Comparison

Cato's Hike vs Space Chef

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Read full description

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

About

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.

Highlights
  • Fast-paced ingredient sorting
  • Build healthy recipes
  • Unlock food factoids
  • Over 60 healthy recipes
  • Race against the clock
  • Discover new robots
Features
Read full description

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

Cato's Hike4 screens
Space Chef4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Cato's Hike versus Space Chef: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCato's HikeSpace Chef
Price$5.99Free — better
Rating4.1 (48 ratings)4.3 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews64.0% of reviews93.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings48 — better6
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.65.1.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size38 MB79 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHesham WahbaThe Lawrence Hall of Science

Customer experience

Cato's Hike

All ratings48 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral10.4%
Negative14.6%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive64.0%
Neutral8.0%
Negative28.0%

Space Chef

All ratings6 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews15 reviews
Positive93.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative6.7%

In-app purchases

None

Cato's Hike

No in-app purchases

None

Space Chef

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Cato's Hike free?
Cato's Hike costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Space Chef free?
Space Chef is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Cato's Hike or Space Chef?
Space Chef is rated higher. Cato's Hike averages 4.1 out of 5 from 48 ratings, while Space Chef averages 4.3 from 6 ratings.
Do Cato's Hike or Space Chef have ads?
Neither Cato's Hike nor Space Chef shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Cato's Hike or Space Chef?
Cato's Hike ships an update fortnightly, and Space Chef every 3 months. Most recently, Cato's Hike was updated on October 16, 2026 and Space Chef on October 13, 2026.

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