Comparison

The Elements by Theodore Gray vs Cato's Hike

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

Head to head
About

The Elements by Theodore Gray

Explore the building blocks of the universe with this interactive guide to the periodic table. Discover beautifully photographed elements, fascinating stories, and detailed 3D models of over 500 objects, all presented in multiple languages.

Highlights
  • Living periodic table interface
  • Rotating 3D element samples
  • Detailed 3D object models
  • Pinch-zoom and 3D stereo viewing
  • Multilingual support
  • Fascinating stories and facts
Features
Read full description

From Theodore Gray comes a beautifully produced app introducing and educating users on the elements of the periodic table and how they combine to form the world around us. The Elements is a rich and engaging love story, told in words and pictures - allowing you to experience the beauty and fascination of the building blocks of our universe in a way you've never seen before. Start off on a living periodic table where every element is shown with a smoothly rotating sample. To read about gold, tap the gold nugget. Immediately you see the sample filling the screen, photographed to razor sharpness and rotating around a complete circle in front of your eyes. Enjoy the extensive array of facts and figures. Next find a fascinating story about the element, surrounded by carefully photographed objects representing it. Every one of these objects, well over 500 in total, is a freely rotatable, live object that you can examine from all sides and pinch zoom to see in unprecedented detail. Touch the element name at the top of the page and you can see that element’s name in over a dozen different languages. Choose one and you’ll find that the entire book, stories, captions and all, switches to that language: The Elements includes both the full English original text and over a dozen full translations. Pinch-zoom or tap any object to bring it up full screen, where you can split into a pair of stereo 3D images, allowing you to see all 500 objects pop off the screen in 3D, and you can spin the objects, in 3D, with the touch of a finger. This book will show everyone there’s a lot more to the periodic table than a bunch of numbers and letters. Features include: • Beautifully composed pages for every Element in the periodic table • Fun stories and fascinating facts • All objects pinch-zoom with amazing detail and rotate in 3D • Engaging introduction explaining the structure of the periodic table • Engaging introduction explaining the structure of the periodic table • Fully translated into English, Catalan, Croatian, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish ------------ Reviews: “The iPad’s splendor and power may be best shown by The Elements... it’s not like any ebook you’ve seen. The periodic table of elements comes to life.” – USA Today

About

Cato's Hike

Embark on a programming adventure where you guide a young boy through a new world by creating programs. Learn fundamental coding concepts like loops and branches through engaging puzzles and a visual interface. Create and share your own challenges with a powerful map editor.

Highlights
  • Visual programming interface with cards
  • Introduction to loops, branches, and memory
  • 60 levels and 12 tutorials
  • Map editor for creating and sharing puzzles
  • Save and preview custom maps
  • Email puzzle solutions and maps
Read full description

A little programmer odyssey! "Who says that computer programming should only be left to the adults?... although Cato’s Hike is geared towards children, it can definitely unlock the little programmer in all of us." -- AppAdvice Cato is a little boy who just like every little boy likes to go out and play. One fine day Cato was playing outside when a portal to another world opened up in front of him; a portal to another world! Cato stepped through and discovered that this world unlike his own didn't follow the same rules. Every time he tried to take a step or an action he'd find himself stuck in place. Stuck that is until he finally discovered the rules in this universe: by writing a program for himself he would be able to overcome all obstacles and learn something new along the way! Features: * Simple programming interface using beautiful cards with pictures * A visual manual to help guide parents and more interested users * Loops, branches and if/else, goto labels, looking and chaining looks to look ahead, goto's, and simple memory using colored flags are the main tools used to introduce programming * 60 levels and 12 tutorials (always working to add more!) * Powerful map editor so you can create your own maps and puzzles and share with friends * Preview your maps directly in the map editor to save time and test out your maps more quickly! * Saves program progress so you can pick up at any time and iteratively develop * Email your puzzle solutions to share your genius with others * Beautiful artwork and amusing sound effects and music * Puzzles ranging from easy to hard to teach different programming concepts without trying to force them * Emailed maps include gorgeous screenshot of what you are sending so your friends know what to expect * Cato's Hike teaches children (ages 5+) the essentials of programming and how to think about solving complex problems * The challenges in there are solvable easily by children of all ages but more nuanced and complex solutions should challenge teenagers and parents alike! * Just a fun puzzle game :) Upcoming features: * MORE LEVELS! * Hints on harder levels * Possibly more tutorial levels if enough ask for it * Possible cloud-sync Essentially, 'Cato’s Hike' is a universal game for the iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch to teach kids and young children basic programming skills. The younger ones will obviously enjoy solving levels using simpler coding techniques but the hope is the older ones will pick up more advanced concepts like loops and branching as well as even more advanced concepts like a basic stack or memory! There is enough in here to keep everyone from children to parents engaged! More challenges are upcoming however so stay tuned! As with all my projects I take this one very seriously and I hope you enjoy. I intend to continue improving Cato's Hike as much as possible and incorporate your feedback and suggestions as well as try to make it more intuitive and better able to convey the concepts it is setting out to teach. If you have any questions, suggestions, ideas, or bugs you'd like to report please don't hesitate to reach out to me directly at: hesham.wahba@gmail.com

Screenshots

The Elements by Theodore Gray4 screens
Cato's Hike4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: The Elements by Theodore Gray at 4.6 against Cato's Hike's 4.1. The Elements by Theodore Gray also leads on review sentiment (73% vs 64%). Cato's Hike's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 3 months) and price ($5.99 vs $9.99). On ratings volume, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

The Elements by Theodore Gray costs $9.99 and Cato's Hike $5.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

The Elements by Theodore Gray holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 123 and 48 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of The Elements by Theodore Gray's written reviews are positive against 64% of Cato's Hike's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

The Elements by Theodore Gray ships an update every 3 months, Cato's Hike fortnightly. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
The Elements by Theodore Gray versus Cato's Hike: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThe Elements by Theodore GrayCato's Hike
Price$9.99$5.99 — better
Rating4.6 (123 ratings) — better4.1 (48 ratings)
Positive reviews73.1% of reviews — better64.0% of reviews
Number of ratings123 — better48
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1.5 GB38 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNatureGuides Ltd.Hesham Wahba

Customer experience

The Elements by Theodore Gray

All ratings122 ratings
Positive89.3%
Neutral3.3%
Negative7.4%
Written reviews479 reviews
Positive73.1%
Neutral9.6%
Negative17.3%

Cato's Hike

All ratings48 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral10.4%
Negative14.6%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive64.0%
Neutral8.0%
Negative28.0%

Bugs and requests

The Elements by Theodore Gray

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Element descriptions cut off on iPhone 6 Plus
  • Crashes when switching landscape orientations
  • Unable to download app after initial purchase

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add option to disable animations
  • Improve periodic table navigation
  • Include more detailed scientific information
  • Support multiple languages and spellings

Cato's Hike

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

The Elements by Theodore Gray

No in-app purchases

None

Cato's Hike

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is The Elements by Theodore Gray free?
The Elements by Theodore Gray costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Cato's Hike free?
Cato's Hike costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, The Elements by Theodore Gray or Cato's Hike?
The Elements by Theodore Gray is rated higher. The Elements by Theodore Gray averages 4.6 out of 5 from 123 ratings, while Cato's Hike averages 4.1 from 48 ratings.
Do The Elements by Theodore Gray or Cato's Hike have ads?
Neither The Elements by Theodore Gray nor Cato's Hike shows ads.
Which is updated more often, The Elements by Theodore Gray or Cato's Hike?
The Elements by Theodore Gray ships an update every 3 months, and Cato's Hike fortnightly. Most recently, The Elements by Theodore Gray was updated on November 1, 2026 and Cato's Hike on November 1, 2026.

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