Comparison

Descent Defender vs Incremental ELM Quest 2

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

Head to head
About

Descent Defender

Experience a unique tower defense game with Plinko-inspired physics. Control a retro arcade-style Battle Turret, shape the battlefield with powerful peg abilities, and research upgrades to survive increasingly difficult stages. Earn XP, unlock talents, and customize your defenses for deeper chaos.

Highlights
  • Plinko-style physics and enemy movement
  • Controllable retro arcade Battle Turret
  • Battle Turret XP and talent system
  • Upgradeable tower fortifications
  • 50 challenging campaign stages
  • Customizable board and turret skins
  • Optional rewarded ads
Read full description

Descent Defender is a Plinko-inspired tower defense game where every run sends enemies bouncing through a chaotic board toward your tower. Shape the battlefield with powerful peg abilities and Peg Power+ upgrades. Collect and equip Runes to build a defense that suits your strategy. Strengthen your fortifications, explore expanded Research Labs, and take direct control of your retro arcade-style Battle Turret. Move your ship, fire on incoming enemies, and unleash special attacks when the board gets overwhelmed. Push through 100 increasingly difficult stages, earn Battle Turret XP, unlock new talents, and customize your defenses with board and turret skins. Compare your best clears on all-time progress leaderboards. Curios and their rotating challenges arrive in November, giving you new collectibles and goals to pursue. Features: • Plinko-style physics and unpredictable enemy movement • A controllable retro arcade-style Battle Turret • Battle Turret XP, talents, special abilities, and ship skins • Collectible, equippable Runes that help shape your build • Peg Powers and Peg Power+ upgrades, including Midas Peg • Lucky Balls and Prize Balls that award bonus coins • Upgradeable tower fortifications • Expanded Research Labs and long-term progression • 100 challenging campaign stages • Challenge Mode objectives that improve offline rewards • Daily quests and rewards • All-time progress leaderboards and tournament competition • Curios and rotating challenges arriving in November • Optional rewarded ads • Customizable skins to make your board your own Shape the board. Command your turret. Control the chaos.

About

Incremental ELM Quest 2

Explore a world where elemental forces are merging, cataloging creatures and uncovering a deep mystery. This offline RPG features extensive progression systems, a vast bestiary, and a narrative told through field reports. Earn rewards even while offline.

Highlights
  • Catalog over 4000 unique creatures
  • Level up over 300 hero classes
  • Explore elemental portals
  • Offline progression
  • Narrative told through field journals
  • Deep progression systems
Read full description

A free incremental RPG you can play entirely offline. No ads, no paywall, and every goal in the game is reachable without spending a cent. The world's eight elemental forces were once held apart. Now they are bleeding together, and everything is changing. You are a Cataloguer: a licensed scholar sent into the saturated zones to document what lives there. Encounter creatures, record them, and fill the Manifest, one species at a time. The more you catalogue, the more the world opens up, and the closer you come to the thing nobody wants to talk about: why everything is falling apart. If you've always wanted to play a uniquely idle monster collecting adventure with the patience of a nature documentary and the wit of a dungeon crawl, this is your chance. Explore portals, return to new species and new regions, and watch the Manifest fill in like a field journal. WHAT YOU'LL FIND • Over 4,000 creatures to find, fight, and catalogue. Each holds a small piece of the overall narrative. • Over 300 classes to equip and level up. Send your hero into elemental portals and take control as battles unfold. • Offline progression that unlocks early and never stops: your hero keeps earning and your disciples keep hunting while the app is closed. • Every portal is graded. The threat ratings are, unfortunately, accurate. • 16 narrators bring the world alive through their lost dossiers. Sixteen cataloguers came before you and its on you to find out why they stopped writing. • Deep progression: level classes, raise disciples, study at the university, upgrade your guild license, master insignias, power up skills, and more. • Rare enemy variants, an ever-expanding ladder of achievements, and Game Center leaderboards (purely optional). FAIR BY DESIGN The whole game is offline, free, and ad-free. The optional purchases are purely cosmetics that support a solo, part-time developer. I'm an incremental game fan who got bored waiting for the next one to drop. Made by one person as a part-time passion project. Thank you for giving it a shot!

Screenshots

Descent Defender4 screens
Incremental ELM Quest 24 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Incremental ELM Quest 2 at none against Descent Defender's shown. Incremental ELM Quest 2 also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and ratings volume (51 vs 11). Descent Defender's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and review sentiment (100% vs 85%). On price, update cadence 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Descent Defender sells 18 one-off in-app purchases and Incremental ELM Quest 2 sells 16 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Descent Defender holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 11 and 51 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Descent Defender's written reviews are positive against 85% of Incremental ELM Quest 2's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Descent Defender versus Incremental ELM Quest 2: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDescent DefenderIncremental ELM Quest 2
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (11 ratings) — better4.6 (51 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better84.6% of reviews
Number of ratings1151 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 daysEvery 4 days
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size458 MB192 MB
Age rating12++9
DeveloperIdle Hour StudiosEric Marin

Customer experience

Descent Defender

All ratings11 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Incremental ELM Quest 2

All ratings51 ratings
Positive90.2%
Neutral5.9%
Negative3.9%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive84.6%
Neutral7.7%
Negative7.7%

In-app purchases

18 purchases

Descent Defender

One-time18
  • Small Token Pack$1.99
  • Journey 1 Premium Track$4.99
  • Journey 2 Premium Track$4.99
Show 15 more
  • Combo Pack 1$4.99
  • Medium Token Pack$4.99
  • Ad-Free VIP Pass$9.99
  • Journey 5 Premium Track$9.99
  • Journey 3 Premium Track$9.99
  • Journey 4 Premium Track$9.99
  • Combo Pack 2$9.99
  • Giant Token Pack$9.99
  • Journey 7 Premium Pass$19.99
  • Journey 8 Premium Pass$19.99
  • Journey 9 Premium Pass$19.99
  • Journey 10 Premium Pass$19.99
  • Journey 6 Premium Track$19.99
  • Starter Pack$24.99
  • Veteran Pack$49.99
16 purchases

Incremental ELM Quest 2

One-time16
  • Cosmetic: D- Pack$0.99
  • Support Tip$0.99
  • Support Coffee$4.99
Show 13 more
  • Cosmetic: S- Pack$6.99
  • Cosmetic: SS- Pack$7.99
  • Cosmetic: S+ Pack$7.99
  • Cosmetic: SS+ Pack$8.99
  • Cosmetic: SSS- Pack$9.99
  • Cosmetic: SSS Pack$9.99
  • Cosmetic: SSS+ Pack$9.99
  • Cosmetic: Letter of Patronage$9.99
  • Support Lunch$9.99
  • Cosmetic: Founder's Edition$19.99
  • Support Dinner$19.99
  • Support Updates$29.99
  • Support Next Game$49.99

Questions

Is Descent Defender free?
Descent Defender is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Incremental ELM Quest 2 free?
Incremental ELM Quest 2 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Descent Defender or Incremental ELM Quest 2?
Descent Defender is rated higher. Descent Defender averages 5.0 out of 5 from 11 ratings, while Incremental ELM Quest 2 averages 4.6 from 51 ratings.
Do Descent Defender or Incremental ELM Quest 2 have ads?
Descent Defender shows ads; Incremental ELM Quest 2 does not.
Which is updated more often, Descent Defender or Incremental ELM Quest 2?
Descent Defender ships an update every 4 days, and Incremental ELM Quest 2 every 4 days. Most recently, Descent Defender was updated on October 24, 2026 and Incremental ELM Quest 2 on October 25, 2026.

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