Puppet Pals vs Stack the States® 2
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Puppet Pals
This app provides a complete toolkit for students to create animated stories, ideal for educational projects like book reports and historical reenactments. It allows for custom character and backdrop creation using drawing or photos, and includes over 100 pre-loaded characters. The app is safe for schools with no online sharing or ads.
- Create animated stories
- Draw custom characters and backdrops
- Use photos as characters/backgrounds
- Over 100 pre-loaded characters
- Printable lesson plans and resources
- Offline functionality
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The complete classroom storytelling toolkit Puppet Pals helps students bring learning to life through animated storytelling. Create book reports, historical reenactments, science explanations, and more — all with the magic of puppet theater. Everything included. No subscriptions. No in-app purchases. Unlimited characters! DRAW: Students can draw unlimited custom characters and backdrops, bringing any story to life. PHOTO: Students can turn any photo into a character or background. INCLUDED: Over 100 pre-loaded characters NEW: Printable Lesson Plans & Resources Ready-to-use activities aligned to curriculum standards: English Language Arts — Story structure, character development, dialogue History — "Interview a Historical Figure" projects, timeline presentations Science — Explain-a-concept projects, hypothesis presentations Social-Emotional Learning — Conflict resolution, feelings identification World Languages — Vocabulary skits, conversation practice Assessment rubrics included to evaluate student storytelling projects. Safe for schools: No online sharing or social features No accounts required No advertisements Works completely offline Perfect for elementary and middle school classrooms, homeschool families, speech therapy, and special education settings.
Stack the States® 2
Learn US geography by stacking animated states to win levels. Collect all 50 states to unlock bonus games and explore an interactive 3D map with detailed information about capitals, cities, and landmarks. Designed for fun and educational play for all ages.
- Interactive 3D map
- Learn state capitals, cities, shapes, landmarks, and flags
- Collect all 50 states
- Unlock bonus games (Map It, Connect 2, Capital Tap)
- Voice mode for independent play
- Hundreds of unique questions
- Multiple player profiles
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Watch the states come to life as you learn US geography! Stack the States® is back and better than ever with new question types, new bonus games, voice mode, 3D graphics and a detailed interactive map! As you learn state capitals, cities, shapes, landmarks, 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 new 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 free bonus games: Map It, Connect 2 and Capital Tap. Four games in one! What’s new in Stack the States® 2: - New question types - New bonus games: Connect 2 and Capital Tap - New voice mode that helps non-readers play independently - Brand new interactive map featuring major cities and a 3D elevation view of each state - Beautiful 3D graphics - 10 different 3D scenes depicting various locations in the US - 3D models of over 90 US landmarks Plus, all the great features that you loved from the original Stack the States®: - 50 flash cards — one for each state - Hundreds of unique questions - Up to six player profiles - A personalized map of the US - Fun sound effects and music - Works on both iPhone and iPad - a universal app Stack the States® 2 is an educational app for all ages that's actually FUN to play. Try it now and enjoy four games for the price of one! PRIVACY DISCLOSURE Stack the States® 2: - 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 Performance Horizon). For more information on our privacy policy please visit: http://dan-russell-pinson.com/privacy/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Puppet Pals at every 3 weeks against Stack the States® 2's every 9 months. Stack the States® 2's advantage is rating (4.5 vs 4.1) and ratings volume (1.1K vs 13). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support 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
Puppet Pals costs $6.99 and Stack the States® 2 $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Stack the States® 2 holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Stack the States® 2 has 1.1K ratings behind it against 13, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 70% of Puppet Pals's written reviews are positive against 86% of Stack the States® 2's.
Puppet Pals ships an update every 3 weeks, Stack the States® 2 every 9 months. The most recent releases landed on September 11, 2026 and September 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Puppet Pals | Stack the States® 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $6.99 | $2.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.1 (13 ratings) | 4.5 (1.1K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 69.7% of reviews | 86.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 13 | 1.1K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 9 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #197 | #41 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 75 MB | 140 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Polished Play, LLC | Freecloud Design, Inc. |
Customer experience
Puppet Pals
Stack the States® 2
In-app purchases
Puppet Pals
No in-app purchases
Stack the States® 2
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Puppet Pals free?
Is Stack the States® 2 free?
Which has better reviews, Puppet Pals or Stack the States® 2?
Do Puppet Pals or Stack the States® 2 have ads?
Which is updated more often, Puppet Pals or Stack the States® 2?
Which is more popular, Puppet Pals or Stack the States® 2?
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