Comparison

Stack the States® vs Times Alive

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

Times Alive

This app makes learning multiplication tables engaging through story videos and songs. It offers quizzes and games covering all tables from 0-9, and tracks student progress. It's particularly beneficial for students with learning differences.

Highlights
  • Story videos and songs for memorization
  • Quizzes and games for all times tables (0-9)
  • Progress tracking (completed lessons, scores, time)
  • Pretest and post-test for progress monitoring
  • Supports students with learning differences
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Times Alive is designed to make memorization easy and fun so students are eager to learn. Award winning Times Alive teaches multiplication with story videos and songs — includes quizzes and games to teach ALL the times tables 0s-9s. Shown helpful for students with dyslexia, adhd, dyscalculia, autism, and other learning differences. Times Alive keeps track of the student's progress showing completed lessons, test scores with time elapsed. Easily clear progress to re-take a test or to start a new student. Multiplication pretest and post-test included to monitor progress and facts learned. Studies show our Times Tables the Fun Way(™) picture, story, and songs program outperforms most methods for effectiveness and retention of the multiplication facts. Once the facts are committed to memory students find math class a breeze and are able to move on to ratios, division, and algebra.Times Alive is based on the widely used and award winning book, Times Tables the Fun Way. Provided by City Creek Press, established in 1992. Check out our youtube channel @timestablesthefunway. Try Online Times Alive for multiple student tracking, free trial found at CityCreek.com.

Screenshots

Stack the States®4 screens
Times Alive4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Stack the States® at $2.99 against Times Alive's $14.99. Stack the States® also leads on update cadence (every 3 months vs every 13 months) and chart position (#5 vs #193). On rating, review sentiment, 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 Times Alive $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Times Alive holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Stack the States® has 2.2K ratings behind it against 153, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 91% of Stack the States®'s written reviews are positive against 85% of Times Alive's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Stack the States® ships an update every 3 months, Times Alive every 13 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Stack the States® versus Times Alive: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStack the States®Times Alive
Price$2.99 — better$14.99
Rating4.4 (2.2K ratings)4.6 (153 ratings) — better
Positive reviews90.8% of reviews — better84.6% of reviews
Number of ratings2.2K — better153
Update frequencyEvery 3 months — betterEvery 13 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#5 — better#193
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.012.0
Further details — not scored
Size99 MB156 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFreecloud Design, Inc.City Creek

Customer experience

Stack the States®

All ratings2,189 ratings
Positive85.6%
Neutral5.0%
Negative9.4%
Written reviews195 reviews
Positive90.8%
Neutral2.6%
Negative6.7%

Times Alive

All ratings153 ratings
Positive90.2%
Neutral7.2%
Negative2.6%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive84.6%
Neutral7.7%
Negative7.7%

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

Times Alive

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Stack the States®

No in-app purchases

None

Times Alive

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Stack the States® free?
Stack the States® costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Times Alive free?
Times Alive costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Stack the States® or Times Alive?
Times Alive is rated higher. Stack the States® averages 4.4 out of 5 from 2.2K ratings, while Times Alive averages 4.6 from 153 ratings.
Do Stack the States® or Times Alive have ads?
Neither Stack the States® nor Times Alive shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Stack the States® or Times Alive?
Stack the States® ships an update every 3 months, and Times Alive every 13 months. Most recently, Stack the States® was updated on October 29, 2026 and Times Alive on October 25, 2026.
Which is more popular, Stack the States® or Times Alive?
Stack the States® currently peaks at #5 in the App Store charts, and Times Alive at #193. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

Other comparisons