Comparison

Quirkies Evolution vs Idle DNA Creature

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

Head to head
About

Quirkies Evolution

Explore the fascinating process of evolution through interactive gameplay. Guide populations of creatures by selecting mates and influencing traits to ensure survival and adaptation. Discover new characteristics, learn through engaging content, and track your progress via a detailed family tree.

Highlights
  • Simulate natural selection and reproduction
  • Influence trait evolution through mate selection
  • Explore genetic recombination and mutation
  • Learn via educational videos and podcasts
  • Earn badges and survival points
  • Manipulate genes in the biolab
  • Track lineage with family tree and population view
Features
Read full description

This game teaches how evolution works: quirkies evolve through natural selection, reproduction, recombination and mutation of genes. The basics: by selecting mates who get to reproduce, you and other players simulate the environment in which the best quirkies survive. You can choose a trait that you would like the population to have (do this on the settings screen). As you play the game, try to select quirkies with that trait. In each generation, the offspring inherit the genes from the parents. The trait that you picked will become common throughout the population. Your fitness score at the top of the main screen will improve, and you win the game with high enough fitness over generations. But quirkies might also be rejected by mates, experience harmful mutations, and risk extinction. As you play, quirkies will entertain you with funny comments (even with speech), quiz your understanding of evolution, and make suggestions from an amazing range of educational videos and podcasts. Earn badges through these activities! Your quirkies will evolve new traits such as colors, nose, mouth, limbs, hair, and more by regulatory gene adaptations. Explore it all through the family tree (showing how genes are inherited) and population view. You can also earn survival points with mini-games: help your offspring feed, fight challengers, and find their parents. And don't tell anyone, but if you get to the biolab, you can manipulate your quirkie's genes! Evolved a really cute quirkie? You can give it a name (it will also get a scientific species name), save it for later, and share it with your friends! (Parents, no worries --- your kid cannot post on social media without your permission.) You can get news updates, when one of your quirkies has new siblings or offspring. And then you can explore the families of your quirkies: their parents, siblings, mates, and offspring. Iris Menczer (4th grade) and her dad created this game for kids to have fun learning about evolution. Evolutionary biologists have helped make it more educational. Hope you enjoy both the fun and the learning!

About

Idle DNA Creature

Edit genes to create unique pets with specific characteristics. Collect a full range of creatures by merging tiles. Every gene plays a crucial role in your pet's development.

Highlights
  • Gene editing for pet characteristics
  • Create unique pets
  • Collect creatures
  • Merge tiles to evolve
  • Full creature collection
Features
Read full description

Edit genes in DNA, add the necessary characteristics for your pets. Every gene matters! Collect the entire collection of creatures by merging tiles!

Screenshots

Quirkies Evolution4 screens
Idle DNA Creature4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Idle DNA Creature at 4.3 against Quirkies Evolution's 3.7. Idle DNA Creature also leads on update cadence (every 11 days vs monthly). Quirkies Evolution's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). On price, ratings volume, in-app purchases and device support 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Idle DNA Creature holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 10 and 4 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Quirkies Evolution ships an update monthly, Idle DNA Creature every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Quirkies Evolution versus Idle DNA Creature: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterQuirkies EvolutionIdle DNA Creature
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (10 ratings)4.3 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews70.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings10 — better4
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 11 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterAd-supported
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS7.1 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size49 MB338 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperIndiana UniversityPlaycus Limited

Customer experience

Quirkies Evolution

All ratings10 ratings
Positive70.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative30.0%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive70.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative30.0%

Idle DNA Creature

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%

In-app purchases

None

Quirkies Evolution

No in-app purchases

None

Idle DNA Creature

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Quirkies Evolution free?
Quirkies Evolution is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Idle DNA Creature free?
Idle DNA Creature is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Quirkies Evolution or Idle DNA Creature?
Idle DNA Creature is rated higher. Quirkies Evolution averages 3.7 out of 5 from 10 ratings, while Idle DNA Creature averages 4.3 from 4 ratings.
Do Quirkies Evolution or Idle DNA Creature have ads?
Idle DNA Creature shows ads; Quirkies Evolution does not.
Which is updated more often, Quirkies Evolution or Idle DNA Creature?
Quirkies Evolution ships an update monthly, and Idle DNA Creature every 11 days. Most recently, Quirkies Evolution was updated on October 9, 2026 and Idle DNA Creature on October 17, 2026.

Other comparisons