Comparison

Bluster! vs McGraw Hill Must Know

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

Head to head
About

Bluster!

This word matching game enhances vocabulary and word comprehension for school-aged children and adults. Engage in single-player practice, team collaboration, or competitive head-to-head battles with weather-themed attacks. It offers over 800 words and various skill-building activities.

Highlights
  • Vocabulary building
  • Word matching
  • Single-player mode
  • Two-player collaboration
  • Head-to-head versus mode
  • Over 800 vocabulary words
  • Grade-level appropriate content
Features
Read full description

Breeze through vocabulary building with Bluster! This word matching game develops vocabulary and word understanding for school-aged children, or anyone brave enough to battle the elements. Shine bright in single-player mode as you learn and practice important word skills. Match rhyming words, prefixes and suffixes, synonyms, homophones, adjectives, and more. Collaborate with a friend in team mode. The multi-touch iPad screen allows both players to play simultaneously, so you can work together to weather the vocabulary storm. Switch to versus mode and play head-to-head for the ultimate test of your lightning quickness. Disrupt your opponent with weather attacks like tornadoes and blizzards - it’s thunderous fun and just might give you the edge you need to reign supreme! Bluster includes over 800 vocabulary words. Players choose a skill to practice and then try to make matches of three. Ten matches wins a round. Features: • Three different play modes - including two-player action. • A variety of grade level appropriate content. • Engaging animated gameplay with sound effects. • Head-to-head and High Scores tables. • Plays on the iPad in both landscape and portrait mode. • In app purchases for additional vocabulary. ***** Want to get all the vocabulary packs? Consider Bluster Deluxe! *****

About

McGraw Hill Must Know

Enhance your learning with digital flashcards based on the Must Know book series. Test your knowledge with over 100 cards per book, featuring both front and back content to reinforce your studies.

Highlights
  • Digital flashcards
  • Test knowledge
  • 100+ cards per book
  • Front and back content
  • Reinforce studies
Features
Read full description

This app includes the bonus flashcards for the Must Know series. They will help you test yourself on what you’ve learned as you make your way through any of the books. Each book’s set includes 100-plus “flashcards,” both “front” and “back.”

Screenshots

McGraw Hill Must Know3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Bluster! at 73% against McGraw Hill Must Know's 25%. Bluster! also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.1) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 10.0). McGraw Hill Must Know's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 9) and update cadence (every 4 months vs every 13 months). On price, ratings volume and ads 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

Both are free to download. Bluster! sells 7 one-off in-app purchases. McGraw Hill Must Know asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Bluster! holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 11 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of Bluster!'s written reviews are positive against 25% of McGraw Hill Must Know's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bluster! ships an update every 13 months, McGraw Hill Must Know every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Bluster! versus McGraw Hill Must Know: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBluster!McGraw Hill Must Know
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (8 ratings) — better4.1 (11 ratings)
Positive reviews72.7% of reviews — better25.0% of reviews
Number of ratings811 — better
Update frequencyEvery 13 monthsEvery 4 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS8.0 — better10.0
Further details — not scored
Size21 MB82 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMcGraw-Hill School Education GroupMcGraw-Hill

Customer experience

Bluster!

All ratings8 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews22 reviews
Positive72.7%
Neutral18.2%
Negative9.1%

McGraw Hill Must Know

All ratings11 ratings
Positive72.7%
Neutral9.1%
Negative18.2%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Bluster!

One-time7
  • Base Words$0.99
  • Extra Rhyming Words2 variants$0.99
  • Extra Prefixes$0.99
Show 4 more
  • Extra Synonyms$0.99
  • Extra Words2 variants$0.99
  • Extra Word Roots$0.99
  • Extra Adjectives$0.99
None

McGraw Hill Must Know

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Bluster! free?
Bluster! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is McGraw Hill Must Know free?
McGraw Hill Must Know is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Bluster! or McGraw Hill Must Know?
Bluster! is rated higher. Bluster! averages 4.5 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while McGraw Hill Must Know averages 4.1 from 11 ratings.
Do Bluster! or McGraw Hill Must Know have ads?
Neither Bluster! nor McGraw Hill Must Know shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bluster! or McGraw Hill Must Know?
Bluster! ships an update every 13 months, and McGraw Hill Must Know every 4 months. Most recently, Bluster! was updated on October 15, 2026 and McGraw Hill Must Know on October 23, 2026.

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