a magical elf. Utilize a unique touch control system to navigate vibrant pixel art levels, collect scattered gems, and defeat a techno-virus threatening the planet. Experience smooth scrolling and a captivating soundtrack.

Highlights
  • Pixel art graphics
  • Elastimotion touch controls
  • Collect Dark Diamonds
  • Save planet Utopia
  • Retro-techno soundtrack
  • Hand-crafted levels
Read full description

MOON CHILD Moon Child brings you back to the golden age of platform games, with detailed, hand-crafted pixel artwork, old school 3D animations, a stomping retro-techno soundtrack and silky-smooth scrolling. Guide Moon Child, a little green elf with magical mental and physical powers, on his quest to save the planet Utopia from an evil techno-virus, spread by a crashed meteor. Control Moon Child using a unique approach called Elastimotion. Your fingers will no longer miss on-screen buttons, the Elastimotion control establishes a flexible line that connects your finger with the main character. Moving your finger to the right will make Moon Child run to the right, moving your finger up will cause him to jump, etcetera. You will discover that the Elastimotion control is the most natural way of playing a platform game you've experienced on a touchscreen device. View the included demo sequence for an introduction to the game. The aim of the game is to collect at least 77 of the 84 Dark Diamonds that are spread throughout the various levels. Then you will be able to enter the psychedelic final world, where you need the Dark Diamonds to destroy the abstract heart of the techno-virus. Moon Child requires an iPad 1 (or higher) or an iPhone 4 (or higher) with iOS version 5 (or higher) to run. THE CREDITS Coding: Reinier van Vliet (http://proofofconcept.nl) Graphics: Metin Seven (http://metinseven.com) Audio: Ramon Braumuller

Screenshots

Running Fred4 screens
Moon Child3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Moon Child at none against Running Fred's 10. Moon Child also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (4.8 vs 4.5). Running Fred's advantage is ratings volume (1.8K vs 13) and review sentiment (79% vs 57%). On price and device support 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. Running Fred sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Moon Child asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Moon Child holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Running Fred has 1.8K ratings behind it against 13, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 79% of Running Fred's written reviews are positive against 57% of Moon Child's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Running Fred ships an update every 3 months, Moon Child every 15 months. Both last shipped on October 23, 2026.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Running Fred versus Moon Child: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRunning FredMoon Child
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (1.8K ratings)4.8 (13 ratings) — better
Positive reviews78.8% of reviews — better57.1% of reviews
Number of ratings1.8K — better13
Update frequencyEvery 3 months — betterEvery 15 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.09.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size233 MB88 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperDedalord S.R.L.Proof of Concept

Customer experience

Running Fred

All ratings1,804 ratings
Positive87.2%
Neutral3.3%
Negative9.5%
Written reviews501 reviews
Positive78.8%
Neutral6.2%
Negative15.0%

Moon Child

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive57.1%
Neutral28.6%
Negative14.3%

Bugs and requests

Running Fred

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Game crashes when using Iron Fred character
  • Mystery boxes not working as intended
  • Inverted controls and screen orientation issues
  • Obstacles not registering properly

Requested features

4 requests
  • Bring back Falling Fred and Falling Fred Z
  • Add more levels and worlds
  • Improve controls and responsiveness
  • Reduce difficulty of obtaining in-game currency

Moon Child

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Running Fred

One-time10
  • 2000 Skullies Pack$0.99
  • Value Pack 1$1.99
  • Value Pack 2$1.99
Show 7 more
  • Value Pack 3$1.99
  • 5000 Skullies Pack$1.99
  • 11000 Skullies Pack$4.99
  • 24000 Skullies Pack$9.99
  • 60000 Skullies Pack$14.99
  • 84000 Skullies Pack$29.99
  • 350000 Skullies$99.99
None

Moon Child

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Running Fred free?
Running Fred is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Moon Child free?
Moon Child is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Running Fred or Moon Child?
Moon Child is rated higher. Running Fred averages 4.5 out of 5 from 1.8K ratings, while Moon Child averages 4.8 from 13 ratings.
Do Running Fred or Moon Child have ads?
Running Fred shows ads; Moon Child does not.
Which is updated more often, Running Fred or Moon Child?
Running Fred ships an update every 3 months, and Moon Child every 15 months. Most recently, Running Fred was updated on October 23, 2026 and Moon Child on October 23, 2026.

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