Cato's Hike vs Space Chef
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Cato's Hike
Embark on a programming adventure where you guide a young boy through a new world by creating programs. Learn fundamental coding concepts like loops and branches through engaging puzzles and a visual interface. Create and share your own challenges with a powerful map editor.
- Visual programming interface with cards
- Introduction to loops, branches, and memory
- 60 levels and 12 tutorials
- Map editor for creating and sharing puzzles
- Save and preview custom maps
- Email puzzle solutions and maps
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A little programmer odyssey! "Who says that computer programming should only be left to the adults?... although Cato’s Hike is geared towards children, it can definitely unlock the little programmer in all of us." -- AppAdvice Cato is a little boy who just like every little boy likes to go out and play. One fine day Cato was playing outside when a portal to another world opened up in front of him; a portal to another world! Cato stepped through and discovered that this world unlike his own didn't follow the same rules. Every time he tried to take a step or an action he'd find himself stuck in place. Stuck that is until he finally discovered the rules in this universe: by writing a program for himself he would be able to overcome all obstacles and learn something new along the way! Features: * Simple programming interface using beautiful cards with pictures * A visual manual to help guide parents and more interested users * Loops, branches and if/else, goto labels, looking and chaining looks to look ahead, goto's, and simple memory using colored flags are the main tools used to introduce programming * 60 levels and 12 tutorials (always working to add more!) * Powerful map editor so you can create your own maps and puzzles and share with friends * Preview your maps directly in the map editor to save time and test out your maps more quickly! * Saves program progress so you can pick up at any time and iteratively develop * Email your puzzle solutions to share your genius with others * Beautiful artwork and amusing sound effects and music * Puzzles ranging from easy to hard to teach different programming concepts without trying to force them * Emailed maps include gorgeous screenshot of what you are sending so your friends know what to expect * Cato's Hike teaches children (ages 5+) the essentials of programming and how to think about solving complex problems * The challenges in there are solvable easily by children of all ages but more nuanced and complex solutions should challenge teenagers and parents alike! * Just a fun puzzle game :) Upcoming features: * MORE LEVELS! * Hints on harder levels * Possibly more tutorial levels if enough ask for it * Possible cloud-sync Essentially, 'Cato’s Hike' is a universal game for the iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch to teach kids and young children basic programming skills. The younger ones will obviously enjoy solving levels using simpler coding techniques but the hope is the older ones will pick up more advanced concepts like loops and branching as well as even more advanced concepts like a basic stack or memory! There is enough in here to keep everyone from children to parents engaged! More challenges are upcoming however so stay tuned! As with all my projects I take this one very seriously and I hope you enjoy. I intend to continue improving Cato's Hike as much as possible and incorporate your feedback and suggestions as well as try to make it more intuitive and better able to convey the concepts it is setting out to teach. If you have any questions, suggestions, ideas, or bugs you'd like to report please don't hesitate to reach out to me directly at: hesham.wahba@gmail.com
Space Chef
This fast-paced game challenges you to quickly sort ingredients and build healthy meals against the clock. Discover new recipes, unlock food facts, and learn about nutrition with over 60 healthy options.
- Fast-paced ingredient sorting
- Build healthy recipes
- Unlock food factoids
- Over 60 healthy recipes
- Race against the clock
- Discover new robots
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Have you tried Hawaiian Turkey Sliders? Quesadilla Con Huevos? How about a Peanut Butter Banana Breakfast Shake? Space Chef has and he wants you to try them too! Space Chef, developed by the Lawrence Hall of Science at UC Berkeley, is a fast-paced action game designed to provide the starting point needed to build healthy meals using simple, readily-available, and nutritious ingredients. Space Chef requires quick thinking and even quicker fingers as you race against the clock to sort through an array of ingredients and construct healthy recipes. Along the way, you’ll unlock food factoids, discover new Space Chef robots, and have access to over 60 healthy recipes. Start your intergalactic grocery list today...those Sweet Potato Blueberry Squares won’t make themselves! All recipes used in Space Chef were modeled from the healthy recipe collection at the “What’s Cooking? USDA Mixing Bowl” website. To help kids learn more about health and the human body, try out the other apps from the Lawrence Hall of Science funded by the National Institutes of Health Science Education Partnership Award program.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Space Chef at Free against Cato's Hike's $5.99. Space Chef also leads on review sentiment (93% vs 64%) and rating (4.3 vs 4.1). Cato's Hike's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (48 vs 6). On ads, in-app purchases 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
Space Chef is free to download; Cato's Hike costs $5.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Space Chef holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Cato's Hike has 48 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 64% of Cato's Hike's written reviews are positive against 93% of Space Chef's.
Cato's Hike ships an update fortnightly, Space Chef every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Cato's Hike | Space Chef |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $5.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.1 (48 ratings) | 4.3 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 64.0% of reviews | 93.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 48 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 5.1.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 38 MB | 79 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Hesham Wahba | The Lawrence Hall of Science |
Customer experience
Cato's Hike
Space Chef
In-app purchases
Cato's Hike
No in-app purchases
Space Chef
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Cato's Hike free?
Is Space Chef free?
Which has better reviews, Cato's Hike or Space Chef?
Do Cato's Hike or Space Chef have ads?
Which is updated more often, Cato's Hike or Space Chef?
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