Magic Research 2 vs Ethos Idle
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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!
Ethos Idle
Guide humanity's progress from its earliest discoveries to the distant future. Manage your tribe's choices, develop over 200 unique ideas, and explore the world. Advance your civilization, unlock bonuses, and enjoy a single-player, offline experience with optional ads.
- Develop over 200 historic ideas
- Explore and exploit the world
- Manage tribe choices
- Unlock exploration bonuses and synergies
- Prestige mechanic upgrades
- Customizable challenge scenarios
- Offline single-player experience
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Chart the progess of Humanity through the ages, and guide their every discovery from the moment they kindle the first fire to the far future. Develop over 200 unique ideas across three different flavours of thought. Help your people to conquer or make peace with their enemies, explore and exploit the world, and develop projects to meet their needs. Manage your tribe's choices to squeeze out more strength, or sit back and idle as your clan develop on their own. Advance as far as you can take your people, and then collect bonuses to improve future runs. Select varied challenges that change the way the game plays, and combine these challenges to create your own unique scenarios with big rewards. Features: - Over 200 historic ideas to develop, across 3 flavours of thought - Dozens of exploration bonuses and synergies to unlock and exploit - Permanently power up your civilisation with prestige mechanic upgrades - Combine varied challenge conditions to create your own scenarios with powerful rewards - Optional, out-of-the-way ads won't interrupt your experience - A completely offline, single player experience - All game content is accessible for free
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Ethos Idle at Free against Magic Research 2's $4.69. Magic Research 2's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ads (none vs shown). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume 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
Ethos Idle is free to download; Magic Research 2 costs $4.69 up front. Ethos Idle sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Magic Research 2 asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Magic Research 2 against 4.8 for Ethos Idle. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 115 and 239 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 82% of Magic Research 2's written reviews are positive against 84% of Ethos Idle's.
Magic Research 2 ships an update every 3 days, Ethos Idle fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Magic Research 2 | Ethos Idle |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.69 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (115 ratings) | 4.8 (239 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 82.1% of reviews | 84.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 115 | 239 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 days — better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #10 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 36 MB | 101 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Matias Ezequiel Colotto | Graham Goldstein |
Customer experience
Magic Research 2
Ethos Idle
User reviews
Magic Research 2
From 115 App Store ratingsWhat 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
Ethos Idle
From 239 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast progression
- 👍 Minimal ad interruption
- 👍 Simple and enjoyable design
- 👍 Great for relaxing and watching numbers go up
- 👍 Excellent incremental game design
Room to improve
- 🐢 Slower progression speed desired
- 🛒 IAP for 2x production doesn't eliminate video ads
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 moreShow fewer
- 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 moreShow fewer
- More Please
- Auto fight boss button
- Compendium unlocks bosses before beating them
- Less dialogue and descriptions, more functional text
Ethos Idle
Reported bugs
2 issues- RNG for challenges is unfair and unfun
- Unlocking buffs for inaccessible technologies
Requested features
2 requests- Option to remove ads entirely
- Clarification on prestige warp gain multipliers
In-app purchases
Magic Research 2
No in-app purchases
Ethos Idle
- x2 Speed$6.99
Questions
Is Magic Research 2 free?
Is Ethos Idle free?
Which has better reviews, Magic Research 2 or Ethos Idle?
Do Magic Research 2 or Ethos Idle have ads?
Which is updated more often, Magic Research 2 or Ethos Idle?
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