Dungeons of Aether vs Illuminaria
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Dungeons of Aether
Embark on a challenging turn-based dungeon crawler where strategic dice drafting determines your fate. Explore diverse biomes, uncover journal entries, and master unique hero skills in a quest for treasure or an early demise.
- Turn-based dice drafting combat
- Four unique heroes with special skills
- Story mode with steampunk town exploration
- Multiple dungeon biomes
- Challenge dungeons for roguelike difficulty
- Collectible journal entries
Read full descriptionHide full description
Dungeons of Aether is a turn-based dungeon crawler designed by Nikita ‘ampersandbear’ Belorusov from the Aether Studios team. Rivals of Aether is known for its intense competition and twitch skills, while Dungeons of Aether allows you to take things at your own pace - but it’s still just as challenging! Every choice you make can lead you deeper into the dungeons or to an early demise. Will you carry out a treasure chest, or be carried out in a pine box? The combat in Dungeons of Aether uses a dice draft system that ensures each battle is unique while challenging the player to adapt the pool of dice each turn. Use fortune to your favor to defeat your foes, collect treasures and shift the odds in your favor... Game Features: - Meet four NEW HEROES from the world of Aether, each with their own unique skills and memorable personalities. - Play STORY MODE and travel to the steampunk town of Julesvale and brave the sprawling caverns underneath it. - Explore each DUNGEON BIOME as you dive into Julesvale Mines, the Lava Caves, the Underground Oasis and the Mineral Deposits, collecting revealing Journal Entries along the way. - Brave the CHALLENGE DUNGEONS if you are looking for true roguelike difficulty to test your skills in the randomly generated dungeons.
Illuminaria
Build and manage multiple bases, command robot swarms for resource gathering and defense. Explore dungeons, research technologies, and assemble an army of golems to reclaim a world from darkness.
- Robot swarm control
- Multi-base management
- Automated resource gathering
- Base defense systems
- Dungeon expeditions
- Golem army creation
- Technology research
Read full descriptionHide full description
Mine resources, manage and defend multiple bases. Go on expeditions, fight in auto-battles, research new technologies, and create your army of golems to drive out the darkness and bring back the light. ■ Control a swarm of robots using simple interactions Choose where to build, what resources to gather, and then watch the robots do the heavy lifting. They'll gather the resources, build, load weapons, fight, and respond to the world around them. ■ Defend your bases from incoming attacks Vicious enemies of darkness will attack your base, attempting to destroy your reactors and steal your resources. Build turrets and load them up with ammunition to repel the attacks. ■ Build multiple bases and manage them all at the same time Instead of having a sandbox world, you'll need to build several smaller bases with finite space. Be on the lookout as all the bases keep functioning at all times and can be attacked by the enemies. ■ Venture into dungeon-like expeditions to battle and find precious relics Adventure and explore to find hidden treasures, and fight enemies in auto-battles. This way, you'll get rare resources to use to your advantage. ■ Research new technologies in different regions The game will have five regions, each with new resources and technologies to discover. ■ Liberate the world by lighting beacons and crafting your own army The world of Illuminaria was taken over by darkness. Unravel the story about what happened on the planet as you clean and liberate the five regions by lighting beacons and sending your armies of golems to attack.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Dungeons of Aether at every 8 days against Illuminaria's every 25 months. Dungeons of Aether also leads on review sentiment (93% vs 83%) and ratings volume (28 vs 6). On price, rating, 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
Dungeons of Aether costs $4.99 and Illuminaria $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Dungeons of Aether against 4.8 for Illuminaria. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 28 and 6 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 93% of Dungeons of Aether's written reviews are positive against 83% of Illuminaria's.
Dungeons of Aether ships an update every 8 days, Illuminaria every 25 months. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.
| Parameter | Dungeons of Aether | Illuminaria |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | $4.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (28 ratings) | 4.8 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 93.3% of reviews — better | 83.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 28 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 8 days — better | Every 25 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 189 MB | 520 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Dan Fornace | Selva Interactive |
Customer experience
Dungeons of Aether
Illuminaria
In-app purchases
Dungeons of Aether
No in-app purchases
Illuminaria
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Dungeons of Aether free?
Is Illuminaria free?
Which has better reviews, Dungeons of Aether or Illuminaria?
Do Dungeons of Aether or Illuminaria have ads?
Which is updated more often, Dungeons of Aether or Illuminaria?
Other comparisons















