Comparison

Backhoe! vs Hippo Profession

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

Head to head
About

Backhoe!

An interactive illustration game designed for young children, featuring a backhoe with simple touch controls. Kids can explore, dig, and drive without any pressure or complex mechanics.

Highlights
  • Interactive backhoe controls
  • Simple touch-to-play mechanics
  • Watercolor illustration style
  • No ads or in-app purchases
  • Score tracking
  • Kid-friendly design
Features
Read full description

Backhoe! is a game built specifically for the youngest gamers in our lives. I built this game for my son and daughter who are 4 and 3, respectively. They have a lot of fun playing it and helped shape the game with their extensive playtesting and feedback, and I hope that a young truck lover in your life gets as much enjoyment out of it as they do. The game is fashioned as a sort of "interactive illustration", emulating a look of detailed watercolor truck illustrations in books of the 80s. The idea is to let kids play, touch anywhere on the screen, and not be accidentally booted out away from the fun. It's as easy and fun to use as a playground digger toy (you know, the ones with the two levers kids are always arguing over.) How to play: Touch anywhere on the screen to affect the game; touch the body of the backhoe to change the color of it, or tap the wheels to start and stop driving. Tap the back arm of the backhoe to work the digger scoop; press and hold anywhere on the screen and the bucket will follow your finger. Tap the front of the backhoe to work the loader bucket; press and hold anywhere on the screen and the bucket will follow your finger. Raise it high enough and dump out dirt, and collect more dirt by driving and scooping up dirt piles. Dig and make piles to their maximum size to score points. There is no wrong way to play the game, no way to fail, or convoluted steps too hard for the youngest players to understand. Scores are saved automatically and frequently, so you'll always have a running tally of all the fires you've extinguished. And best of all there are not, and will never be, any ads, in-app purchases, links to other apps, data collected by me, or links to take the player outside of the game. Have fun playing Backhoe! and feel free to contact me with feedback!

About

Hippo Profession

Explore a variety of construction vehicles and machines. Operate harvesters, diggers, and robot welders in this engaging building simulation game. Discover how these powerful tools work and put them to use.

Highlights
  • Operate construction vehicles
  • Learn about building machines
  • Engaging simulation gameplay
  • Variety of tools like harvesters and diggers
  • Robot welder functionality
Read full description

Welcome to the world of building machines and mechanisms! There are a lot of interesting and useful machines in my garage. And today you will get to know a lot about them! Do you want to try harvester for timber harvesting or to work with a digger? Or maybe robot welder? Come over then. Building machines get bored without any job.

Screenshots

Backhoe!4 screens
Hippo Profession4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Hippo Profession at Free against Backhoe!'s $1.99. Backhoe!'s advantage is rating (4.5 vs 3.0) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). On ratings volume, update cadence 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

Hippo Profession is free to download; Backhoe! costs $1.99 up front. Hippo Profession sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Backhoe! asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Backhoe! holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 2 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Backhoe! ships an update every 53 months, Hippo Profession every 30 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 3 level
Backhoe! versus Hippo Profession: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBackhoe!Hippo Profession
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating4.5 (2 ratings) — better3.0 (2 ratings)
Number of ratings22
Update frequencyEvery 53 monthsEvery 30 months — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS10.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size64 MB155 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAustin IvansmithOculist

Customer experience

Backhoe!

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Hippo Profession

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

None

Backhoe!

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Hippo Profession

One-time1
  • No ADS$1.99

Questions

Is Backhoe! free?
Backhoe! costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Hippo Profession free?
Hippo Profession is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Backhoe! or Hippo Profession?
Backhoe! is rated higher. Backhoe! averages 4.5 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Hippo Profession averages 3.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Backhoe! or Hippo Profession have ads?
Hippo Profession shows ads; Backhoe! does not.
Which is updated more often, Backhoe! or Hippo Profession?
Backhoe! ships an update every 53 months, and Hippo Profession every 30 months. Most recently, Backhoe! was updated on October 24, 2026 and Hippo Profession on October 11, 2026.

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