Cardio Quest vs Pixel Runner
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Cardio Quest
This fantasy role-playing game transforms your real-life workouts into epic battles. Track your heart rate to fight monsters, earn loot, and level up your hero. Compete with friends on leaderboards and track your fitness progress.
- Heart rate tracking for combat
- Fantasy role-playing gameplay
- Monster battles during workouts
- Earn loot and level up hero
- Friend tracking and leaderboards
- Workout tracking
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Cardio Quest is a fantasy role-playing video game that challenges players to get active and improve their health. By tracking heart rate during exercise, players do battle while they work out in real life. Watch your Hero slay monsters as you get fit and earn epic loot. Follow friends, rank on leaderboards, track your workouts, and level up as you turn your workouts into gaming marathons. Cardio Quest is currently in Open Beta. Come join the future of connected fitness!
Pixel Runner
Embark on an interstellar journey to return home from a distant moon. Run, jump, and collect resources to construct your rocket and uncover the mysteries of your destination. Experience evolving gameplay with new challenges and a global ranking system.
- Story-driven pixel art animation
- Five distinct worlds with changing scenery
- Evolving astronaut suit with upgradeable abilities
- Daily missions and challenges
- Global player rankings
- One-handed controls
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Stranded on an unknown moon, an astronaut has only one goal: getting home. Run, jump and collect shards to build your rocket… and find out what awaits you there. A STORY WITHOUT WORDS On first launch, a short pixel art animation tells the story of the crash. The rest unlocks as you play, all the way to building your own colony. 5 WORLDS TO CROSS Moon, abandoned colony, neon city, scorching dunes, forest under the northern lights: every 1000 meters the scenery and obstacles change, and the run speeds up. AN ASTRONAUT THAT EVOLVES Double and triple jump, glider, dive, magnet, head-start boosts: every module you buy at the workshop shows on your suit. NEW CHALLENGES EVERY DAY Three rotating missions, a daily chest and the Daily Run: the same course for everyone, a new one every day. GLOBAL RANKING Compare your best run with other pilots and aim for the podium. ONE-HANDED Tap to jump, hold to go higher. Easy to pick up, hard to master. NO FORCED ADS No ad ever plays without your say: only when you choose to revive or open a bonus chest. Paid suits are purely cosmetic. Plays offline. Available in English, French and Chinese.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Cardio Quest at 4.2 against Pixel Runner's 2.0. Cardio Quest also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 6 months). Pixel Runner's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2). 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
Both are free to download. Cardio Quest sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Pixel Runner asks for nothing beyond the download.
Cardio Quest holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Cardio Quest has 59 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Cardio Quest ships an update every 2 weeks, Pixel Runner every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Cardio Quest | Pixel Runner |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (59 ratings) — better | 2.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 59.5% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 59 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 6 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Ad-supported — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1.2 GB | 43 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Press Forward Games LLC | Cyrille Varin |
Customer experience
Cardio Quest
Pixel Runner
Bugs and requests
Cardio Quest
Reported bugs
18 issues- Cannot connect to Hyperate application
- Bug interface
- Needs separate app for Apple Watch data
- Sync feature has limitations (free version)
- App loses track of heart rate
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- UI is unintuitive
- Cannot figure out how to level up
- Won't connect to Garmin
- Cannot add devices via app
- Calories burned not accurate for stairs
- Duplicate gear not going into inventory
- Sync issues with heart rate
- Game needs to be resynced constantly
- Disconnects during workouts
- Doesn't sync
- Can't sync iWatch
- Doesnt work with device
- Incomplete at the moment
Requested features
12 requests- Simpler UX for new users
- More things to manage
- Less time managing/learning
- Add an idle element (e.g., mining)
- Upgrade system for duplicate gear
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- View pets during battles
- Move around a virtual world like an MMO
- Combat and social aspects
- Compatibility with cheaper smartwatches
- Option to use data from Apple Fitness
- Retroactively correct step count
- Allow app to run in background for quests
Pixel Runner
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Cardio Quest
- Monthly Premium Features$4.99
- Monthly Battle Pass$9.99
Pixel Runner
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Cardio Quest free?
Is Pixel Runner free?
Which has better reviews, Cardio Quest or Pixel Runner?
Do Cardio Quest or Pixel Runner have ads?
Which is updated more often, Cardio Quest or Pixel Runner?
Other comparisons
