Rube’s Lab vs The Workshop
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Rube’s Lab
Read full descriptionHide full description
Welcome to Rube’s Lab — a physics puzzle game where creativity beats brute force. Build clever contraptions, trigger satisfying chain reactions, and solve levels using logic, timing, and real physics. Create, test, improve Every level is a small laboratory. Place objects, connect mechanisms, and experiment until your setup works. Want a clean solution or a wild one? Both are valid. Features Physics-based puzzle gameplay with realistic interactions Contraption building: combine tools to create chain reactions Hundreds of ways to solve: experiment with multiple solutions Smart difficulty curve: approachable early levels, brainy later challenges Hint system when you’re stuck (optional) Satisfying reactions: knock, roll, bounce, push, trigger! For fans of If you enjoy physics puzzles, logic games, brain teasers, and creative building, you’ll feel at home in Rube’s Lab. Download and start inventing.
The Workshop
Read full descriptionHide full description
A brass ball falls. A hoop waits below. Between them, you build the machine that connects the two. The Workshop is a physics puzzle game about building small, satisfying contraptions. Each level hands you a few machines — a fan, a seesaw, a cannon, a conveyor — and an empty board. Where you place them, and which way they face, is the whole puzzle. Press GO and watch your machine run: if the ball lands home, it's on to the next one. If it doesn't, the fun is in seeing exactly why. BUILD WITH 20+ MACHINES Fans push, cannons launch, balloons lift, pipes teleport, magnets pull, and tar slows everything down. Machines are introduced one at a time across 100 hand-built levels, so there's always a new tool arriving just as you've mastered the last one. EVERY LEVEL IS SOLVABLE — PROVABLY Each level's solution is machine-verified before it ships: it works at any frame rate, survives imprecise placement, and needs every machine it gives you. If you're stuck, it's not the level. STUCK ANYWAY? YOU DECIDE HOW MUCH HELP Reveal the solution one machine at a time with a Nudge, buy a little more clock when the timer runs hot, or skip a level that's beaten you and come back later. Help is always optional and never forced on you. MAKE THE BALL YOURS Earn coins by solving levels and spend them on ball finishes — brass, jade, obsidian, prismatic — and trails that ribbon behind the ball as it flies. RESPECTS YOUR TIME AND YOUR PRIVACY No account. No sign-in. Works offline. The free version shows non-personalised ads — the game never tracks you across apps or websites — and a single one-time purchase removes ads forever, unlocks every level, and makes hints free. One ball. One hoop. One hundred machines between them. Welcome to the workshop.
Screenshots
Verdict
Rube’s Lab and The Workshop are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Rube’s Lab sells 7 one-off in-app purchases and The Workshop sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | Rube’s Lab | The Workshop |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | — | Every 2 days |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 114 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Volodymyr Bouland | Eran Amrani |
In-app purchases
Rube’s Lab
- 20 Gems$0.99
- 100 Gems$1.99
- 200 Gems$2.99
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- Starter Pack$2.99
- Pro Version$2.99
- 500 Gems$3.99
- 1000 Gems$4.99
The Workshop
- 600 Coins$1.99
- The Workshop Premium$4.99
- 2,000 Coins$4.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- 5,000 Coins$9.99









