Comparison

Rube’s Lab vs The Workshop

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

Head to head
About

Rube’s Lab

Features
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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.

About

The Workshop

Features
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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

Rube’s Lab4 screens
The Workshop4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Rube’s Lab versus The Workshop: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRube’s LabThe Workshop
PriceFreeFree
Update frequency—Every 2 days
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size114 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVolodymyr BoulandEran Amrani

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Rube’s Lab

One-time7
  • 20 Gems$0.99
  • 100 Gems$1.99
  • 200 Gems$2.99
Show 4 more
  • Starter Pack$2.99
  • Pro Version$2.99
  • 500 Gems$3.99
  • 1000 Gems$4.99
4 purchases

The Workshop

One-time4
  • 600 Coins$1.99
  • The Workshop Premium$4.99
  • 2,000 Coins$4.99
Show 1 more
  • 5,000 Coins$9.99

Questions

Is Rube’s Lab free?
Rube’s Lab is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is The Workshop free?
The Workshop is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Rube’s Lab or The Workshop have ads?
Both Rube’s Lab and The Workshop show ads.

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