Comparison

Aetherium Hearts vs ASH RUN

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

Head to head
About

Aetherium Hearts

Features
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Raise adventurers in Selwyn, town of the Ash Marches, and send them down into the labyrinths. The expedition runs by itself โ€” they walk, they fight, they gather, and sometimes they fall. Those who come back bring the whole of it with them, written up by an AI as a single tale. No two are ever the same. โ—† Three labyrinths The Ashen Corridor, the Frostcrystal Archive, the Ember Crucible. Each runs to a different depth and a different danger, and at the bottom of each an Aetherium Heart lies sleeping. โ—† It runs on its own Once they are down there, they walk and fight on their own feet. The descent continues while the app is closed. โ—† Tales The record of a returning expedition is woven into prose by an AI. Send it straight to X, Threads, Bluesky or Discord. โ—† The town and your company An armoury, a general store, a forge, the guild, a temple, a shrine โ€” Selwyn holds nine places to go. You can also go looking for an adventurer who has gone missing. โ—† Standings Set the Aetherium Hearts you have offered at the Shrine of Astel against every adventurer in every town. Japanese and English, switching with your device. Free to play, with no in-app purchases.

About

ASH RUN

Features
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- Added the broken elevator: ride it to leave without the extraction countdown, or fall a floor if the cable snaps - Added gear upgrades at the workbench, up to +10 - Added five shelter upgrades: ammo store, sight maintenance, recovery rig, training gear, medicine cabinet - Added the Extended Barrel boon (+28% range) - Dodging is now a flick instead of a double tap - Added a countdown and a descent effect when the floor changes - Fixed enemies and drops from the previous floor lingering - Fixed crafted weapons being lost to bulk salvage; lost ones are restored on launch - The app now stays silent when the device is on silent mode - More detail on screen: shadows, bullet trails, dust

Screenshots

Aetherium Hearts4 screens
ASH RUN4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: ASH RUN at none against Aetherium Hearts's shown. ASH RUN also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs fortnightly). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Aetherium Hearts ships an update fortnightly, ASH RUN every 3 days. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 4 level
Aetherium Hearts versus ASH RUN: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAetherium HeartsASH RUN
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 3 days โ€” better
AdsYesNo โ€” better
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS16.416.4
Further details โ€” not scored
Size55 MB42 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperHitoshi IgarashiNaoki Arita

In-app purchases

None

Aetherium Hearts

No in-app purchases

None

ASH RUN

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Aetherium Hearts free?
Aetherium Hearts is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ASH RUN free?
ASH RUN is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Aetherium Hearts or ASH RUN have ads?
Aetherium Hearts shows ads; ASH RUN does not.
Which is updated more often, Aetherium Hearts or ASH RUN?
Aetherium Hearts ships an update fortnightly, and ASH RUN every 3 days. Most recently, Aetherium Hearts was updated on October 29, 2026 and ASH RUN on October 29, 2026.

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