Comparison

AEON vs Idle Space Mining

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

Head to head
About

AEON

Create and expand your own universe from scattered dust to vast galaxies. Experience cosmic evolution with realistic physics, unlock new laws, and witness civilizations rise and fall. This meditative idle game offers a relaxing journey through the cosmos.

Highlights
  • Universe creation from dust to observable universe
  • Realistic N-body physics simulation
  • Unlockable laws and content via discovery tree
  • Life and civilization simulation
  • Offline progress and notifications
  • Constellation discovery and rare cosmic wonders
Read full description

AEON is a meditative, relaxing idle game about creating a universe from nothing. Tap the screen to draw scattered interstellar dust together — particles pull on each other like real physics and slowly grow. Given enough mass they become a molecular cloud, then a blazing star, a star system with orbiting planets, a cluster of thousands of stars, a vast galaxy, and beyond — galaxy clusters, superclusters, and the observable universe itself. Grow your cosmos far enough and Big Bang collapses it for a "cosmic constant." Strengthen the laws of physics — time dilation, fusion, gravity, dark matter — and open new laws and content on a discovery tree, so the next universe grows faster than the last. Watch long enough and life sprouts on some world, and a civilization lights the windows of its cities. They send signals, form alliances or wage war, and wonder about the creator of their universe. You watch over it all — and, now and then, grant a blessing. Features - Ten stages of evolution, from dust to the observable universe - Real N-body physics: particles clump and react - A differently-flavored universe every Big Bang — 24 traits, 5 galaxy types - Some universes arrive in a whole different visual language — monochrome, pixel art, green phosphor, cube, Hubble palette, ink wash, watercolor, or oil painting - Discover and record 27 real constellations of the night sky - Catch rare wonders — black holes, pulsars, quasars, and supernovae - Real meteor shower nights reach your universe too — seven showers a year, each with its own constellation and a dazzling peak - A discovery tree that unlocks new laws and content with each cosmic constant - Codex & milestones: permanent bonuses that outlive the Big Bang - A living universe — life and civilizations arise, signal, ally, and war - Offline progress and return notifications - Daily check-in gifts that grow each day, and a welcome-back gift after time away - Cloud save through Game Center — your progress follows you to a new device - Sixteen languages (EN, KO, JA, ZH-Hant, ZH-Hans, ES, DE, RU, UK, PT-BR, ID, VI, FR, IT, TR, PL), save backup/restore - A calm, relaxing cosmos — free to play with ads; one optional purchase removes them

About

Idle Space Mining

Dig through galaxies, merge miners to increase their strength, and build machines that mine while you're away. Discover new planets, upgrade your crew, and unlock powerful boosts to speed up your progress. Compete in timed events and earn rewards.

Highlights
  • Incremental mining gameplay
  • Miner merging and upgrading
  • Idle machine mining
  • Galaxy exploration
  • Dark Matter upgrades
  • Event planets with leaderboards
  • Cloud save functionality
Features
Read full description

Idle Space Mining is an incremental clicker about digging your way across 12 galaxies. Drag your miners onto rocks and watch them dig. Merge two of a kind into a stronger miner. Dig out machines buried in the ground, build them, and they keep mining while you are away. Mine through the walls, reach the launch pad, and launch to the next planet. DIG WITH YOUR CREW Every rock holds gold ore, and now and then you find a rare Dark Matter rock. Pick which rocks your crew works and collect what they drop. Your crew comes with you to every new planet. MERGE YOUR MINERS Two miners of a level make one of the next. Higher levels dig faster. MINE THROUGH THE WALLS Each area ends in a wall. Dig a way to it, put your crew on it, and mine it down to open the next area. DIG OUT YOUR MACHINES Every planet starts with just the Ore Crusher. Fifteen more buildings lie buried across the galaxies, from the Power Plant and Drill Press to the Refinery, Smelter and Nuclear Plant. Reach one and buy more of it from the Upgrades menu. 96 PLANETS, 12 GALAXIES Eight planets in each galaxy, each with its own look, its own rock and its own walls. Launching earns Dark Matter, which you keep forever. FIVE DARK MATTER UPGRADES Spend Dark Matter on Ore Yield, Dig Speed, Miner Slots, Dark Affinity and Auto-Collect, ten levels each. They make every planet after it faster. RESEARCH AND COLONY BOOSTS Dig out the Power Core to open research, and grow the whole colony with Colony boosts. EVENT PLANETS Event planets open for three days at a time. Everyone starts with the same kit. Mine as many rocks as you can and see your rank on the Game Center leaderboard: your Top %, and where you stand among friends. Nothing is for sale on an event planet. THE LAST PLANET Mine through planet 96 and you have crossed all 12 galaxies. A finish screen marks it, and the event planets keep going after that. COMETS, DAILY GOALS, ACHIEVEMENTS Catch comets for a burst of ore. Clear daily goals. Claim achievements for a permanent bonus. EARNS WHILE YOU SLEEP Your machines keep mining when the app is closed. Come back to a pile. One optional ad, only if you want it: watch it for double production for four hours. No banners, no interstitials, nothing that interrupts play. No energy timers. Cloud save keeps your progress safe.

Screenshots

AEON4 screens
Idle Space Mining4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: AEON at 5.0 against Idle Space Mining's 4.3. AEON also leads on monetization model (ad-supported vs free with in-app purchases) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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. AEON sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Idle Space Mining sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

AEON holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 4 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

AEON ships an update weekly, Idle Space Mining every 10 days. Both last shipped on November 10, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
AEON versus Idle Space Mining: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAEONIdle Space Mining
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (6 ratings) — better4.3 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings6 — better4
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 10 days
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size42 MB160 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJung Gil SeoISAAC MICHAEL FRETT

Customer experience

AEON

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

Idle Space Mining

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

AEON

One-time1
  • Creator's Mark$2.99
6 purchases

Idle Space Mining

One-time6
  • Dark Matter Cache$1.99
  • Temporal Shunt$2.99
  • Deep Cryo Vault$3.99
Show 3 more
  • Dark Matter Flask$4.99
  • Overclock$4.99
  • Dark Matter Reservoir$9.99

Questions

Is AEON free?
AEON is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Idle Space Mining free?
Idle Space Mining is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, AEON or Idle Space Mining?
AEON is rated higher. AEON averages 5.0 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while Idle Space Mining averages 4.3 from 4 ratings.
Do AEON or Idle Space Mining have ads?
Both AEON and Idle Space Mining show ads.
Which is updated more often, AEON or Idle Space Mining?
AEON ships an update weekly, and Idle Space Mining every 10 days. Most recently, AEON was updated on November 10, 2026 and Idle Space Mining on November 10, 2026.

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