Vicinity Online vs Aethel Idle
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Vicinity Online
Build a vast space empire in this persistent sci-fi MMO. Construct planetary infrastructure, command fleets, trade resources, and engage in player-driven conflict to control a living galaxy. Focuses on long-term progression and strategic planning.
- Build and expand space empire
- Construct planetary infrastructure
- Mine and manage resources
- Command specialized ship fleets
- Scan systems for intelligence
- Player-driven economy and trading
- Engage in player vs. player combat
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Build your empire among the stars. Vicinity Online is a persistent sci-fi MMO where players construct powerful economies, command fleets, trade resources, and compete for control across a living galaxy. Humanity has reached deep space, but expansion is no longer peaceful. Every star system holds opportunity. Every resource has value. Every fleet movement can shift the balance of power. Develop your planetary infrastructure, extract valuable resources, manage energy production, and expand your influence across star systems. Build mines, depots, energy facilities, and production chains to fuel your growing empire. Command fleets of specialized ships and send them across the galaxy to defend your territory, support your allies, or strike at your enemies. Battles are shaped by preparation, intelligence, fleet composition, and strategic timing. The galaxy is driven by players. Trade resources, scan star systems, monitor fleet activity, compete over valuable positions, and participate in an evolving economy where every decision matters. Explore a universe built around long-term progression, strategic planning, and player conflict. Features: • Build and expand your space empire • Construct buildings and develop planetary infrastructure • Mine and manage resources used for growth, trade, and warfare • Build and command fleets of specialized ships • Scan systems and gather intelligence on planets and enemy activity • Trade resources and participate in a player-driven economy • Fight other players for resources, influence, and strategic control • Progress through long-term upgrades, skills, and empire development The stars are open. The galaxy is waiting. Build, trade, scout, command, and conquer in Vicinity Online.
Aethel Idle
Embark on a long-term fantasy idle RPG adventure with 21 distinct skills to master. Progress even when the app is closed, engage in combat with multiple styles, and explore a world filled with lore and challenges. Trade with other players and join clans for a rich multiplayer experience.
- 21 unique skills to master
- Idle progression while offline
- Deep combat system with gear ladders
- Player-driven marketplace
- Clan and friend system
- Extensive world exploration
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Aethel Idle is a fantasy idle RPG about the long haul. Pick a skill, start working, and keep making progress — while you watch, and while the app is closed. There is no energy bar, no timer telling you to come back tomorrow, and no ads. TWENTY-ONE SKILLS Chop, mine, fish and hunt. Cook, smith, craft, fletch and brew. Grow crops, bind runes, pick locks. Every skill has its own screen, its own recipes and its own mastery to deepen — and they feed each other, so the ore you mine becomes the sword you fight with. FIGHT YOUR WAY Melee, ranged and magic each have a full gear ladder, and enemies have weaknesses worth exploiting. Save equipment loadouts and let the game swap to the right one automatically. Raise an altar and earn Devotion for blessings that turn a losing fight around. A WORLD WITH SOMETHING IN IT 16 open combat regions and 20 dungeons, from a quiet overgrown common to places that have gone very wrong. 240 creatures to learn and kill. 65 quests that tell a story about what happened to this world, rather than just handing you a checklist. Take contracts from the hunters' lodge for targets and rewards you won't find elsewhere. PROGRESS WHILE YOU'RE AWAY Close the app and your character keeps working. Come back to a pile of logs, ore or loot. This isn't an estimate — the game replays the time you were gone, tick by tick, so what you earn is exactly what you would have earned watching. PLAY TOGETHER, OR DON'T Found or join a clan, chat with your members, and build an emblem. Add friends and message them. Climb the hiscores and compare any skill against every other player, then dig into anyone's profile to see how they got there. Or ignore all of it — nothing here needs another person. BUILT TO RESPECT YOU No ads. No pop-ups begging you to rate it. Seventeen in-game guide books that tell you how things actually work instead of hiding it in a wiki. Optional reminders when something finishes. Your progress is saved to our servers, so it follows you between devices. Aethel Idle is in active development and we ship updates constantly. There's a Community tab in-game with the changelog and player polls, because the people playing it should get a say in where it goes.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Aethel Idle at 5.0 against Vicinity Online's 4.3. Aethel Idle also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 67%) and ratings volume (17 vs 3). Vicinity Online's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 7) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 2 weeks). On price, ads and monetization model 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. Aethel Idle sells 7 one-off in-app purchases. Vicinity Online asks for nothing beyond the download.
Aethel Idle holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Aethel Idle has 17 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Vicinity Online's written reviews are positive against 100% of Aethel Idle's.
Vicinity Online ships an update every 6 days, Aethel Idle every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Vicinity Online | Aethel Idle |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (3 ratings) | 5.0 (17 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 17 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 days — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 129 MB | 94 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Konrad Machlowski | Joshua Coonce |
Customer experience
Vicinity Online
Aethel Idle
In-app purchases
Vicinity Online
No in-app purchases
Aethel Idle
- Handful of Crowns$0.99
- Adventurer's Bundle$3.99
- Pouch of Crowns$4.99
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- Chest of Crowns$9.99
- Founder's Pack$9.99
- Vault of Crowns$19.99
- Royal Hoard$49.99









