First Words Japanese vs Starfall Gingerbread
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
First Words Japanese
This game helps young children learn Japanese hiragana and katakana characters and common words. It features toddler-friendly visuals and an interface designed for little hands, offering 100 words across various categories.
- Learn hiragana and katakana
- 100 toddler-friendly words
- Animal, vehicle, color, shape categories
- User interface for young children
- Customizable game options
- Interactive learning experience
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The best-selling reading game for kids is now available in Japanese! FirstWords: Japanese is the funnest way to give your child a head start on learning hiragana and katakana while gaining exposure to the Japanese language. First Words: Japanese is toddler-tested and approved, with a user-interface designed specifically for the littlest of fingers. The game includes 100 toddler-friendly words, including + 38 Animals + 16 Vehicles + 12 Colors + 15 Shapes + 19 words from Around the House. A wide range of options let you tune the game to match your child's current skills and abilities. Kids can play this game by themselves, but they also enjoy bringing their adults along, talking about the animals and letters, seeing them spin and make their animal noises, and learning how to say the words in Japanese. If your child is old enough to ask for your phone, they're old enough for First Words: Japanese!
Starfall Gingerbread
Children learn 2D and 3D shapes by creating and decorating virtual gingerbread cookies. They can then navigate a maze, following specific shapes or patterns, with a new maze generated each time they play.
- Create and decorate virtual gingerbread cookies
- Learn 2D and 3D shapes
- Engage in shape-following mazes
- Randomly generated maze challenges
- Color recognition activities
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The Starfall Gingerbread app is a delicious way to learn 2D and 3D shapes. Children create their own cookies, decorating them as they learn more shapes and colors. In this app edition, create a tray of gingerbread cookies, and choose a favorite cookie to run through a maze following shapes or shape patterns. Run the maze again and again, it’s different every time!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: First Words Japanese at 3.9 against Starfall Gingerbread's 2.4. First Words Japanese also leads on review sentiment (75% vs 44%). Starfall Gingerbread's advantage is chart position (#177 vs unranked) and update cadence (every 12 months vs every 25 months). 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
First Words Japanese costs $2.99 and Starfall Gingerbread $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
First Words Japanese holds the better App Store score, 3.9 against 2.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 17 and 12 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of First Words Japanese's written reviews are positive against 44% of Starfall Gingerbread's.
First Words Japanese ships an update every 25 months, Starfall Gingerbread every 12 months. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | First Words Japanese | Starfall Gingerbread |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | $0.99 — better |
| Rating | 3.9 (17 ratings) — better | 2.4 (12 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 75.0% of reviews — better | 43.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 17 — better | 12 |
| Update frequency | Every 25 months | Every 12 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #177 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.2 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 31 MB | 26 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Learning Touch LLC | Starfall Education Foundation |
Customer experience
First Words Japanese
Starfall Gingerbread
In-app purchases
First Words Japanese
No in-app purchases
Starfall Gingerbread
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is First Words Japanese free?
Is Starfall Gingerbread free?
Which has better reviews, First Words Japanese or Starfall Gingerbread?
Do First Words Japanese or Starfall Gingerbread have ads?
Which is updated more often, First Words Japanese or Starfall Gingerbread?
Other comparisons
