Comparison

Space Academy Idle vs Idle Forge

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

Head to head
About

Space Academy Idle

Construct and expand a futuristic space academy, recruiting students and training them in various disciplines. Watch your academy grow and unlock new opportunities as graduates increase its value. Prestige to earn permanent progression and climb leaderboards.

Highlights
  • Build and upgrade a futuristic space academy
  • Unlock new buildings and optimize campus
  • Train students across multiple knowledge disciplines
  • Recruit gifted students with unique bonuses
  • Collect daily rewards and special gifts
  • Prestige with Endowments for permanent progression
  • Grow academy even while offline
Features
Read full description

Welcome to Space Academy Idle! Build the greatest academy in the galaxy by recruiting students, expanding your campus, and turning promising cadets into legendary scientists. Start with a single dormitory and grow into a thriving university. Construct new facilities, upgrade classrooms, and help your students master Cognition, Discipline, and Creativity before they graduate. Every graduate increases your academy’s value, unlocking new opportunities to expand even faster. Features - Build and upgrade a futuristic space academy - Unlock new buildings and optimize your campus - Train students across multiple knowledge disciplines - Recruit talented and gifted students with unique bonuses - Collect daily rewards and discover special gifts - Prestige with Endowments to earn permanent progression - Watch your academy grow even while you’re away - Complete achievements and climb Game Center leaderboards

About

Idle Forge

Features
Read full description

A little forge that doesn't need you. Light the hearth, hire an apprentice, and watch the smithy fill with workers, furnaces and stranger things. Idle Forge is an idle clicker built to be calm: it earns while you're away, asks for nothing when you return, and never punishes you for having a life. MADE TO RESPECT YOUR TIME • Progress continues while the app is closed. Sleep is a strategy • No daily-streak guilt, no timers that expire while you're at work • Rewarded ads are always optional, always a bonus, never a toll • Tapping helps, but it's a pleasure, not a duty: your workers swing the hammers A FORGE WITH SOMEWHERE TO GO • Dozens of generators, from apprentice to things physics won't explain • Reforge to melt it all down for Embers and permanent power • Then Recast: melt the golden anvil down for Gold, and spend it on perks that change how the next climb plays • A living workshop you can watch: every worker you hire is down there on the floor, hammering • Catch drifting fire wisps for a frenzy of production • Achievements, milestones, a daily gift, and yes, an actual ending at the top of the ladder QUIET BY DESIGN • The forge's own sounds (hammer, embers, quench), no music, no noise • Every effect can be switched off, from vibration to embers • Your save is yours: export it as a code, carry it anywhere, no account Free to play. Rewarded ads are opt-in, and everything they grant can also be earned by playing. A short ad may play after a Reforge, at most once every five minutes.

Screenshots

Space Academy Idle4 screens
Idle Forge4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Idle Forge at none against Space Academy Idle's 4. Idle Forge also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs every 3 weeks) and device support (3 vs 1). On price and ads 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. Space Academy Idle sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Idle Forge asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Space Academy Idle ships an update every 3 weeks, Idle Forge every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Space Academy Idle versus Idle Forge: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSpace Academy IdleIdle Forge
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (9 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings9 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 6 days — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS1715.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size111 MB78 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRoberto Frias NerioErik Tobias Rinde Tharaldsen

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Space Academy Idle

One-time4
  • Small Box$1.99
  • Medium Box$3.99
  • Shipment$6.99
Show 1 more
  • XL Shipment$12.99
None

Idle Forge

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Space Academy Idle free?
Space Academy Idle is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Idle Forge free?
Idle Forge is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Space Academy Idle or Idle Forge have ads?
Both Space Academy Idle and Idle Forge show ads.
Which is updated more often, Space Academy Idle or Idle Forge?
Space Academy Idle ships an update every 3 weeks, and Idle Forge every 6 days. Most recently, Space Academy Idle was updated on October 30, 2026 and Idle Forge on October 29, 2026.

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