Comparison

Word Magic vs Stack the States®

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

Head to head
About

Word Magic

This educational app helps preschoolers and kindergarteners learn words and spellings through interactive games. Kids identify missing letters for pictures, with positive reinforcement and rewards to keep them engaged.

Highlights
  • Interactive missing letter games
  • Picture-based word association
  • Positive reinforcement and rewards
  • Kid-friendly voice encouragement
  • Simple touch-based interface
  • Attractive and funny graphics
Features
Read full description

Word Magic is nominated for Best Educational App by 2009 Best App Ever awards and also featured in "Apps for kids" by Apple ------------------- Word magic is created by mom and dad of a 5 year old kid. It has wonderful reviews in the app store. Below are some samples by customers. A Fun, Exciting Math App for my 4 year old son. ------ It really is a magic game kids will love it, the upgrades are really good .... auto scrolling to next word .... random colours .... fun graphics .... new different rewards for the kids.... any queries to anusen answered thoroughly & very quickly by email .... and to make it special the little daughters voice will encourage kids to keep guessing & learning .... thanks for thinking of kids & all your good ideas....i also bought maths magic....just as good, same decription as above for word magic.... a very happy nan .... ann ---- This app is the best. My son is learning to read and being able to play to find the begining and ending sound is great and it is a concept being taught to him in kindergarten. My 3 year old loves it too. Makes me want to have iPhones for each one of them! ------ My 5 year old loves this application and It really helps me see how much she knows Keep up the good work ------- My 4.5 yr old daughter loves this game, she is having lots of fun as well learning at the same time. Thanks for making learning fun:) ----- Word Magic is designed keeping preschooler and kindergarten kids in mind. It is very ideal for kids between the ages 3 to 6. It is an excellent application for kids to have fun with words and their spellings and learn them. A picture is shown and the kids should select the missing letter for the picture. The picture for the word will be read out. There are three flavors. Based on the kids level, you can choose missing letter at the beginning or in the middle or in the last. Word magic is loaded with lot of fun features: - Very simple design. Kids need to just touch the answer. - Very attractive and funny pictures. - Once they identify the correct answer, shaking the iphone will take them to a new problem. - Every time they pick the answers they get appreciated with surprise appreciation (real voice) - After every 5 successive correct answers different colored stars appear as their rewards. Kids love this. Word magic is fun learning experience for kids which would help them in - Positive reinforcement - Surprises and rewards - Very simple design - Vibrant colors - Attractive and funny pictures Once a kid plays with this application he/she will want to play till the end of the game to see the surprises. The sounds and colors have been carefully selected. The voices are also recorded by a kid. This application has been kids approved. We had spent lots of time researching the usability of this application. We have been tweaking this application and enhancing it based on how 4 year old kids use this. We have 6 QA's for this application. Yes! 6 preschoolers who approved this application. We had been iteratively testing with 6 different kids of the same age group. Have fun, and please send your comments and feedback and enhancements requests to wordmagic@anusen.com ------- We had partnered with SmarTots and excited to provide more features to the parents. SmarTots provides learning reports and mobile education app reviews that help parents understand what their children are learning. Signing up for SmarTots also gives parents access to fun activities that enhance the educational value of mobile education apps like this one. Click the Parent Button inside this app to get these great features ------- Checkout http://tinyurl.com/n6p2hd for the video of this app. ----- Please try out our other applications Math Magic Match Magic Count Magic Think BIG Math Series Dicatation

About

Stack the States®

Learn about the 50 US states through a fun and interactive game. Collect all states, unlock bonus games, and master capitals, shapes, flags, and more. This app makes geography engaging for all ages.

Highlights
  • Learn state capitals, shapes, and flags
  • Interactive drag-and-drop gameplay
  • Collect all 50 states on a personalized map
  • Unlock four bonus educational games
  • Hundreds of unique questions
  • Create multiple player profiles
Features
Read full description

Stack the States® makes learning about the 50 states fun! Watch the states actually come to life in this colorful and dynamic game! As you learn state capitals, shapes, geographic locations, flags and more, you can actually touch, move and drop the animated states anywhere on the screen. Carefully build a stack of states that reaches the checkered line to win each level. You earn a random state for every successfully completed level. All of your states appear on your own personalized map of the United States. Try to collect all 50! As you earn more states, you begin to unlock the four free bonus games: Map It, Pile Up, Puzzler and Capital Drop. Four games in one! HAVE FUN LEARNING ALL ABOUT THE 50 STATES: ▸ Capitals ▸ State shapes ▸ Abbreviations ▸ Bordering states ▸ Location on the map ▸ Nicknames ▸ Flags ...and more! FEATURES: ▸ Hundreds of unique questions ▸ Interactive map and 50 state flash cards ▸ Choose any of the 50 friendly-looking states as your avatar ▸ Create up to six player profiles ▸ Collect all 50 states and track your progress on a personalized map ▸ Earn FREE bonus games: Map It, Pile Up, Puzzler and Capital Drop ▸ High resolution pictures of famous US landmarks ▸ All games are powered by a realistic physics engine ▸ Fun sound effects and music ▸ iPhone 4 and new iPad Retina Display support ▸ Works on both iPhone and iPad - a universal app FIVE GAMES IN ONE: STACK THE STATES: Build tall piles with states and try to reach the checkered line. MAP IT: Tap the location of the selected state on the map. Try to complete the whole country. PILE UP: The states are piling up! Tap them quickly to get rid of them before they pile too high. PUZZLER: Sit back and relax as you slide the states around and put them together like a jigsaw puzzle. CAPITAL DROP: Match states with their capitals in this fast-paced bonus game. Don't let a state fall! Stack the States® is an educational app for all ages that's actually FUN to play. Try it now and enjoy five games for the price of one! PRIVACY DISCLOSURE Stack the States®: - Does not contain 3rd party ads. - Does not contain in-app purchases. - Does not contain integration with social networks. - Does not use 3rd party analytics / data collection tools. - Does include links to apps by Dan Russell-Pinson in the iTunes App Store (via LinkShare). For more information on our privacy policy please visit: http://dan-russell-pinson.com/privacy/

Screenshots

Word Magic4 screens
Stack the States®4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Stack the States® at 4.4 against Word Magic's 3.5. Stack the States® also leads on review sentiment (91% vs 65%) and ratings volume (2.2K vs 190). Word Magic's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months) and price ($0.99 vs $2.99). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

Word Magic costs $0.99 and Stack the States® $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Stack the States® holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Stack the States® has 2.2K ratings behind it against 190, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 65% of Word Magic's written reviews are positive against 91% of Stack the States®'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Word Magic ships an update every 3 weeks, Stack the States® every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and September 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Word Magic versus Stack the States®: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWord MagicStack the States®
Price$0.99 — better$2.99
Rating3.5 (190 ratings)4.4 (2.2K ratings) — better
Positive reviews65.1% of reviews90.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1902.2K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank—#7 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS9.2 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB99 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAnusen IncFreecloud Design, Inc.

Customer experience

Word Magic

All ratings190 ratings
Positive55.3%
Neutral14.2%
Negative30.5%
Written reviews83 reviews
Positive65.1%
Neutral15.7%
Negative19.3%

Stack the States®

All ratings2,185 ratings
Positive85.5%
Neutral5.0%
Negative9.4%
Written reviews194 reviews
Positive90.7%
Neutral2.6%
Negative6.7%

User reviews

Word Magic

From 190 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great learning tool
  • 🌟 Engaging for kids
  • 🎨 Colorful and attractive
  • 💡 Rewarding and motivating
  • 🚀 Intuitive interface

Room to improve

  • 👎 Too basic for older kids
  • 🗣️ Poor pronunciation
  • 🔊 Unbalanced sound levels
  • 🚫 No way back to menu
  • 🔄 Repetitive words

Stack the States®

From 2.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 No ads/tracking
  • 👍 Fun and educational
  • 👍 Helpful for learning states
  • 👍 Nostalgic/childhood game
  • 👍 Great for all ages

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Capital drop glitch
  • 🔍 Needs more content after completing all states
  • 🔍 Difficulty level may be too high for younger kids

Bugs and requests

Word Magic

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • App frozen
  • Flute card issue
  • Misspelled 'fishes'
  • Crashes
  • Can't read letter combinations
Show 1 more
  • Can't change game modes

Requested features

20 requests
  • Increase complexity/add more levels
  • Add more words
  • Add timer function
  • Option for UK English voice
  • Volume control
Show 15 more
  • More advanced words/version
  • Option to turn off timer
  • Correct pronunciation errors
  • Add phonetics support
  • More animation
  • Track progress
  • Randomize missing letter position
  • Longer words
  • Phonetic sounds for wrong answers
  • More levels with longer words
  • Add more pictures
  • Visual cues for correct answers
  • Improve user interface
  • Add two-vowel words
  • Option for random missing letter position

Stack the States®

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Washington state mapping issue
  • Battery drain when app returns to home screen

Requested features

7 requests
  • Ability to view completed states again
  • Add more state facts/trivia
  • Include background photos related to states
  • Add a country-wide puzzle mode
  • Option to turn off state faces
Show 2 more
  • Add more mini-games
  • Ability to transfer progress between devices

In-app purchases

None

Word Magic

No in-app purchases

None

Stack the States®

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Word Magic free?
Word Magic costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Stack the States® free?
Stack the States® costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Word Magic or Stack the States®?
Stack the States® is rated higher. Word Magic averages 3.5 out of 5 from 190 ratings, while Stack the States® averages 4.4 from 2.2K ratings.
Do Word Magic or Stack the States® have ads?
Neither Word Magic nor Stack the States® shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Word Magic or Stack the States®?
Word Magic ships an update every 3 weeks, and Stack the States® every 3 months. Most recently, Word Magic was updated on September 28, 2026 and Stack the States® on September 27, 2026.

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