Comparison

Stack the States® vs Phonics Blaster

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

Head to head
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/

About

Phonics Blaster

This game provides phonics practice for children struggling with reading, including those with dyslexia. It focuses on identifying specific vowel sounds through an engaging space-themed adventure where players collect sounds to build a robot.

Highlights
  • Phonics-based learning
  • Identifies specific vowel sounds
  • Engaging space adventure theme
  • Robot building game mechanic
  • Suitable for children with dyslexia
  • No ads or in-app purchases
Features
Read full description

This is a phonics based game for older children who struggle with reading and may have dyslexia. This game will give the child practice in identifying the following sounds: 'oy', 'oi', 'ou', 'ow' (as /ou/), 'igh' (as long 'i'), 'oo', and 'ay'. The child will identify the sounds in the words that are called out. To do this, the astronaut will collect the sounds along with the robot pieces, so that he can build a robot and return to earth. This game is targeted for those who struggle to read or may have dyslexia. It corresponds to the reading program, Blast Off to Reading! However, it is not necessary to be using that particular program. This game contains no advertisements, push notifications or in-game purchases.

Screenshots

Stack the States®4 screens
Phonics Blaster2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Stack the States® at 91% against Phonics Blaster's 33%. Stack the States® also leads on rating (4.4 vs 3.7) and ratings volume (2.2K vs 3). Phonics Blaster's advantage is iOS requirement (10.0 vs 12.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

Stack the States® costs $2.99 and Phonics Blaster $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 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Stack the States® has 2.2K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 91% of Stack the States®'s written reviews are positive against 33% of Phonics Blaster's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Stack the States® ships an update every 3 months, Phonics Blaster every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Stack the States® versus Phonics Blaster: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStack the States®Phonics Blaster
Price$2.99$2.99
Rating4.4 (2.2K ratings) — better3.7 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews90.8% of reviews — better33.3% of reviews
Number of ratings2.2K — better3
Update frequencyEvery 3 months — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#5 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.010.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size99 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFreecloud Design, Inc.Blast Off to Learning, LLC

Customer experience

Stack the States®

All ratings2,185 ratings
Positive85.5%
Neutral5.0%
Negative9.4%
Written reviews195 reviews
Positive90.8%
Neutral2.6%
Negative6.7%

Phonics Blaster

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative66.7%

Bugs and requests

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

Phonics Blaster

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Stack the States®

No in-app purchases

None

Phonics Blaster

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Stack the States® free?
Stack the States® costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Phonics Blaster free?
Phonics Blaster costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Stack the States® or Phonics Blaster?
Stack the States® is rated higher. Stack the States® averages 4.4 out of 5 from 2.2K ratings, while Phonics Blaster averages 3.7 from 3 ratings.
Do Stack the States® or Phonics Blaster have ads?
Neither Stack the States® nor Phonics Blaster shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Stack the States® or Phonics Blaster?
Stack the States® ships an update every 3 months, and Phonics Blaster every 5 months. Most recently, Stack the States® was updated on October 1, 2026 and Phonics Blaster on September 27, 2026.

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