Comparison

Neural Syndicate 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

Neural Syndicate

Immerse yourself in a cyberpunk future where megacorporations rule Neo-Tokyo. Build your syndicate, run illicit operations, and navigate a dangerous underworld. Choose your faction, manage your notoriety, and outsmart your rivals to survive and thrive.

Highlights
  • Three rival factions
  • Heat and Notoriety system
  • Daily Operations and Bounty Board
  • Three-currency economy
  • Full Achievement system
  • Text-based gameplay
Read full description

THE WORLD Neo-Tokyo, 2087. The megacorporations won. OmniCorp controls the power grid, the data vaults, the law. The streets belong to whoever is fast enough, smart enough, and ruthless enough to survive. Underground networks pulse through the neon-drenched sprawl. Encrypted channels carry intelligence, contracts, and whispered allegiances. In the shadows between corporate towers and burning districts, operatives like you run jobs, build syndicates, and carve out power one operation at a time. This is Neo-Tokyo. It doesn't forgive weakness. And it never forgets. Welcome to Neural Syndicate. Neo-Tokyo doesn't forgive mistakes. Every session begins with a secure neural link drop into the grid. Your operative is live. Your handler is watching. The clock is running. Neo-Tokyo rewards the disciplined and punishes the reckless. Manage your resources, read the intel, and execute with precision. One bad call and the city will make you pay for it. Pick a side. There are no neutrals. Three factions control Neo-Tokyo's underworld and every operative must choose one. Join OmniCorp where loyalty is currency and power flows to those who follow orders. Align with the Synth-Rebels and burn the system to the ground, decentralized, chaotic, dangerous. Disappear into The Ghost-Node, elite hackers who don't fight for territory — they own the data that controls it. Your faction defines your war. Choose wisely. Get sloppy and they'll find you. The Heat system tracks your every move. Run too many operations and your Notoriety climbs, locking you out of territories and putting a bounty on your head. Manage your Heat through cooldowns, daily resets, and strategic patience. Go dark long enough and you'll earn the ICE COLD bonus. Stay hot too long and the grid locks you out. OPSEC isn't optional. It's survival. Run ops. Stack creds. Don't get caught. The mission board never sleeps. Daily operations, rotating bounties, and faction contracts keep the grind moving. Easy runs for quick creds, Extreme ops for massive payouts and serious risk. Every mission costs Energy and Nerve. Required gear, territory locks, and success rates make every job a calculated risk. Stack Creds, mine Crypto on The Grid, spend Synth Marks when the job demands it. The city always has work. Your handler knows more than you do. Cipher is your fixer, your intelligence source, and the only voice you can trust. He monitors your operations, drops intel between missions, alerts you when bounties hit the board, and warns you when Heat is getting dangerous. Cipher doesn't sugarcoat things. Build your syndicate, earn his respect, and he'll give you access to contracts the rest of the city never sees. FEATURES — Three rival factions with unique identities and warfare mechanics — Heat and Notoriety system with real strategic consequence — Daily Operations, login streaks, and rotating Bounty Board — Three-currency economy: Creds, Crypto, and Synth Marks — Full Achievement system tracking your rise through the syndicate — Cipher, your AI handler with reactive event-driven intelligence drops — Anti-cheat time validation with no clock manipulation and no exploits — No accounts. No servers. No pay-to-win. Pure operative gameplay. Neural Syndicate is a cyberpunk RPG and text-based strategy game built for fans of crime RPGs, idle faction games, and immersive hacker simulations. If you have played Mafia Wars, Torn, or similar text RPGs and want something with more depth, atmosphere, and consequence — this is your game. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING Phase 1 is live. The more players who join, the faster we build what comes next — Game Center leaderboards, deeper faction warfare, new territories, expanded lore, and Cipher's true origins. Get in early. When Phase 2 drops, the operatives who were here first will already own the grid. No login. No internet required. Just you and the grid. Download. Choose your faction. Start running ops. Neo-Tokyo is waiting.

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

Neural Syndicate4 screens
Incremental ELM Quest 24 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Neural Syndicate at 5.0 against Incremental ELM Quest 2's 4.6. Neural Syndicate also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 85%). Incremental ELM Quest 2's advantage is ratings volume (54 vs 5). On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neural Syndicate sells 9 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

Neural Syndicate holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Incremental ELM Quest 2 has 54 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Neural Syndicate's written reviews are positive against 85% of Incremental ELM Quest 2's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Neural Syndicate ships an update every 3 days, Incremental ELM Quest 2 every 4 days. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Neural Syndicate versus Incremental ELM Quest 2: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNeural SyndicateIncremental ELM Quest 2
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (5 ratings) — better4.6 (54 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better84.6% of reviews
Number of ratings554 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 4 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB192 MB
Age rating12++9
DeveloperDustin PorchiaEric Marin

Customer experience

Neural Syndicate

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 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

9 purchases

Neural Syndicate

One-time9
  • 50 Synth Marks$0.99
  • Small Tip - Buy Cipher a Coffee$0.99
  • Medium Tip - Fund a Dead Drop$2.99
Show 6 more
  • 300 Synth Marks$4.99
  • Large Tip - Sponsor an Op$4.99
  • 700 Synth Marks$9.99
  • Massive Tip - Back the Syndicate$9.99
  • Syndicate Founder Pack$9.99
  • 1600 Synth Marks$19.99
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 Neural Syndicate free?
Neural Syndicate 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, Neural Syndicate or Incremental ELM Quest 2?
Neural Syndicate is rated higher. Neural Syndicate averages 5.0 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while Incremental ELM Quest 2 averages 4.6 from 54 ratings.
Do Neural Syndicate or Incremental ELM Quest 2 have ads?
Neither Neural Syndicate nor Incremental ELM Quest 2 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Neural Syndicate or Incremental ELM Quest 2?
Neural Syndicate ships an update every 3 days, and Incremental ELM Quest 2 every 4 days. Most recently, Neural Syndicate was updated on October 31, 2026 and Incremental ELM Quest 2 on October 31, 2026.

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