ArcEmu vs CHRONOS II
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ArcEmu
Experience retro gaming on your Apple Watch, iPhone, and iPad. This emulator supports Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance cartridges. Enjoy features like multiplayer, cheats, and customizable controls.
- Game Boy, GBC, GBA emulation
- Multiplayer support
- Cheat codes
- Customizable on-screen controls
- Save State sharing
- iCloud support
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ArcEmu brings retro game emulation to Apple Watch. It also works on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV, delivering a seamless gaming experience across your Apple devices. Supported Consoles - Game Boy (.gb) - Game Boy Color (.gbc) - Game Boy Advance (.gba) - Pokémon Mini (.min) - Nintendo Entertainment System (.nes) - Super Nintendo Entertainment System (.sfc and .smc) - Atari 2600 (.a26 and .bin) Main Features - Accurate, high-performance emulation powered by the mGBA and Ares cores - Game Link Cable support with online multiplayer for up to four players* - Cheat-code support with a built-in database of popular codes** - Frame-independent emulation at 30 or 60 FPS - Multi-touch and Digital Crown support on Apple Watch - Support for all screen orientations on iPhone and iPad - Precise, thoughtfully designed on-screen controls - Customizable control position and transparency on iPhone and iPad - Fast-forward at 2×, 4×, or maximum speed - Slow motion at 0.5× speed - Touch-based light gun controls for NES and SNES - Custom color palettes for Game Boy games - Button hold/sustain feature - Accelerometer support - Gyroscope support on iPhone and iPad, with Digital Crown input on Apple Watch - Haptic feedback on iPhone - Game controller support with customizable button mappings - ZIP archive support - Automatic saving - Save-state sharing between devices - iCloud support for ROMs and save states - ROM sharing through iCloud using share codes - Support for Apple Watch devices configured with Family Setup - ROM sorting and search Apple Watch Compatibility - Apple Watch Series 4 or later - Apple Watch SE or later - Apple Watch Ultra or later ArcEmu does not include any games or ROMs. You can import compatible ROM files from your iPhone and store them in iCloud. Your Apple Watch can then download them directly from iCloud. On an Apple Watch configured with Family Setup, ROMs can be downloaded from iCloud using share codes. Games Featured in the Screenshots - Acorn Grove: https://gibbongl.itch.io/acorn-grove - Anguna: https://gauauu.itch.io/anguna - Hauntsfield: https://alliemackie.itch.io/hauntsfield - µCity Advance: https://skylyrac.itch.io/ucity-advance * Requires a Game Center account. ** Cheat codes may cause unexpected behavior or affect game stability and save data. ArcEmu is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Nintendo. Nintendo and the names of its game systems are trademarks of Nintendo Co., Ltd.
CHRONOS II
Experience a cyber thriller played entirely through a command line. Follow a digital entity through interconnected systems, solving interactive terminal puzzles inspired by real hacking events. Explore simulated networks and uncover a compelling narrative.
- Terminal-driven chapters
- Story spanning hacking history
- Simulated networks and tools
- Hidden discoveries and multiple endings
- Built-in notes and keyboard
- Offline play
- No ads or tracking
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CHRONOS II is a cyber thriller played entirely through a command line. Something escaped from a sealed archive. Now it is moving through the world's connected systems: a security camera, a bank network, the global phone system, a power grid, a nuclear facility, and a forgotten Cold War satellite. You are following it from machine to machine. But it is not running from you. It is leading you somewhere. CHRONOS II turns real events from the history of hacking and cyberwar into a series of interactive terminal puzzles. Explore simulated networks, inspect files, trace connections, uncover vulnerabilities, and work out what happened before the system moves on. Or before something inside it does. There are no conventional action sequences or point-and-click puzzles. Everything happens through the terminal. Type commands, study the responses, take notes, and learn how each system works well enough to break into it, or to keep it from breaking apart. Your deck keeps track of every machine you have reached, the tools and fragments you are carrying, and a live feed that changes as the story unfolds. An extended keyboard provides the keys a terminal needs, while built-in notes, command history, copy and paste keep the experience comfortable on a phone. Inspired by real cyber incidents, technologies, and moments in computing history, CHRONOS II is a work of fiction. Its systems and commands are carefully designed simulations, built to feel authentic without pretending to be real-world infrastructure. Features • Seven terminal-driven chapters • A story spanning decades of hacking and cyberwar • Simulated networks, machines, and command-line tools • Hidden discoveries, an optional detour, and four endings • Built-in notes and a terminal-focused keyboard • Fully playable offline • No account, advertisements, analytics, or tracking • Free, with nothing to buy You opened the door. It left you a trail for a reason.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: CHRONOS II at Free against ArcEmu's $1.99. ArcEmu's advantage is ratings volume (1.3K vs 1) and device support (5 vs 2). On rating, update cadence, 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
CHRONOS II is free to download; ArcEmu costs $1.99 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 — 4.9 for ArcEmu against 5.0 for CHRONOS II. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ArcEmu has 1.3K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
ArcEmu ships an update every 2 weeks, CHRONOS II fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ArcEmu | CHRONOS II |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.9 (1.3K ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 94.5% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1.3K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.5 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 172 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Raffaele D'Amato | ReVeNG System |
Customer experience
ArcEmu
CHRONOS II
Bugs and requests
ArcEmu
Reported bugs
3 issues- Occasional crashes
- Graphical glitches with certain ROMs
- Save data not transferring properly between devices
Requested features
6 requests- Add cheat/GameShark support
- Improve volume controls
- Implement fast forward/slow motion options
- Allow multiple save slots per game
- Improve Game Boy Color support
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- Add joystick/button support for Apple Watch
CHRONOS II
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
ArcEmu
No in-app purchases
CHRONOS II
No in-app purchases









