Mehen vs Aeterna
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Mehen
Experience an ancient Egyptian spiral race game, recreated with modern technology. Compete against the computer or other players online in this historically inspired board game.
- Ancient Egyptian board game recreation
- Spiral race track gameplay
- Single player vs. computer
- Online multiplayer mode
- Historically accurate rules
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This ancient Egyptian spiral race game, played between roughly 3100 B.C. and 2300 B.C., involved up to six participants guiding lion- and sphere-shaped pieces across a coiled snake-shaped track. Its rules weren't fully recorded and were only recently analyzed in depth in a 2024 study, making it a fascinating untapped app concept. Prior to this app, no iPhone implementation existed. This version is true to the original rules, although is does only support a single player versus the computer or versus another human online.
Aeterna
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Step into a living museum of strategy. Aeterna brings ancient board games back to life — each drawn from a different civilization, each with its own logic and rhythm. — MANCALA — Africa & the Middle East, Ancient Era Hands sow stones pit by pit around the board into your own store. Three thousand years of patience have worn these pits smooth — one of the oldest games alive. — BAGH-CHAL — Nepal, 16th Century Four tigers hunt twenty goats across a sacred board. A tense asymmetric battle of predator and prey, born in the Himalayas. — MŪ TŌRERE — New Zealand, 19th Century A Māori star-shaped board where every move constrains the next. Deceptively elegant, surprisingly deep. — LATRUNCULI — Rome, 1st Century BC The game of Roman soldiers — a battle of flanking and annihilation played on stone boards across the Empire. — SEEGA — Egypt, C. 1300 BC Two armies quietly fill a 5×5 grid before the battle begins. Capture by flanking — one exposed stone is all it takes. — SURAKARTA — Java, C. 16th Century Two armies trace a 6×6 board webbed with looping corners. Capture by looping — ride the curve and strike from behind. — PICARIA — American Southwest, c. 1700 Three pieces glide across a 13-point web of grid lines and hidden diagonals. Align three in a row to win — a Zuni Pueblo classic once played with pebbles and maize kernels. — HNEFATAFL — Scandinavia, Viking Age Defenders shield a king from besieging attackers on an 11×11 board. Reach a corner to escape — surround him on all four sides to end the siege. — FANORONA — Madagascar, 17th Century Two armies of stones cross a 45-point lattice, one step at a time. Capture sweeps a whole line at once, and it's compulsory — a single chain can clear a dozen stones. FEATURES • Play against AI or challenge a friend • Museum aesthetic: period-authentic typography and ambient soundscape • Available in English, Français, Español, Deutsch, 中文, हिन्दी AETERNA PREMIUM Remove all ads, unlock unlimited keys and unlimited undos — forever. One purchase, no subscription. Download Aeterna and step into 3,000+ years of strategy — one civilization at a time.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Mehen at none against Aeterna's 1. Mehen also leads on ads (none vs shown). Aeterna's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs fortnightly). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Aeterna sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Mehen asks for nothing beyond the download.
Mehen ships an update fortnightly, Aeterna weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Mehen | Aeterna |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 18.2 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 58 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Neal Puff | Mohamed Ali BEN MANSOUR |
In-app purchases
Mehen
No in-app purchases
Aeterna
- Aeterna Premium$0.99









