Comparison

MICRO RUN vs Sunshard

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

Head to head
About

MICRO RUN

Features
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ā–  A 2-minute, one-thumb auto-battle survivor MICRO RUN is a micro survivor-action game built around ~2-minute runs. Move your character with a single thumb — every attack fires automatically. Each level-up lets you pick weapons and passives, then mow down the swelling horde in a storm of bullets. It's the "bullet heaven" rush, shrunk to pocket size. A red light, a train ride, one quick run before bed — your spare minutes become power-fantasy minutes. ā–  Features • One-thumb play: move only; aiming and firing are fully automatic. • Build-crafting: 14 weapons plus passives — homing, orbit blades, chain lightning, black holes and more. • 5 worlds: NEON CITY, TOXIC JUNGLE, VOID TEMPLE, EMBER WASTES, DEEP ABYSS. • 13 enemy types and stage bosses: chargers, splitters, fleeing treasure mobs. • 4 ships with distinct starting weapons and stats. • 5 difficulties, from EASY to ULTRA. • 19 titles (achievements) that grant passive buffs when equipped. • Fast-forward up to x10. • Bestiary collection. Plays fully offline. Start your 2-minute rampage.

About

Sunshard

Features
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Sunshard is a one-thumb incremental arcade game about burning crystals with sunlight. Drag your thumb along the see-through strip at the bottom and the sun spot moves like a cursor on a touchpad, anywhere on the field. Crystals chime as they shatter, with a light vibration in your hand. There are no ads, and it plays in nine languages. HOW A RUN GOES A run is one day, and a day lasts a minute. Your Sunlight fades as the sun goes down, and every crystal you burn costs a little more in glare. Break what you can, then spend the shards on the upgrade tree and go again. The runs are short; the progress stays. WHAT IS IN THE GAME • Seventeen kinds of crystal in five sizes, all of them on the move, each with its own trick: amethyst splits, sunstone gives Sunlight back, emerald heals its neighbors, lodestone pulls every shard home, ruby bursts, obsidian glares, sapphire shields, the drifter runs away, diamond shrugs off part of each hit, prism doubles your damage, slivers swim in schools, amber drops a rarer currency, pearls roll fast and pay triple, urchins crawl toward your sun spot, constellations wind across the field and pay a bonus broken whole, and twin moons circle each other. • Nine regions in two arcs, each with its own ground and light: from sunlit sands to a sky of glittering ice, then on toward the sun through moonlight, a rose nebula and the gold of the corona. • Nine Hearts, giant geodes you call when you choose. One splits into four, one heals itself, one sends out shockwaves, one hides behind guards and the sixth does it all. The last three fight their own way: one wanders, one flickers out of reach, one drinks your Sunlight. A Heart that gets away keeps its cracks. • The second arc, after the sixth Heart: six new crystals (arrows streak past, phantoms fade in and out, mirrors and lanterns let your light through, fuses burst, umbras drain your Sunlight), moondust, the Moonlight branch it buys, and at the top of the tree a crown that opens a second ending. • An upgrade tree that grows out from the sun: more than a hundred nodes, paid in five currencies, opening branch by branch. Every node shows the number before and after you buy. • Sunwings, butterflies of light that burn crystals on their own, and an Observatory whose research runs while the app is open. • Twelve sun sigils that each change how a run plays, and cost something for it. Only a few can be worn at once, and the best choice changes from region to region. Six bridge nodes join two branches and reward buying both. • Bring down a Heart and choose one of three blessings, yours for good. • Meteor showers, rainbows that double your shards, and eclipses that change the rules. • Rimmed crystals from the third region: rich, hard, fast or giant. • Break ten in a second and a combo starts; every break in it pays more. • Every material sounds different, from the chime of glass to the crack of obsidian, and a critical hit, a ruby burst and a falling Heart each have a vibration of their own. • After the sixth Heart, Region āˆž: floor after floor, with your best kept. • After the sixth Heart, a New Sun: start over with the Star Chart's stars, kept for good, and go further each time. • A daily challenge, the same for everyone that day, plus daily quests, twenty badges that climb from bronze to sun, and a collection to fill. • The Sun Mine makes shards while you are away. NO ADS No ads, no random items, no energy timers, no subscription. Restore purchases is in the shop. YOUR PROGRESS, ON YOUR PHONE Progress is saved on your phone, the game plays offline, and no account is needed. To balance the game, a short report of each run goes to our server with a random install ID, never your name, and each purchase is checked with the store. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://legal.lookbookai.app/sunshard/privacy.html

Screenshots

MICRO RUN4 screens
Sunshard4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: MICRO RUN at none against Sunshard's 8. MICRO RUN also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). Sunshard's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 3 weeks). On price and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. Sunshard sells 8 one-off in-app purchases. MICRO RUN asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MICRO RUN ships an update every 3 weeks, Sunshard every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences Ā· 2 level
MICRO RUN versus Sunshard: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMICRO RUNSunshard
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size25 MB36 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperShunya Fujimotole duc

In-app purchases

None

MICRO RUN

No in-app purchases

8 purchases

Sunshard

One-time8
  • 4 Hours of the Sun Mine$0.99
  • Dawn Lens$1.99
  • Aurora Lens$1.99
Show 5 more
  • Eclipse Lens$1.99
  • Full Game$4.99
  • Double Shards$4.99
  • 24 Hours of the Sun Mine$4.99
  • Supporter Pack$9.99

Questions

Is MICRO RUN free?
MICRO RUN is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Sunshard free?
Sunshard is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do MICRO RUN or Sunshard have ads?
MICRO RUN shows ads; Sunshard does not.
Which is updated more often, MICRO RUN or Sunshard?
MICRO RUN ships an update every 3 weeks, and Sunshard every 3 days. Most recently, MICRO RUN was updated on November 5, 2026 and Sunshard on November 10, 2026.

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