CrushStations vs Memory Madness!
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
CrushStations
This game trains working memory, a key executive function, by challenging players to remember creature colors and types to rescue them from an octopus. It's designed to improve cognitive skills linked to academic success.
- Working memory training
- Executive function development
- Creature memory challenges
- Educational game design
- Research-backed gameplay
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CrushStations is a game designed to train working memory, a subskill of executive functions. Working memory involves holding information in mind and mentally working with it (Diamond, 2013). Players need to remember the color and type of creatures to free them and keep them out of reach of the hungry octopus. How does this support learning? Executive functions refer to a set of top-down, goal-oriented cognitive processes that enable people to control, monitor and plan behaviors and emotions. Miyake and Friedman’s model supports a unity-and-diversity view of EF in that it incorporates the three distinct but related components of EF: inhibitory control, task-switching and updating (Miyake et al., 2000). What is the research evidence? Our research suggests that CrushStations is an effective way to train working memory. The study supporting this claim will be published soon. Research has found that EF is related to performance in literacy and math along with long-term gains in school performance and academic readiness (Blair & Razza, 2007; Brock, Rimm-Kaufman, Nathanson, & Grimm, 2009; St Clair-Thompson & Gathercole, 2006; Welsh, Nix, Blair, Bierman, & Nelson, 2010) and that disparities in EF among preschool children from low-income versus high-income homes may contribute to the achievement gap (Blair & Razza, 2007; Noble, McCandliss, & Farah, 2007). This game is part of the Smart Suite, created by New York University’s CREATE lab in collaboration with the University of California, Santa Barbara, and The Graduate Center, CUNY. The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305A150417 to the University of California, Santa Barbara. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.
Memory Madness!
Test your short-term memory by clicking squares in ascending order. This game mimics chimpanzee memory tests, challenging you to improve your score with repeated play.
- Increasing order square clicking
- High score tracking
- Chimpanzee memory test simulation
- Endless replayability
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The objective is to click all squares in increasing order and play again and again to get a high score. Similar to chimpanzee short term memory tests performed in experiments.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Memory Madness! at 100% against CrushStations's 50%. Memory Madness! also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.5) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 13 months). CrushStations's advantage is ratings volume (11 vs 3) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.
Memory Madness! holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 11 and 3 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of CrushStations's written reviews are positive against 100% of Memory Madness!'s.
CrushStations ships an update every 13 months, Memory Madness! every 5 days. Both last shipped on October 6, 2026.
| Parameter | CrushStations | Memory Madness! |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (11 ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 11 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 13 months | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 294 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | New York University | Ayman Slamani |
Customer experience
CrushStations
Memory Madness!
In-app purchases
CrushStations
No in-app purchases
Memory Madness!
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is CrushStations free?
Is Memory Madness! free?
Which has better reviews, CrushStations or Memory Madness!?
Do CrushStations or Memory Madness! have ads?
Which is updated more often, CrushStations or Memory Madness!?
Other comparisons
