Comparison

Dungeons of Aether vs Illuminaria

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read 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.

About

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.

Highlights
  • Robot swarm control
  • Multi-base management
  • Automated resource gathering
  • Base defense systems
  • Dungeon expeditions
  • Golem army creation
  • Technology research
Read 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

Dungeons of Aether4 screens
Illuminaria4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Dungeons of Aether ships an update every 8 days, Illuminaria every 25 months. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Dungeons of Aether versus Illuminaria: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDungeons of AetherIlluminaria
Price$4.99$4.99
Rating4.8 (28 ratings)4.8 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews93.3% of reviews — better83.3% of reviews
Number of ratings28 — better6
Update frequencyEvery 8 days — betterEvery 25 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS10.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size189 MB520 MB
Age rating9+9+
DeveloperDan FornaceSelva Interactive

Customer experience

Dungeons of Aether

All ratings28 ratings
Positive92.9%
Neutral3.6%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews15 reviews
Positive93.3%
Neutral6.7%
Negative0.0%

Illuminaria

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral16.7%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Dungeons of Aether

No in-app purchases

None

Illuminaria

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Dungeons of Aether free?
Dungeons of Aether costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Illuminaria free?
Illuminaria costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Dungeons of Aether or Illuminaria?
Illuminaria is rated higher. Dungeons of Aether averages 4.8 out of 5 from 28 ratings, while Illuminaria averages 4.8 from 6 ratings.
Do Dungeons of Aether or Illuminaria have ads?
Neither Dungeons of Aether nor Illuminaria shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Dungeons of Aether or Illuminaria?
Dungeons of Aether ships an update every 8 days, and Illuminaria every 25 months. Most recently, Dungeons of Aether was updated on November 3, 2026 and Illuminaria on November 3, 2026.

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