Comparison

Puppet Pals 2 vs Makers Empire 3D

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

Head to head
About

Puppet Pals 2

Unleash creativity by making animated cartoons with interactive puppets. Children and teachers can easily create high-quality animated stories, presentations, and educational content. Share finished projects via email, social media, or direct file transfer.

Highlights
  • Create animated cartoons
  • Interactive puppet show
  • Star in shows with built-in characters
  • Share finished projects easily
  • Engage students in learning
  • Create instructional videos
Read full description

• “Puppet Pals is an amazing app that lets you create animated cartoons.” -David Pogue (NewYork Times) Children unlock creativity with this easy to use (but hard to put down) interactive puppet show! Even young children can create high quality cartoons from their imaginations. Kids can even star in the show along side the built-in characters! Teachers: Engage students by allowing them to act out historical events, practice language skills, or deliver a killer book report. The cartoons that kids are making have delighted thousands of teachers and parents around the world - let yours be next to experience this award-winning digital addition to your classroom. The finished projects are easily shared to be watched by others (share via email, Facebook, or simply copy the video file to your computer and distribute how you see fit - Hint: students love to see their work displayed on a classroom blog). • Create short instructional videos (in any learning area) • Storytelling, Reports, Historic Retells • Help reluctant public speakers present to the class • Help foreign language or ESL students practice their fluency & language skills • Brainstorming or storyboarding ideas and presentations Characters chosen from standard curriculum allow kids to fully engage with content - not even realizing they are actually learning valuable lessons that will stay with them for years to come!

About

Makers Empire 3D

Design and create anything you can imagine in 3D. This app offers tools for both beginners and advanced users, with tutorials and challenges to enhance your skills. Share your creations with a global community and even design mazes to play with friends.

Highlights
  • 3D design with Shaper and Blocker modules
  • Interactive tutorials in Training Lab
  • Daily Design Challenges and competitions
  • Share designs in a global gallery
  • Build and play 3D mazes
  • Avatar creation
  • Level-up system with new tools
Features
Read full description

Create whatever you can imagine in 3D. Design solutions to real-world problems. Unlock more features and tools as you level up. Share your 3D designs with 2.2+ million makers in 50 countries. APP FEATURES Learn how to design in 3D with basic, pro and video tutorials in the Training Lab. Create 3D designs using Shaper, a traditional free-form 3D modelling module, or Blocker, a voxel editor. Create a unique avatar to represent you in the Makers Empire world. Share your designs in the Gallery, alongside 100,000+ other new designs every single day, so fellow designers can like and comment on your designs. Test your skills by completing daily Design Challenges and entering monthly Design Thinking competitions. Build and play 3D mazes with your friends in Maze Mania. Level up as you design and unlock new design tools. MAKERS EMPIRE FOR TEACHERS Makers Empire helps primary, elementary and middle school educators cover international Design & Technology curriculum, teach Design Thinking and STEM and embrace maker pedagogy using 3D design and 3D printing. Makers Empire is backed by Macquarie University research, certified by Education Alliance Finland for pedagogical quality, and endorsed by Common Sense Education. Makers Empire’s subscriptions for schools include Makers Empire 3D software, in-app, curriculum-aligned challenge courses, 150+ curriculum-aligned lesson plans, professional development, class management tools, student assessment tools, resources, training, ongoing support and analytics. MAKERS EMPIRE FOR PARENTS & GUARDIANS Encourage your child’s creativity and help them develop important Design Thinking, critical thinking and problem-solving skills with Makers Empire 3D. Makers Empire is certified by the Education Alliance Finland for pedagogical quality, backed by Macquarie University research and endorsed by Common Sense Education.

Screenshots

Puppet Pals 24 screens
Makers Empire 3D4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Makers Empire 3D at none against Puppet Pals 2's 10. Makers Empire 3D also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.1) and review sentiment (73% vs 63%). On price, update cadence, ads 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

Both are free to download. Puppet Pals 2 sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Makers Empire 3D asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Makers Empire 3D holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 123 and 394 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 63% of Puppet Pals 2's written reviews are positive against 73% of Makers Empire 3D's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Puppet Pals 2 versus Makers Empire 3D: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPuppet Pals 2Makers Empire 3D
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (123 ratings)4.5 (394 ratings) — better
Positive reviews63.4% of reviews72.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings123394 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size359 MB435 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPolished Play, LLCMakers Empire Pty Ltd

Customer experience

Puppet Pals 2

All ratings123 ratings
Positive76.4%
Neutral7.3%
Negative16.3%
Written reviews216 reviews
Positive63.4%
Neutral10.2%
Negative26.4%

Makers Empire 3D

All ratings393 ratings
Positive87.3%
Neutral3.6%
Negative9.2%
Written reviews161 reviews
Positive72.7%
Neutral9.9%
Negative17.4%

User reviews

Puppet Pals 2

From 123 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Fun and creative
  • 🤩 Nostalgic and brings back childhood memories
  • 🎨 Allows for customization and personalization
  • 🏫 Great for use in schools and classrooms

Room to improve

  • 💰 Many features locked behind paywalls
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and glitches
  • 🔍 Limited selection of characters and backgrounds
  • 🤔 Confusing or unintuitive UI

Makers Empire 3D

From 394 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 👍 Fun and engaging
  • 💡 Unleashes creativity
  • 👍 Great for education
  • 👍 Fantastic app

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Glitchy and crashes often
  • 🐛 Freezes and lags
  • 🐛 Buggy avatar and design features
  • 🐛 Unreliable saving and loading
  • 🐛 Frequent login and account issues

Bugs and requests

Puppet Pals 2

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Saving issues causing loss of progress
  • Freezing and crashing when trying to access certain features
  • Audio and visual glitches during playback
  • Compatibility problems on newer devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more free characters and backgrounds
  • Implement better saving and autosave functionality
  • Allow for custom character creation and customization
  • Add more diverse themes and settings
  • Improve overall stability and reduce crashes

Makers Empire 3D

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Maze maker tool issues
  • Disappearing designs and lost progress
  • Trouble accessing and using premium features
  • Compatibility problems on older devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more games and activities
  • Improve camera controls and navigation
  • Implement better sharing and collaboration features
  • Add animation and physics capabilities
  • Provide more customization options

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Puppet Pals 2

One-time10
  • North Pole Pack$0.99
  • Royal Hall Pack$0.99
  • Time & Tech Pack$0.99
Show 7 more
  • Saddle Up Pack$0.99
  • Vroom Vroom Pack$0.99
  • Civil Rights$0.99
  • Ptolemaic$0.99
  • Under The Sea$0.99
  • Custom Heads$1.99
  • All Access Pass$5.99
None

Makers Empire 3D

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Puppet Pals 2 free?
Puppet Pals 2 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Makers Empire 3D free?
Makers Empire 3D is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Puppet Pals 2 or Makers Empire 3D?
Makers Empire 3D is rated higher. Puppet Pals 2 averages 4.1 out of 5 from 123 ratings, while Makers Empire 3D averages 4.5 from 394 ratings.
Do Puppet Pals 2 or Makers Empire 3D have ads?
Neither Puppet Pals 2 nor Makers Empire 3D shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Puppet Pals 2 or Makers Empire 3D?
Puppet Pals 2 ships an update every 2 months, and Makers Empire 3D every 2 months. Most recently, Puppet Pals 2 was updated on October 23, 2026 and Makers Empire 3D on October 21, 2026.

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