Fairy Fire vs Highwind
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Fairy Fire
Engage in retro arcade action as you defend fairy pals from evil creatures in this fast-paced side-scroller. Collect power-ups and gems to upgrade your abilities and advance through waves of enemies or play in an endless arcade mode.
- Retro arcade action
- Side-scrolling gameplay
- Waves of evil creatures
- Upgrade items and power-ups
- Two game modes: floor-by-floor and endless
- Collect gems for upgrades
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Fairy Fire - Defender of the Fairies Up for some retro arcade action? Extra weapons, upgrades, smart bombs etc. are your favorite tools? Then this great arcade clone is for you! Survive waves of evil creatures in this fantastic, fast paced side scroller. The plot: Defend your fairy pals against the evil! Fight through waves of evil creatures and finally meet the mother of evil and free the fairies - forever... Pick up the fairies and escort them to the warp-hole. Watch out for the snatchers, they are trying to abduct your fairy pals. Advance to the next wave by rescuing all fairies and eliminating all enemies by the end of the timer. Two game modes - Advance floor by floor by defeating the boss of each floor. - Arcade ‘endless’ mode. Collect gems to buy great upgrade items - get additional fire power with the ‘FairyFire’ upgrade ( also protects the fairy from dying ) - increase the number of collectable fairies with the ‘FairyCarry’ upgrade - speed up the wizard and make him fast like a flash - increase the shot frequency with the ‘FirePower’ upgrade - get a ‘GemMagnet’ to ease the pickup of gems Collectable upgrades: - Smart bomb ( black scroll ): kill all enemies on the screen - Invincible ( golden scroll ): kamikaze can be fun - Time Bender ( hourglass ): slow down the enemies for easy killing - Helper ( purple potion ): adds a protecting item to the wizard; it kills enemies - Extra Live ( green potion ) - Fire Power ( magic lamp ): adds serious ( flame thrower like ) fire power to the wizard
Highwind
Control a paper plane with two buttons to shoot enemies and defend yourself. Upgrade your plane's capabilities and unlock new aircraft as you progress through randomly generated waves and different dimensions.
- Simple two-button controls
- Unlockable planes with different stats
- Upgradeable health, shield, and ammo
- Randomly selected enemy waves
- Multiple game styles including infinite mode
- Minigames with unique mechanics
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In Highwind you control a paper plane using only two buttons. You will destroy enemy planes and protect your own. Tapping the right side of the screen will shoot bullets and holding the left side will activate the shield. The shield blocks and reflects bullets back to your enemies. Fight different enemy planes and obstacles, each with different behavior. Travel to different dimensions and avoid obstacles on the way. As you progress through the game you will be able to purchase upgrades to your health, shield and ammo. Also, each time you beat a level you will get a power up that will help you defeat your enemies. Each time you play you will accumulate points that will unlock new planes and new game styles. Try to beat the game in each one of the different styles! Features -Simple controls: Play with only two buttons -Different game styles: Five variations of the game including an infinite mode -Minigames: Three additional sections with different mechanics -A different experience each play: Enemy waves are randomly selected from a predefined set -Upgrades and power ups: Purchase upgrades to your shield, ammo and health. Get a power up every level -Different airplanes: Unlock new airplanes with different stats
Screenshots
Verdict
Fairy Fire and Highwind both sit at 5.0 stars, but that hides the real split: 71% of Highwind's written reviews are positive against 50% of Fairy Fire's. Highwind also leads on ratings volume (11 vs 3). On price, rating, 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
Fairy Fire costs $0.99 and Highwind $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Fairy Fire holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 11 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 50% of Fairy Fire's written reviews are positive against 71% of Highwind's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Fairy Fire ships an update every 37 months, Highwind every 21 months. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Fairy Fire | Highwind |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 | $0.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better | 4.8 (11 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | 71.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 11 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 37 months | Every 21 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 28 MB | 169 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Stefan Preuss | Selva Interactive |
Customer experience
Fairy Fire
Highwind
In-app purchases
Fairy Fire
No in-app purchases
Highwind
No in-app purchases









