Comparison

Idle Space Mining vs Last Light

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
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.

About

Last Light

Guide ships home by sweeping a lighthouse beam across the sea. Manage your lighthouse and village, upgrade your equipment, and experience dynamic weather. A relaxing idle game that respects your time.

Highlights
  • Drag lighthouse beam to guide ships
  • Upgrade lighthouse and village
  • Dynamic weather system
  • Collect ship lore
  • Offline progress up to 8 hours
  • Home screen widget
Features
Read full description

A cozy idle lighthouse game. Drag the beam across a black sea, and every ship it catches finds its way home. Free to play. Rewarded ads are always optional, and one purchase removes all other ads. You keep the only light on a dark coast. Ships come in out of the night, some quick, some heavy, some shy of the light. Put your finger on the sea and sweep the beam over them; the ones you light turn toward harbor, unload their cargo, and the village above the cliffs sells it for Coin. A NIGHT ON THE COAST Check in for two minutes to collect the night and queue an upgrade, or stay for a full sweep when a storm rolls in. Every night ends on a quiet summary: what you lit, what the rocks took, and tomorrow's forecast. WHAT YOU BUILD • A lighthouse that grows with you: lens for range, beam for width, a foghorn for the thick nights, a harbor with more berths. • A village of twelve buildings that lights up window by window and opens new branches of the tower. • A journal of 36 ships and visitors, each with a sketch and a few lines of lore. Some only come out in storms. • Three coasts. When one is fully lit, sail on to the next and keep a permanent bonus. WEATHER THAT CHANGES THE NIGHT Fog narrows the beam. Storms push ships toward the rocks. Calm nights bring double traffic. When a ship drifts toward the reef, a flare calls it home. Flares drop from storms you weather, you can buy them with Coin at the Harbor, and you can also get one by watching a short ad if you choose. MONSTER NIGHTS Every few nights the beam goes dark and the sea answers. Swipe to fire flares at what surfaces, from drifting wisps to the Fog Mother, and keep every window in the village lit. Each one you turn back joins the Bestiary in your journal. A GAME THAT RESPECTS YOUR TIME • No game over. A ship lost to the rocks costs its cargo and nothing more. • The coast keeps working while you are away, up to 8 hours. • A daily storm with a Game Center leaderboard, plus eight achievements. Game Center is optional. • A home screen widget that shows your next build, or the ships waiting for your light. • No account and no login. WHAT IS FOR SALE Everything in the game can be earned by playing. The optional purchases are: • Keeper's Charter (one time): no ads, 2 flares and 15% more Coin every night, 2x and 4x speed, and all three keeper skins. • Remove ads (one time): turns off the ads shown between nights. Rewarded ads stay available, and only play if you tap to watch one. • Fair Winds (one time): play every night at 2x or 4x speed. • Keeper skins (one time): the Lantern, Storm Coat and Festival looks for your lighthouse. Try them on the coast before you buy. • Single skins (one time each): Torii, Nordic, Spanish and Ghost Ship. • Starter chest (once per account): 300 Coin and the Lantern keeper skin. • Coin sacks: 100, 500 or 1,500 Coin. The Keeper's Charter, Remove ads, Fair Winds and Keeper skins support Family Sharing. Restore purchases is in the Harbor and in Settings. Ads are personalized only if you allow tracking when asked, and the game plays the same either way. Hushed, warm and weathered: a small light against a big sea. Privacy Policy: https://lastlight.devera.app/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Idle Space Mining4 screens
Last Light4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Idle Space Mining at 100% against Last Light's 50%. Idle Space Mining also leads on rating (4.3 vs 4.0). 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. Idle Space Mining sells 6 one-off in-app purchases and Last Light sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Idle Space Mining holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 9 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Idle Space Mining's written reviews are positive against 50% of Last Light's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Idle Space Mining ships an update every 10 days, Last Light fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Idle Space Mining versus Last Light: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterIdle Space MiningLast Light
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (4 ratings) — better4.0 (9 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings49 — better
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterFortnightly
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size160 MB87 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperISAAC MICHAEL FRETTFarzin Tavakoli

Customer experience

Idle Space Mining

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

Last Light

All ratings9 ratings
Positive77.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative22.2%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

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
10 purchases

Last Light

One-time10
  • Torii skin$0.99
  • Spanish skin$0.99
  • Nordic skin$0.99
Show 7 more
  • Ghost Ship skin$0.99
  • Starter chest$2.99
  • Game Speed$2.99
  • Remove ads$3.99
  • Coin sack$3.99
  • Keeper's Charter$6.99
  • Large coin sack$9.99

Questions

Is Idle Space Mining free?
Idle Space Mining is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Last Light free?
Last Light is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Idle Space Mining or Last Light?
Idle Space Mining is rated higher. Idle Space Mining averages 4.3 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Last Light averages 4.0 from 9 ratings.
Do Idle Space Mining or Last Light have ads?
Both Idle Space Mining and Last Light show ads.
Which is updated more often, Idle Space Mining or Last Light?
Idle Space Mining ships an update every 10 days, and Last Light fortnightly. Most recently, Idle Space Mining was updated on November 10, 2026 and Last Light on November 6, 2026.

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