Comparison

PLAY vs Play and Discover

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

Head to head
About

PLAY

This app uses virtual Play-Doh to teach children the alphabet. Kids can trace letters, learn new vocabulary, and create custom Play-Doh scenes. It also includes letter matching games and progress tracking for parents.

Highlights
  • Virtual Play-Doh letter tracing
  • Vocabulary association with letters
  • Customizable Play-Doh creations
  • Play-Doh scene building
  • Letter matching games
  • Progress tracking for parents
Features
Read full description

“Top 20 Best Apps of the Week” - The Guardian UK “The perfect blend of nostalgia and learning opportunities” - About.com “Fun, mess free way for learning”-Yahoo Voices “Well-thought out, educationally beneficial, colorful”- The Learning Treehouse “Completely transforms the way kids interact with technology” - Appshappens.com Learn your ABCs using ‘virtual’ PLAY-DOH modeling compound with this delightfully interactive educational app! PLAY-DOH Create ABCs application is designed to help children develop the essential skills required for reading and writing. Using this app, children will learn to: recognize letters, write letters using proper stroke order and associate letters with sounds. WRITE AND CRAFT! Learn how to write letters of the alphabet by using ‘virtual’ PLAY-DOH modeling compound. Discover new vocabulary words that start with the same letter. What starts with the letter A? An alligator! But be careful, it’s ready to chomp! When you successfully complete each letter, you are rewarded with a ‘virtual’ PLAY-DOH treat that you can create and customize. Want to change the color? Go ahead! Want to squish it? You can do that, too! CREATE AND SHARE! Build your own PLAY-DOH scenes with your PLAY-DOH creations. The PLAY-DOH gallery is just a click away on the ‘create and share’ button. There you can enjoy all the animated, colorful objects you make as you work your way through the letters of the alphabet. Select your favorite background and then bring PLAY-DOH scenes to life with custom PLAY-DOH pictures. Save your creations on your phone or tablet and share them with others! LETTER MATCHING Click on the ‘match’ button and you can enjoy a new activity: matching letters with the PLAY-DOH creations. The ‘match’ feature reinforces initial letter sounds by matching letters with objects that start with the same sound. A letter select screen allows you to play the activity on any letter you choose. Can you match the letters of the alphabet to the different PLAY-DOH creations? Give it a try! PLAY-DOH Create ABCs includes: -Tracing of uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet -Exciting ‘virtual’ PLAY-DOH treats -Poem and animations to re-enforce learning letter sounds -‘Squishable’ PLAY-DOH animations! -A matching activity to match letters with pictures -A letter select screen that allows children to choose any letter to play -A creativity zone, the PLAY-DOH gallery, where kids design custom PLAY-DOH scenes -A save-to-camera feature where parents can save and share their child’s colorful creations -Curriculum developed and reviewed by preschool education expert
s -Multiplayer profiles that allow more than one child to play and save their progress -Parental reporting to show progress PLAY-DOH Create ABCs will help children develop: -Language and pre-reading skills, including letter recognition and phonemic (sound) awareness and knowledge. - Fine motor skills and coordination -Their creativity via ‘learning by doing’ NOTE: Before you download this experience, please consider that this app contains in-app purchases that cost money. Additional content cannot be unlocked without spending money. ABOUT PLAYDATE DIGITAL PlayDate Digital Inc. is an emergent publisher of high-quality, interactive, mobile educational software for children. PlayDate Digital's products nurture children's emerging literacy and creativity skills by turning digital screens into engaging experiences. PlayDate Digital content is built in partnership with some of the world's most trusted global brands for kids. Visit us: playdatedigital.com Like us: facebook.com/playdatedigital Follow us: @playdatedigital Watch all our app trailers: youtube.com/PlayDateDigital1 HAVE QUESTIONS? We'd love to hear from you! Your questions suggestions and comments are always welcome. Contact us 24/7 at info@playdatedigital.com

About

Play and Discover

Embark on educational adventures with animal friends in interactive scenes. This app uses snap-and-fit puzzles to teach preschoolers concepts like counting, colors, shapes, and letters through playful challenges.

Highlights
  • Interactive educational scenes
  • Snap and fit puzzle pieces
  • Learn colors, shapes, numbers, letters
  • Multilingual support (5 languages)
  • Positive reinforcement
  • Child-safe environment
Features
Read full description

> "Editor's Choice Award" - Children's Technology Review Venture out on some educational field trips with animal friends at the beach, circus, North Pole, underwater and in the kitchen. Using snap and fit pieces, kids create 12 different interactive scenes. Each one presents a unique early learning challenge from counting how many fish the bear plucks from the ice to watching an elephant blow up different shaped balloons using his trunk. Kids five and under can explore basic preschool concepts in this inviting app from the creators of the Kids Store featured Build and Play app. Educational Activities: Play and Discover provides opportunities for active, hands-on learning that engage the senses. It introduces and reinforces these skills in a supported playful environment: •MUSIC: Make music with a magical frog •COLORS: Learn colors at the beach with flying sea turtles •COUNT: See how many fish the polar bear catches •LETTERS: Sing the ABC song under the sea •SHAPES: Join a talented elephant making balloon shapes at the circus •ANIMALS: Help an artistic sheep paint his animal subjects •FRUITS: Bake some tasty fruit pies with a lion •MOVEMENT: Dance to the rhythm with the animal band at the beach Features: •Explore the colorful scenes and solve the puzzles in any order •Learn shapes, colors, numbers, animal and fruit names in 5 different languages – English, Spanish, French, Swedish and Chinese •Self-correcting snap in place puzzle pieces •Funny sound effects and animations •Visual guidance for children needing assistance •Kid friendly theming with built-in positive reinforcement for each success •Child safe for stress-free independent play About Croco Studio: Croco Studio is an award-winning team of parent developers intent on creating apps that kids adore and parents trust. Our apps provide a safe playing environment without ads or in-app purchases. At Croco Studio we create apps that encourage and facilitate learning through play. Please contact us with feedback at WeListen@crocostudio.com. We’d love to hear from you.

Screenshots

PLAY4 screens
Play and Discover4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: PLAY at 4.4 against Play and Discover's 3.8. PLAY also leads on ratings volume (25 vs 4). Play and Discover's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 13.0). On price, review sentiment, update cadence 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. PLAY sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Play and Discover asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PLAY holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PLAY has 25 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 51% of PLAY's written reviews are positive against 50% of Play and Discover's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PLAY ships an update every 2 months, Play and Discover every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
PLAY versus Play and Discover: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPLAYPlay and Discover
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (25 ratings) — better3.8 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews51.2% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings25 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size243 MB234 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPlayDate DigitalCroco Studio

Customer experience

PLAY

All ratings25 ratings
Positive84.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative16.0%
Written reviews84 reviews
Positive51.2%
Neutral2.4%
Negative46.4%

Play and Discover

All ratings4 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral16.7%
Negative33.3%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

PLAY

One-time2
  • Remove Ads$1.99
  • Unlock All Alphabets$3.99
None

Play and Discover

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PLAY free?
PLAY is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Play and Discover free?
Play and Discover is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, PLAY or Play and Discover?
PLAY is rated higher. PLAY averages 4.4 out of 5 from 25 ratings, while Play and Discover averages 3.8 from 4 ratings.
Do PLAY or Play and Discover have ads?
Neither PLAY nor Play and Discover shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PLAY or Play and Discover?
PLAY ships an update every 2 months, and Play and Discover every 4 months. Most recently, PLAY was updated on October 15, 2026 and Play and Discover on October 21, 2026.

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