Space Chef vs Penguin Protection
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Space Chef
This fast-paced game challenges you to quickly sort ingredients and build healthy meals against the clock. Discover new recipes, unlock food facts, and learn about nutrition with over 60 healthy options.
- Fast-paced ingredient sorting
- Build healthy recipes
- Unlock food factoids
- Over 60 healthy recipes
- Race against the clock
- Discover new robots
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Have you tried Hawaiian Turkey Sliders? Quesadilla Con Huevos? How about a Peanut Butter Banana Breakfast Shake? Space Chef has and he wants you to try them too! Space Chef, developed by the Lawrence Hall of Science at UC Berkeley, is a fast-paced action game designed to provide the starting point needed to build healthy meals using simple, readily-available, and nutritious ingredients. Space Chef requires quick thinking and even quicker fingers as you race against the clock to sort through an array of ingredients and construct healthy recipes. Along the way, you’ll unlock food factoids, discover new Space Chef robots, and have access to over 60 healthy recipes. Start your intergalactic grocery list today...those Sweet Potato Blueberry Squares won’t make themselves! All recipes used in Space Chef were modeled from the healthy recipe collection at the “What’s Cooking? USDA Mixing Bowl” website. To help kids learn more about health and the human body, try out the other apps from the Lawrence Hall of Science funded by the National Institutes of Health Science Education Partnership Award program.
Penguin Protection
Experience life as a rockhopper penguin and nurture your chicks in this educational simulation. It's designed to align with first-grade life science modules focused on safety and growth.
- Raise penguin chicks
- Simulate rockhopper penguin life
- Educational content
- Aligned with science curriculum
- Interactive learning
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This simulation allows users to take the role of an adult rockhopper penguin helping to raise its young. This resource is aligned with the Smithsonian Science for the Classroom grade 1 life science module, "How Do Living Things Stay Safe and Grow?"
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Space Chef at 4.3 against Penguin Protection's 3.7. Space Chef also leads on update cadence (every 3 months vs every 34 months) and iOS requirement (5.1.1 vs 12.0). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Space Chef holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 3 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 93% of Space Chef's written reviews are positive against 100% of Penguin Protection's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Space Chef ships an update every 3 months, Penguin Protection every 34 months. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Space Chef | Penguin Protection |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (6 ratings) — better | 3.7 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 93.3% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 6 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 34 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 5.1.1 — better | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 79 MB | 63 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | The Lawrence Hall of Science | Smithsonian Institution |
Customer experience
Space Chef
Penguin Protection
In-app purchases
Space Chef
No in-app purchases
Penguin Protection
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Space Chef free?
Is Penguin Protection free?
Which has better reviews, Space Chef or Penguin Protection?
Do Space Chef or Penguin Protection have ads?
Which is updated more often, Space Chef or Penguin Protection?
Other comparisons
