Idle Space Mining vs Trenchfront
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Idle Space Mining
Build and expand a space mining empire through incremental upgrades and strategic choices. Reset your progress to gain permanent bonuses and achieve ultimate power. Earn resources even while offline.
- Incremental mining empire building
- Strategic doctrine choices
- Prestige system with Dark Matter
- Permanent upgrades via Star Shards
- Offline earnings
- Challenging game modes
- Comet catching events
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Tap an asteroid. Build a mining empire. Then destroy it — and come back stronger. IDLE SPACE MINING is an idle game about scale. You start hand-mining ore from a bare rock. You end up rewriting local physics so the ore was always there. BUILD THE COLONY Twenty-six machines, from a rickety Drone Hangar to the Terminus Drillhead. Each one runs its own harvest cycle — watch the bars fill, watch the ore land. Every 10 you own doubles that machine's output, and every tier lifts the one beneath it. CHOOSE YOUR DOCTRINE At each tier you pick ONE of three paths and forfeit the other two. Triple your early generators, or cut the price of everything, or tighten your milestones. There is no right answer — and you re-decide every single run. ASCEND When growth stalls, collapse the whole colony into a singularity. You lose your ore, your generators, your tech. You keep DARK MATTER — and every scrap you have ever earned makes you permanently stronger. Dark Matter is deliberately scarce. Each one matters. HEAT DEATH Then there's the prestige above prestige. Let the universe run down, trade everything — even your Dark Matter — for Star Shards, and buy upgrades that survive the end of everything. TAKE ON CHALLENGES Mine with no hands. Run with triple-length cycles. Build with only three generator types. Beat one and keep the bonus forever. CATCH COMETS Comets drift past while you play. Tap one for a lump of ore or a burst of production. EARN WHILE YOU SLEEP Your colony keeps mining when the app is closed. Come back to a pile. One optional ad, and only if you want it: watch a Supply Drop for double production for four hours. No banners, no interstitials, nothing that interrupts play. No energy timers, no countdown "offers". Just numbers going up, forever.
Trenchfront
Lead your army in tactical real-time battles across a contested battlefield. Capture trenches, deploy diverse units, and call in support to achieve victory. Progress through campaigns, challenges, and unlock commanders with unique abilities.
- Tactical real-time battles
- Campaign missions and survival
- Diverse unit deployment
- Commander progression
- Seasons, events, and challenges
- Roguelike upgrades
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Trenchfront is a tactical strategy and survival game for iPhone. Lead your army across a contested battlefield, capture trenches, and decide when each formation should hold, advance, or launch an assault. Deploy infantry, assault troops, machine-gun teams, snipers, medics, engineers, artillery, and tanks. Every unit has distinct strengths, weaknesses, costs, and battlefield roles. Call in air strikes, artillery, smoke, and reinforcements at the right moment. CAMPAIGN AND OPERATIONS Fight mission by mission across the frontline map. Different theaters, objectives, and difficulty levels demand new tactics. Replay completed operations for higher ratings and additional rewards. TACTICAL TRENCH COMMANDS Captured trenches provide cover and are commanded individually. Hold a position, advance in formation, or risk a faster assault with reduced protection. COMMANDERS AND PROGRESSION Choose a commander with a distinct specialization and active ability. Earn player and commander XP, rise through command ranks, complete assignments, and improve your economy, infantry, armor, defense, and support. SEASONS, EVENTS, AND CHALLENGES Daily and weekly challenges provide clear battle objectives. Recurring events and seasonal reward tracks offer additional goals. Optional Premium and DLC content is presented clearly in the store and supports purchase restoration. FEATURES • Tactical real-time battles across five frontline positions • Campaign missions and survival high scores • Distinct maps and selectable difficulty levels • Infantry, armor, and special support abilities • Commanders with roles, abilities, and rank progression • Roguelike field upgrades and synergies • Season pass, events, and challenges • English and German localization • No player account required
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Idle Space Mining at none against Trenchfront's 10. Idle Space Mining also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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. Trenchfront sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Idle Space Mining asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Idle Space Mining against 5.0 for Trenchfront. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.
Idle Space Mining ships an update weekly, Trenchfront every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Idle Space Mining | Trenchfront |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 1 |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 121 MB | 148 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | ISAAC MICHAEL FRETT | PHILIP GRABNER |
Customer experience
Idle Space Mining
Trenchfront
In-app purchases
Idle Space Mining
No in-app purchases
Trenchfront
- Elite Commanders Pack$2.99
- Season 12: Iron Front Premium$3.99
- Season 13: Winter War Premium$3.99
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- Season 14: Pacific Storm Premium$3.99
- Season 15: Desert Spearhead Premium$3.99
- Season 16: Fog of War Premium$3.99
- Season 17: Steel Resolve Premium$3.99
- Season 18: Spring Offensive Premium$3.99
- Season 19: Fortress Europe Premium$3.99
- Historical Campaign Pack$5.99
Questions
Is Idle Space Mining free?
Is Trenchfront free?
Which has better reviews, Idle Space Mining or Trenchfront?
Do Idle Space Mining or Trenchfront have ads?
Which is updated more often, Idle Space Mining or Trenchfront?
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