Nova vs Emberwild Online
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Nova
Command a star fleet in a real-time galactic conquest game. Engage in strategic battles, forge binding diplomatic contracts, and manage your empire efficiently. Play at your own pace, from quick sprints to long campaigns, with background notifications keeping you informed.
- Real-time galactic conquest
- Binding diplomatic contracts
- Fog of war for strategic depth
- Customizable game pace and duration
- Background notifications
- Map editor for custom galaxies
Read full descriptionHide full description
You command one star at the edge of a contested galaxy, with a few hundred ships in the garrison and a clock counting down. Everything else is neutral, or held by a rival who wants it as badly as you do. Hold the most living stars when the mission timer ends and you win. Knock every rival out first, and you win early. Nova is a real-time space-strategy game of galactic conquest for two or more players. Every commander starts with exactly the same star, ships, and credits, so games are won by decisions, not dice. A war of decisions. You move under fog of war, seeing only what your own stars and scouts can reach, so a spy probe before an assault is often worth more than the ships it costs. The defender always holds the home-field edge, which means you have to outnumber a garrison by better than three to two just to fight to even odds. Capture stars, build factories, and your fleets and treasury compound together; spend on speed, range, or battle power and the advantage carries across your whole empire. Drop a nova bomb and a star is gone for good, which denies it to a rival but scores it for no one. Diplomacy you can hold someone to. Talk in-game on a global channel or in a private thread with a single commander. Then make it binding: a contract offers another player cash outright, or only if they send the fleet you ask for, to the star you name. The moment they accept, the cash moves and the fleet launches on their behalf, and it cannot be recalled. Alliances are only as good as the deals behind them, and here the deals actually stick. Set the pace yourself. A game's host decides how long it runs and how fast its clock turns. Spin up a one-hour sprint where production ticks every few seconds and the whole war is settled over a lunch break. Or stretch the same game over days or even weeks, a long campaign you think about between meetings and come back to when something shifts. Any player can propose a pause for sleep or work, and once a second player agrees, the whole game freezes, deadlines and all, until it resumes. Let it run in the background. You never have to keep the app open or refresh anything. Nova notifies your device when it actually matters: a star of yours under attack, a shield that just blocked a spy probe, a fleet that reached its target, a message from a rival, a pause proposal, the game kicking off. Leave a slow game running for days and you will not lose the thread. Less micromanagement, more strategy. Fleets route themselves through your territory, so you can strike far beyond a single jump without plotting every hop. Standing orders turn a safe rear star into a supply pump: keep a garrison, forward the surplus, and reinforcements march to the front on their own while you think about the next move. Build your own galaxies in the map editor and play them with friends, or drop into a balanced Risk-style world for two to six commanders. Play from your iPhone, iPad or a browser against the same opponents; a game runs identically whether you join from iOS or the web.
Emberwild Online
Read full descriptionHide full description
THE WILDS ARE CALLING. WILL YOU ANSWER? Emberwild Online is a real-time multiplayer pixel-art RPG built for iPhone. Create your hero, step into the town of Emberhollow and fight your way across a dangerous world full of monsters, treasure and other real players. Every adventurer you see is a real person. FIGHT IN REAL TIME Tap an enemy and strike! Land critical hits, watch damage numbers fly and choose your weapon style: a balanced sword, a lightning-fast dagger or a devastating axe. Every battle is live, and every victory is earned. CONQUER SIX DEADLY ZONES Start with Forest Slimes and battle Wild Wolves and towering Forest Golems. Then brave the murky Mirefen Bog, the icy Frostfang Crags and the scorching Emberfall Wastes, home of the fearsome Ember Drakes. Each zone is tougher and more rewarding than the last. FACE THE CINDER TYRANT Deep in the Emberfall Wastes lies a giant level 75 boss with 30,000 HP. You can't defeat it alone, so rally other players and bring it down together for huge gold rewards and a shot at rare Drakescale gear. The whole world is told when it rises… and when it falls. LOOT, GEAR UP AND SHOW IT OFF Hunt for common, uncommon, rare and epic items. Collect armor sets from Cloth and Iron to Stonewarden, Bogscale, Frostguard and the legendary Drakescale. Every piece changes how your character looks, and other players see your gear too. BUILD YOUR HERO YOUR WAY Level up to 50 and spend stat points on Strength, Dexterity, Vitality and Defense. Build a heavy hitter, an untouchable tank or anything in between. QUESTS AND A LIVING TOWN Take on quests from Elder Maren, shop with Tilda the Merchant, upgrade weapons at Garrick's Forge, heal with Brother Aldric and store your treasures in the bank vault. TRADE AND MAKE FRIENDS Chat with players worldwide, send private whispers, see who's online and view their profiles. Trade items and gold through a secure trade window where both players must accept, so nobody gets scammed. CRAFTED WITH LOVE Every pixel and every sound in Emberwild was made from scratch for this game. Smooth controls, a handy minimap, a full world map and a quick tutorial get you adventuring in seconds. FEATURES • Real-time multiplayer world shared with real players • Six unique zones plus an epic group boss • Seven armor sets that change your character's look • Level up to 50 and customize your stats • Quests, shops, a forge and an expandable bank • Secure player-to-player trading • Global chat, whispers and player profiles • Custom character appearance • Original pixel art and soundtrack Your legend starts now. Download Emberwild Online and enter the wilds! Emberwild Online requires an internet connection. Optional in-app purchases are available.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Nova at none against Emberwild Online's 2. Nova also leads on iOS requirement (16.4 vs 26.0). Emberwild Online's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs weekly). On price, ads and device support 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. Emberwild Online sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Nova asks for nothing beyond the download.
Nova ships an update weekly, Emberwild Online every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Nova | Emberwild Online |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 4 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 51 MB | 10 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Kevin Gilpin | Simone Miali |
In-app purchases
Nova
No in-app purchases
Emberwild Online
- 40 Ember$0.99
- 200 Ember$4.49









