Comparison

Once Upon a Galaxy vs Glowhold

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

Head to head
About

Once Upon a Galaxy

Embark on a fantasy card battling adventure where you draft unique captains and their friends to complete quests. Choose your path with diverse characters and strategic gameplay. Experience a game free of ads and AI art, focusing on player choice and engaging battles.

Highlights
  • Fantasy card battling
  • Captain drafting
  • Quest completion
  • Strategic gameplay
  • No AI artwork
  • Asynchronous play
Features
Read full description

Galaxy is FREE to play, has NO ADS, uses NO AI artwork. Will you choose Dorothy as your captain and help her and friends on their journey to complete their quests? Or Dragonmother and discover what will hatch from her dragon egg? Or maybe Indiana Clones, who will "clone" your best three treasures? It's all up to you!

About

Glowhold

Read full description

A peaceful village by day. Eyes in the darkness by night. Take hold of the light and help your villagers reach dawn. Glowhold is a village-defence strategy game made for one-finger controls. Drag to guide your beam, repel enemies and herd them towards torches and towers. Lift your finger to replenish oil. When danger closes in, spend oil on a brilliant flare. BUILD YOUR HAVEN Repair walls and improve buildings between nights. Each in-game day gives you one building action, so choose what your village needs most. Zoom in and tap a building to learn what it does. Villagers bring the valley to life with little speech bubbles. MEET THE CREATURES OF THE DARK Different enemies call for different tactics. Five bosses have their own abilities, with tougher encounters as you progress. Your first boss arrives on night 10, followed by a boss every 5 nights. An in-game guide and bestiary help you prepare. COME BACK TO YOUR VILLAGE Gather sparks while you are away. Starting on night 4, a daily quest gives you another challenge: a new one arrives once per calendar day, at local midnight. Open the quest panel for its full description and the next refresh time. Losing a night does not erase your village. PLAY YOUR WAY • Short nights, touch controls and a storybook landscape. • Polish and English, on iPhone and iPad. • Core gameplay works offline with no account. • Local saves with manual village-code export and import. • No energy system and no subscriptions. Optional rewarded ads require internet and depend on availability. One permanent Glowhold Premium purchase lets you claim eligible bonuses without watching ads, and adds a daily streak shield, an ember beam colour and decorative statue plinths. Reward conditions and limits still apply. The core game remains available without a purchase. Support: https://sowerit.github.io/glowhold-support/en.html Privacy: https://sowerit.github.io/glowhold-support/privacy.html#english

Screenshots

Once Upon a Galaxy4 screens
Glowhold4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Once Upon a Galaxy at none against Glowhold's shown. On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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

Both are free to download. Once Upon a Galaxy sells 44 one-off in-app purchases and Glowhold sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Once Upon a Galaxy versus Glowhold: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOnce Upon a GalaxyGlowhold
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (1.4K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews83.4% of reviews—
Number of ratings1.4K — better—
Update frequencyFortnightly—
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size195 MB34 MB
Age rating9+12+
DeveloperMillion Dreams GamesPawel Smoczynski

Bugs and requests

Once Upon a Galaxy

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Black screen on startup
  • Infinite loading issues
  • Progression loss after updates

Requested features

5 requests
  • More hero/card variety
  • Improved tutorial and learning tools
  • Offline/save progress mode
  • Cosmetic/non-gameplay monetization
  • Competitive/ranked modes

Glowhold

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

44 purchases

Once Upon a Galaxy

One-time44
  • 600 Gems (September deal)$4.99
  • 600 Gems (July deal)$4.99
  • Welcome Bundle3 variants$4.99
Show 41 more
  • 500 Gems2 variants$4.99
  • October 2026 Galaxy Pass$9.99
  • September 2026 Galaxy Pass$9.99
  • 1300 Gems (August deal)$9.99
  • August 2026 Galaxy Pass$9.99
  • July 2026 Galaxy Pass$9.99
  • June 2026 Galaxy Pass$9.99
  • March 2026 Galaxy Pass$9.99
  • May 2026 Galaxy Pass$9.99
  • April 2026 Galaxy Pass$9.99
  • February 2026 Galaxy Pass$9.99
  • December Galaxy Pass$9.99
  • January 2026 Galaxy Pass$9.99
  • November 2025 Galaxy Pass$9.99
  • October 2025 Galaxy Pass$9.99
  • September 2025 Galaxy Pass$9.99
  • July 2025 Galaxy Pass$9.99
  • August 2025 Galaxy Pass$9.99
  • June 2025 Galaxy Pass$9.99
  • May 2025 Galaxy Pass$9.99
  • 1,100 Gems2 variants$9.99
  • April 2025 Galaxy Pass$9.99
  • March 2025 Galaxy Pass$9.99
  • February 2025 Galaxy Pass$9.99
  • Galaxy Pass$9.99
  • Swishbuckler Chromaria Bundle$14.99
  • Chromarian Chromaria Bundle$14.99
  • Remi Chromaria Bundle$14.99
  • Galaxy Reroll$14.99
  • Candylar Reroll$14.99
  • Mythbound Reroll$14.99
  • Thanatos Mythbound Bundle$14.99
  • Baldr Mythbound Bundle$14.99
  • Hecate Mythbound Bundle$14.99
  • Candylar Goat T Preorder$14.99
  • Candylar Beanstalk Preorder$14.99
  • Candylar Candy Pandy Preorder$14.99
  • 2,300 Gems2 variants$19.99
  • Winter Bundle$29.99
  • 6,000 Gems$49.99
  • 14,000 Gems2 variants$99.99
1 purchases

Glowhold

One-time1
  • Glowhold Premium$2.99

Questions

Is Once Upon a Galaxy free?
Once Upon a Galaxy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Glowhold free?
Glowhold is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Once Upon a Galaxy or Glowhold have ads?
Glowhold shows ads; Once Upon a Galaxy does not.

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