Comparison

Magic Research 2 vs Unnamed Space Idle

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

Head to head
About

Magic Research 2

Embark on a magical quest as a rookie wizard to find or create the Philosopher's Stone. Utilize over 120 spells, transmute hundreds of items, and lead a team of wizards in a semi-automated combat system. Explore dozens of areas, uncover secrets, and experience over 60 hours of gameplay.

Highlights
  • Over 120 distinct spells
  • Transmute over 250 items
  • Control a team of wizards
  • Semi-automated combat system
  • Explore dozens of areas
  • Discover secrets and storylines
  • Retirement bonuses for faster progress
Features
Read full description

Experience the long-awaited sequel to Magic Research! In Magic Research 2, you are a rookie wizard with a single ambition: to find or create the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary magical item that is said to be able to cure any illness. As you do so, you will learn more than you ever imagined about Magic and about the world around you. What kinds of adventures await you? * Use your arsenal of more than 120 distinct spells to make progress * Study the Elements! Learn new ways to use Magic in your path to mastery * Transmute (magically craft) over 250 different items to help you on your journey * Control a team of Wizards that will cast Spells for you * Enjoy a deep, semi-automated combat system as you make your way through dozens of areas to explore * Discover tons of secrets - many of which will change the way you play the game! * Encounter over a hundred distinct Storylines with powerful bonuses along your journey * Restart the game and make progress faster each time with retirement bonuses * Over 60 hours of addictive gameplay - with a clear ending! (Or perhaps more than one...?) * Optimized both for phones and tablet devices You do not need to have played Magic Research in order to enjoy Magic Research 2!

About

Unnamed Space Idle

Engage in an unfolding sci-fi idle game battling alien waves. Customize your ship with unlockable weapons and defenses, making strategic choices across multiple evolving systems to increase your power and progress.

Highlights
  • Destroy alien waves
  • Ship customization
  • Progressive weapon/defense unlocks
  • Multiple evolving systems
  • Strategic decision making
  • Prestige system
  • Crafting modules
Features
Read full description

No ads! Destroy unending waves of alien ships in this long form, unfolding, sci-fi idler. Unnamed Space Idle is an unfolding sci-fi idle game that plunges you into a relentless battle against an alien menace that has decimated humanity. Voted r/incremental_games "Best F2P game" 2024 & 2025. Customize your ship with an array of progressively unlocked weapons and defenses, strategically tailored to counter specific enemy types. With a plethora of unfolding systems and abundant options, you'll face crucial choices as you steadily increase you power through progression and prestige. A Myriad of Different Systems Discover over 10 distinct systems, each offering unique mechanics that evolve and expand over time. Core - Upgrade your Weapon, Defense and Utility cores with salvage gathered from enemies. Compute - Improve your combat stats over time in traditional Idle Game fashion Synth - Craft and improve modules and recipes to increase your power in various ways. Void Device - Slot in void shards dropped by enemies for different combinations of upgrades. Prestige - Unlock different ships, weapons, defenses and utilities. Reactor - Feed void matter into your reactor to power various system boosts. Research - Harness the research data obtained from different sectors to unlock various upgrades. And More... Impactful, Understandable Decisions Choose wisely when equipping your ship with weapons and defenses, selecting power-altering modules, or determining the optimal combination of shards to use. The distinction between optimal and sub-optimal choices can significantly impact your progress. But while there are a lot of decisions to be made, they are all plainly understandable so that the optimum, or at least very near optimum decision making is within your grasp! Consistent Progress and Unlocks Well paced progression combined with the amount of different systems, upgrades and enemies, means something new is frequently just around the corner.

Screenshots

Magic Research 24 screens
Unnamed Space Idle4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Unnamed Space Idle at Free against Magic Research 2's $4.69. Magic Research 2's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and chart position (#24 vs unranked). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence 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

Unnamed Space Idle is free to download; Magic Research 2 costs $4.69 up front. Unnamed Space Idle sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Magic Research 2 asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Magic Research 2 against 4.6 for Unnamed Space Idle. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 120 and 250 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 82% of Magic Research 2's written reviews are positive against 77% of Unnamed Space Idle's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Magic Research 2 ships an update every 3 days, Unnamed Space Idle every 2 days. Both last shipped on November 8, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Magic Research 2 versus Unnamed Space Idle: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMagic Research 2Unnamed Space Idle
Price$4.69Free — better
Rating4.7 (120 ratings) — better4.6 (250 ratings)
Positive reviews82.1% of reviews — better76.7% of reviews
Number of ratings120250 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 daysEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#24 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15
Further details — not scored
Size36 MB126 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperMatias Ezequiel ColottoJDOG CORP

Customer experience

Magic Research 2

All ratings115 ratings
Positive92.2%
Neutral4.3%
Negative3.5%
Written reviews56 reviews
Positive82.1%
Neutral8.9%
Negative8.9%

Unnamed Space Idle

All ratings250 ratings
Positive88.4%
Neutral1.6%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews103 reviews
Positive76.7%
Neutral5.8%
Negative17.5%

User reviews

Magic Research 2

From 120 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fantastic sequel, better than the first
  • 👍 Incredible sense of progression
  • 💡 Fun build types, best in genre
  • 👍 Incremental masterclass, gold standard
  • 👍 True semi-idle masterpiece

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Extremely complicated, tedious timers
  • 🐛 UI is absolutely atrocious
  • 🐛 Time pieces cap out at 100k
  • 🐛 UI issues, not easy to navigate
  • 🐛 Sorting doesn't sort exactly as wanted

Unnamed Space Idle

From 250 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Addictive gameplay
  • 👍 Deep and complex mechanics
  • 👍 Constantly evolving game
  • 👍 Frequent updates
  • 👍 Free-to-play friendly

Room to improve

  • 📱 Tiny UI elements
  • 📱 Small font size
  • 📱 Unreadable text on mobile
  • 📱 UI not optimized for mobile
  • 📱 Difficult to interact with buttons

Bugs and requests

Magic Research 2

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • App instantly crashes on open
  • Game crashes on startup
  • App started rapidly pushing buttons on its own
  • Overheating phone
  • Lags and gets choppy in the late game
Show 1 more
  • Compendium doesn't unlock for bosses unless already beat

Requested features

9 requests
  • DLC or sequel news
  • macOS version
  • Better automation and convenience features
  • Tweak familiar search time down
  • Release the next one
Show 4 more
  • More Please
  • Auto fight boss button
  • Compendium unlocks bosses before beating them
  • Less dialogue and descriptions, more functional text

Unnamed Space Idle

Reported bugs

15 issues
  • UI is too small on mobile devices
  • Font size is too small, making text unreadable
  • Game crashes during fleet auto battles
  • Cannot open on iPadOS 14.8.1
  • Game freezes when playing on mobile network
Show 10 more
  • AI Smart Crafting not working
  • Module queue automation doesn't correctly identify materials
  • Buttons for base upgrades not working after last update
  • Small text and UI elements make interaction difficult
  • Game stuck in landscape mode
  • Dark red text on black background is hard to read
  • UI elements overlap or are difficult to press
  • Some text and buttons are too small to read or interact with on smaller phones
  • The game is not optimized for mobile screens, leading to unreadability and difficulty in control
  • Inability to copy and paste

Requested features

12 requests
  • UI rework for mobile
  • Improve UI readability
  • Optimize UI for smaller screens
  • Add French translation
  • Add Turkish language support
Show 7 more
  • Option to restart game
  • Better mobile screen utilization
  • Adjust module queue automation
  • Fix AI smart crafting
  • Improve collision detection for projectiles
  • Consider fantasy-oriented theme
  • Add audio to the game

In-app purchases

None

Magic Research 2

No in-app purchases

10 purchases

Unnamed Space Idle

One-time10
  • 200 AI Points$1.99
  • QOL Bundle$2.49
  • Spacemas Bundle$2.99
Show 7 more
  • RetroFuture Cosmetic$3.99
  • Spaceversary Bundle$3.99
  • 550 AI Points$4.99
  • Essentials Bundle$4.99
  • 1200 AI Points$9.99
  • Advanced Bundle$9.99
  • 2600 AI Points$19.99

Questions

Is Magic Research 2 free?
Magic Research 2 costs $4.69, with no in-app purchases.
Is Unnamed Space Idle free?
Unnamed Space Idle is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Magic Research 2 or Unnamed Space Idle?
Magic Research 2 is rated higher. Magic Research 2 averages 4.7 out of 5 from 120 ratings, while Unnamed Space Idle averages 4.6 from 250 ratings.
Do Magic Research 2 or Unnamed Space Idle have ads?
Neither Magic Research 2 nor Unnamed Space Idle shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Magic Research 2 or Unnamed Space Idle?
Magic Research 2 ships an update every 3 days, and Unnamed Space Idle every 2 days. Most recently, Magic Research 2 was updated on November 8, 2026 and Unnamed Space Idle on November 8, 2026.

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