Comparison

Magic Research 2 vs Ethos 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

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

Magic Research 24 screens
Ethos Idle4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Magic Research 2 versus Ethos Idle: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMagic Research 2Ethos Idle
Price$4.69Free — better
Rating4.8 (115 ratings)4.8 (239 ratings)
Positive reviews82.1% of reviews84.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings115239 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterFortnightly
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#10 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size36 MB101 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperMatias Ezequiel ColottoGraham Goldstein

Customer experience

Magic Research 2

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

Ethos Idle

All ratings239 ratings
Positive93.7%
Neutral3.8%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews64 reviews
Positive84.4%
Neutral9.4%
Negative6.3%

User reviews

Magic Research 2

From 115 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

Ethos Idle

From 239 App Store ratings

What 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 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

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

None

Magic Research 2

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Ethos Idle

One-time1
  • x2 Speed$6.99

Questions

Is Magic Research 2 free?
Magic Research 2 costs $4.69, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ethos Idle free?
Ethos Idle is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Magic Research 2 or Ethos Idle?
Magic Research 2 and Ethos Idle are both rated 4.8 out of 5 on the App Store, from 115 and 239 ratings respectively.
Do Magic Research 2 or Ethos Idle have ads?
Ethos Idle shows ads; Magic Research 2 does not.
Which is updated more often, Magic Research 2 or Ethos Idle?
Magic Research 2 ships an update every 3 days, and Ethos Idle fortnightly. Most recently, Magic Research 2 was updated on October 19, 2026 and Ethos Idle on September 29, 2026.

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