Your hero holds the line. You build the machine that keeps it standing.
Idle Runner is an AFK defense RPG. Your hero stands its ground and fights on its own — firing at range, meleeing whatever gets close — while you decide where every coin goes.
IT REALLY RUNS WHILE YOU'RE GONE
Most idle games just estimate what you missed. Idle Runner keeps simulating. Close the app, lock your phone, walk away — waves keep coming, coins keep dropping, your build keeps earning. A notification tells you when your hero finally falls, so you know exactly when to come back.
8 WORLDS, ENDLESS WAVES
Enchanted Forest, Dark Cavern, Scorched Desert, Corrupted Forest, Volcanic Wastes, Void Realm, Celestial Spire and Frostbound Forest. Each brings its own enemies, its own look, and a boss every 10 waves. Goblins, trolls, knights, vampires and necromancers all behave differently — and punish different mistakes.
A BUILD WORTH OPTIMIZING
• Workshop — permanent upgrades that stack run after run
• Ascension — push past max level for bonuses that never reset
• 10 active powers — Fireball, Frost, Berserker, Timewarp, Shadow Clone, Fire Nova and more, each upgradeable
• Equipment — six rarities up to Mythic, with magical powers, sockets, merging and salvage
• Runes — offense, defense, economy and utility, with synergy sets
• Passive skills that unlock as you hit milestones
Maxing an upgrade doesn't finish it. Ascend it for bonuses that ignore the cap, then raise the ascension ceiling itself through Awakening — and go again. The waves never stop, and your coin counter stops fitting normal notation long before you run out of things to buy.
THE ENDGAME IS THE POINT
• Sanctum — long-form rituals that reshape how your run behaves
• Awakening — a deep node tree with real tier gates
• Artifacts — craft them, attune them, complete the set bonuses
• Jewelry — rings and amulets with procs that chain, burn and explode
• Forge — turn raw materials into the gear you actually wanted
• Trials — modifier runs for players who want the ceiling raised
• Dark spells — a separate resource with its own risk
COMPANIONS, SKINS, SEASONS
Animated companions fight beside you and level from every wave survived. Hero skins bring their own look and bonuses. A season pass runs free and premium tracks side by side, with daily and weekly quests, and War Banners that snowball the longer you last.
BUILT FAIR
No energy bar. No paywall. No timer telling you to stop. Diamonds come from playing — chests, quests, milestones and optional ads. Everything in the game is reachable without spending a thing.
BUILT TO LAST
Cloud save across devices. An in-game encyclopedia for when you want the actual numbers instead of a guess. Runs that take minutes, and a progression curve measured in months. Actively developed — new worlds, new systems and new seasons keep landing while you're still climbing the last one.
Hold the line.
Plenty of ways to grow stronger either through custom choices or RNG. No forced ads, no stamina bars and no limit to spell slots. I do love the details in this game, all menus are openable while in battle and an option in settings to not pause the game while tinkering in said menus with even ads and closing the game still running the battle until defeated. Spells don’t get generic growth but 3 categories so you can chose your ideal setup until you can max everything. Not much to complain about other than generic “more content”, haven’t awakened yet (prestige-like feature) but I hope workshop offensive gets a few more unique abilities or at least more options as I’ve maxed more than half on this first run. Paid no ads pack and QoL pack should be halved if not more, dev seems to know what there doing but it’s still a mobile game with not enough content to support (Not that a mobile game cannot be worth it, this one just isn’t at that point yet) Weekly quest seem easy to knock out in one day but I’ve only seen one set of these quest so far. Would be nice to see another playable mode.
Finally - an idle game that’s fair on your wallet
ExpiredLifetime
This is the first idle game I’ve played where when the developer said “everything is obtainable through playtime”, it wasn’t just blowing smoke. It’s not one of those games where you get 6 gems per hour, your first unlock costs 1000 and they’re making it so you have to spend to actually get somewhere. You can legitimately progress without spending money if you don’t want to. There are no final currencies locked behind PvP battles where only the whales can win. Theres not 8 different premium currencies you have to try to micromanage. The game is simple, solid and offers good background progression. This is the first time I’ve ever felt like a game deserved to be reviewed.
No ads as promised
itsnotmacky
Fun way to pass time without expending much effort
Game crash
LikeAFoxyCat
The game is nice cause you can start a run, put your phone down and check it periodically. The issue with the game so far is that it’s completely unplayable. Literally. When you click play the game just force closes. Reached out to support and no reply.
Developer Response
Hey thanks for reporting this. We have fixed the issue as soon as you reported it. I cannot guarantee 24/7 support as this is a single dev made game, but I am doing my best to improve the situation asap!Hope you will be back to us as we are constantly improving!
• Stability improvements
Version 1.3.9
The developer, BLACKBYTE sp. z o. o., indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Used to Track You
The following data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies:
Location
Identifiers
Usage Data
Data Linked to You
The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
Purchases
Contact Info
Identifiers
Usage Data
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
Location
Diagnostics
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
Seller
BLACKBYTE sp. z o. o.
Size
115.8 MB
Category
Roleplaying
Compatibility
Requires iOS 15.0 or later.
iPhone Requires iOS 15.0 or later.
iPad Requires iPadOS 15.0 or later.
iPod touch Requires iOS 15.0 or later.
Mac Requires macOS 12.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
