Comparison

Play Drums! vs Penguin Drums

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

Head to head
About

Play Drums!

Experience a futuristic rhythm game inspired by 80s electronic drum kits and EDM. Tap colorful hexagons in time with the music to score points and improve your rhythmic abilities. Choose from various difficulty levels, songs, and drum kits.

Highlights
  • Rhythm game with EDM music
  • Beginner and advanced difficulty levels
  • Multiple drum kits and songs
  • Professionally recorded stereo sounds
  • Hi-resolution graphics
  • Lefty mode for reversed layout
Features
Read full description

Play Drums! is an exciting and unique rhythm game based on the electronic drum kits of the 1980s. Combined with electronic dance music (EDM), this fast-paced and futuristic game is not only fun and challenging, but actually improves your rhythmic abilities! When you start a song, choosing from either beginner or advanced levels, colorful concentric hexagons converge onto the drum pad that should be tapped. If you hit it right on time, you score 50 points; almost in rhythm, 25 points. And if you miss, 10 points are deducted from your score. With 10 songs and 6 different drum kits to choose from, you'll be rockin' like a real drummer in no time! Play Drums! is the most fun way ever to learn to Play Drums! FEATURES: * 5 free EDM beginner songs and 5 free EDM advanced songs to choose from * 6 free amazing drum kits to choose from......play to songs, or play drums without music * Professionally recorded stereo sounds * Beautiful hi-resolution retina graphics * Game Center integration * Lefty mode: reverse the drum layout PRIVACY POLICY: http://codyrotwein.com/privacy.html

About

Penguin Drums

This app simulates a drum kit on your device, allowing kids to play along with rhythms or use it as a MIDI controller. It offers a variety of drum sounds and supports multitouch for an interactive drumming experience.

Highlights
  • Multitouch drum pads
  • Variety of drum instruments
  • 12 example rhythms
  • MIDI over Bluetooth support
  • Simulates drum kit sounds
Features
Read full description

Penguin Drums is an application for Kids that simulates a drum on your device. To play it, just drumming your fingers on the pads of the drums and the sound is played simultaneously. A fun, light and easy to use application. Ideal for those who want to study or play drumming without making much noise or taking up much space. Features of Penguin Drums: * Multitouch * Instruments like kick, snare, tom, floor tom, hi-hat, ride, ride-bell, crash, tambourine. * 12 examples of rhythms. * Support MIDI over Bluetooth When you connect your iOS device to Mac using "MIDI over Bluetooth", Penguin Drums Become to the drum pad for MIDI Sequencer software, such as GarageBand. Made for Kids drummers, beginners!

Screenshots

Play Drums!4 screens
Penguin Drums2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Play Drums! at 50% against Penguin Drums's 0%. Play Drums! also leads on rating (3.7 vs 3.0) and ratings volume (13 vs 1). Penguin Drums's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5) and ads (none vs shown). On price, update cadence 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. Play Drums! sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Penguin Drums asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Play Drums! holds the better App Store score, 3.7 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Play Drums! has 13 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Play Drums!'s written reviews are positive against 0% of Penguin Drums's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Play Drums! ships an update every 4 months, Penguin Drums every 3 months. Both last shipped on October 27, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Play Drums! versus Penguin Drums: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPlay Drums!Penguin Drums
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (13 ratings) — better3.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings13 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size84 MB46 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperDrum Starztaisuke fujita

Customer experience

Play Drums!

All ratings13 ratings
Positive61.5%
Neutral15.4%
Negative23.1%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral33.3%
Negative16.7%

Penguin Drums

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Play Drums!

One-time5
  • Remove Ads$0.99
  • London House$0.99
  • Rocket$0.99
Show 2 more
  • Cephalopod$0.99
  • Blue Scorpion$0.99
None

Penguin Drums

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Play Drums! free?
Play Drums! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Penguin Drums free?
Penguin Drums is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Play Drums! or Penguin Drums?
Play Drums! is rated higher. Play Drums! averages 3.7 out of 5 from 13 ratings, while Penguin Drums averages 3.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Play Drums! or Penguin Drums have ads?
Play Drums! shows ads; Penguin Drums does not.
Which is updated more often, Play Drums! or Penguin Drums?
Play Drums! ships an update every 4 months, and Penguin Drums every 3 months. Most recently, Play Drums! was updated on October 27, 2026 and Penguin Drums on October 27, 2026.

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