Comparison

Stack the States® vs Grandma's Kitchen

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

Grandma's Kitchen

This app offers a fun and educational cooking experience for young children. It features interactive mini-games that teach a variety of skills, from compound words and math to telling time and healthy eating. Children can also watch real cooking videos and engage in playful activities with an animated Grandma.

Highlights
  • Eight educational mini-games
  • Seven real cooking videos
  • Interactive add-ins
  • Colorful graphics and professional audio
  • Animated Grandma character
  • Customizable mini-game selection
  • Food and healthy eating facts
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Cook up fun and learning in Grandma's Kitchen! Bake together some compound words, snatch healthy veggies hiding in the fridge, and use ingredients to make and decorate a cake. This dancing Grandma needs you to spot the differences between the desserts, count by tens to tally the cookies, and choose the clock that shows when your cake will be done. Plus, watch videos of real-live cooking action alongside dear ol' Grandma! For ages 4-7. Editor's Choice Award - "Cute and fun!" - Best Apps for Kids Top Pick - "A great app for young learners" - Smart Apps For Kids Editor's Choice Award - "An excellent investment" - Children's Technology Review Parents, teachers, and kids are raving about Grandma's Kitchen. Find out why! ACTION-PACKED MINI-GAMES: 1. Spot the Difference. One of those desserts has an extra chocolate chip... can you spot the one that is different? 2. Word Bake. Let's put the dough words on the pan to see which ones bake into compound words! 3. Utensil Patterns. Figure out which nutty utensil comes next in the pattern. 4. Food Math. Wow, look at all those pickles! Count by tens to find out how many there are! 5. Pick the Clock. Our cake will be done at 3:00! Can you find the clock with that time? 6. First Letters. Can you find the first two letters in the word "snack"? 7. Fridge Fun. Those fast-moving veggies are hiding in the fridge… put them in the bowl, but don't grab the junk food! 8. Equal Parts. Which pie is cut into equal parts? FEATURES: + Eight educational mini-games. + Seven videos of real kitchens in action. + Fun interactive add-ins: wash dishes, make and eat a cake, give Grandma a kiss, lick the spatula, read along. + Colorful graphics, professional-quality music, sound effects, and voices. + Dancing, animated Grandma! + Adult can select which mini-games are active. + 20 fun facts about food, cooking, and healthy eating. + Developed by an Educational Psychologist and parents. Tested by children. EDUCATIONAL CONTENT: + Consonant blends: fl, sp, gl, gr, fr, br, st, dr, bl, cr, br, pr, sn, and pl. + Telling time: analog clock to the hour + Colors: orange, purple, brown, green, yellow, pink + Vocabulary: over 100 kitchen-related words (e.g. spatula, vanilla, ingredients, etc) + Healthy eating: identify unhealthy foods, eat a variety of foods + Compound words: over 30 words (e.g. oatmeal, seafood, cookbook, etc) + Math: numeral recognition/counting: 1-30, counting by tens, addition, identify equal parts of a whole + Pattern recognition (AB, ABC, ABCD, ABA, ABBA, AABB) + Observation skills (spot the difference) + Reading: word tracking, phonemic awareness, sight words PRODUCT SUPPORT: Fairlady Media is committed to developing high-quality family-friendly games that provide excellent entertainment value. Please contact us if you have suggestions for improvement or to get technical issues resolved: support@fairladymedia.com. If you choose to allow your children to use your iPhone or iPad, we recommend that you keep your device in a protective cover and supervise your children at all times. :) Also by Fairlady Media: + Grandma's Garden (dancing Granny teaches preschool skills, ages 5 & under) + Grandpa's Workshop (high-fiving Grandpa teaches primary skills, ages 2-6) + Grandma Loves Bugs (explore the forest to learn about creepy-crawlies, ages 5 & under) + Grandpa In Space (blast off in a custom rocket to explore the solar system, ages 6-8) + Grandma’s Preschool (the best school readiness app on the App Store, ages 3-6) + Fishing With Grandpa (cast and reel in fish and play games with Grandpa, ages 3-6) + Music With Grandma (learn about music and jam on musical instruments, ages 7+) + Camping With Grandpa (go on a hiking adventure and learn about the wilderness, ages 5-8) + Smashing Grammar (crush the nouns, verbs, and more to get a high score, ages 9+) Links that take the user outside the app are contained behind a Parental Gate.

Screenshots

Stack the States®4 screens
Grandma's Kitchen4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Stack the States® at 4.4 against Grandma's Kitchen's 4.0. Stack the States® also leads on ratings volume (2.2K vs 40) and chart position (#8 vs #195). On review sentiment, 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 Grandma's Kitchen $3.99 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 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Stack the States® has 2.2K ratings behind it against 40, 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 84% of Grandma's Kitchen's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Stack the States® versus Grandma's Kitchen: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStack the States®Grandma's Kitchen
Price$2.99 — better$3.99
Rating4.4 (2.2K ratings) — better4.0 (40 ratings)
Positive reviews90.8% of reviews — better84.2% of reviews
Number of ratings2.2K — better40
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#8 — better#195
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size99 MB108 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFreecloud Design, Inc.Fairlady Media

Customer experience

Stack the States®

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

Grandma's Kitchen

All ratings40 ratings
Positive72.5%
Neutral7.5%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews57 reviews
Positive84.2%
Neutral8.8%
Negative7.0%

User reviews

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

Grandma's Kitchen

From 40 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Keeps kids' attention
  • 🧠 Educational content
  • 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Great for multiple age groups
  • 👵 Friendly voice/character
  • 🎮 Fun and engaging gameplay

Room to improve

  • 👎 Not for very young/non-reading kids
  • 📉 Repetitive gameplay
  • 💸 Perceived as expensive/rip-off (for missing features)

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

Grandma's Kitchen

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • 🐛 No sound/volume issues
  • 💥 Crashes on older iOS versions (iOS 5)
  • 🖼️ Missing advertised features (cake decorating)

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more cake decorating mini-games
  • Add cookies and candy making
  • Adapt difficulty to child's mastery
  • More compound word variations
  • Add more brief videos

In-app purchases

None

Stack the States®

No in-app purchases

None

Grandma's Kitchen

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Stack the States® free?
Stack the States® costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Grandma's Kitchen free?
Grandma's Kitchen costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Stack the States® or Grandma's Kitchen?
Stack the States® is rated higher. Stack the States® averages 4.4 out of 5 from 2.2K ratings, while Grandma's Kitchen averages 4.0 from 40 ratings.
Do Stack the States® or Grandma's Kitchen have ads?
Neither Stack the States® nor Grandma's Kitchen shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Stack the States® or Grandma's Kitchen?
Stack the States® ships an update every 3 months, and Grandma's Kitchen every 3 months. Most recently, Stack the States® was updated on October 20, 2026 and Grandma's Kitchen on October 8, 2026.
Which is more popular, Stack the States® or Grandma's Kitchen?
Stack the States® currently peaks at #8 in the App Store charts, and Grandma's Kitchen at #195. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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