Osmo Newton vs Quandary
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Osmo Newton
Engage with creative physics puzzles by drawing or placing physical objects. Guide falling balls into target zones using everyday items. Experience a blend of physical and digital play.
- Draw lines to solve puzzles
- Place physical objects to interact
- Guide falling balls into targets
- Works with everyday items
- Hands-on learning experience
- Promotes creativity and problem-solving
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Solve creative physics puzzles by drawing lines or placing items in front of the screen. Play your favourite Osmo Newton on both iPhone and iPad! Use your iPhone with the "Osmo Base for iPad" which can be found at playosmo.com. * Please see our device compatibility list here: https://support.playosmo.com/hc/articles/115010156067 "..games that interact with just about any physical object—pen, paper, blocks, even toys your kids already own. - The Wall Street Journal "This interplay between the physical and digital realms looks and feels like magic." - Forbes "Osmo has been a revolution in our family." - Wired Awarded: **Best Design** - Good Design, 2016 **Best Product Designs** - Fast Company Finalist, 2016 **Innovative Toy of the Year** - TOTY Finalist, 2015 **Best Inventions** - TIME, 2014 Works with any object or drawing – Mom’s keys, hand-drawn basket, even toys you already own. Simply place the object/drawing in front of the screen and manipulate it to guide the falling balls into the target zones. About Osmo Osmo is using the screen to create a new healthy, hands-on learning experience that promotes creativity, problem-solving and social interaction. We do this with our reflective artificial intelligent technology.
Quandary
Guide a new civilization on an alien planet by making ethical decisions. This narrative-driven game develops critical thinking, empathy, and problem-solving skills through engaging science-fiction scenarios. It's designed for youth but enjoyable for all ages.
- Ethical reasoning gameplay
- Science-fiction narrative
- Character-driven conflicts
- Critical thinking development
- Perspective-taking exercises
- Four playable episodes
- Customizable character generator
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As the Captain of a new human settlement on Planet Braxos, shape the future of a new civilization while developing ethical reasoning skills. Quandary, the award-winning, nonprofit learning game, has landed on your mobile phone! Players find themselves immersed in a rich science-fiction narrative with a diverse set of characters and differing perspectives. When confronted by conflict, you must explore the many facts, solutions, and opinions to come up with solutions on the colony's behalf. Quandary is perfect for youth, ages 8-16, but people of all ages will enjoy this game. Working closely with educators and students, we've created a truly playful experience that maps to the Common Core State Standards. The game aims to develop skills that help children recognize ethical issues and deal with ethical situations in their own lives: • Critical thinking • Perspective-taking • Empathy • Decision-making • Problem solving • Moral reasoning • Reading • Writing • Social and Emotional Learning • Communication • Collaboration • Global awareness At the dawn of a new society…how will you decide? Scot Osterweil, creator of the classic educational Zoombinis games and research director at the MIT Education Arcade, shepherded his team at Learning Games Network to refine the Quandary concept originally prototyped by child development and learning experts at Harvard and Tufts University. Technical and graphic production was managed by FableVision, an award-winning storytelling digital media production and learning company. The browser version of Quandary is an award-winning title, having won the Game of the Year at the 2013 Games for Change Festival, 2018 Common Sense Education’s Top Picks for Learning award, the Silver Medal in Education at the 2013 Serious Play Awards, and Most Meaningful Game at the 2012 Meaningful Play Awards. --------------------- FEATURES: • Four playable episodes, with 12 animated and voiced characters that include Granik the Construction Chief, Paskit the Computer Expert, and Yau the Historian. • Digital comics introduce each episode, as well as the wider universe of Quandary. • Voice and text options for comics and character reactions. • A focus on minimal instruction, encouraging the player to explore the possibilities and reflect on their own choices. • Account creation for saving your progress. • An app-exclusive character generator, which allows players 13 and older to create their own colonists with unique opinions.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Osmo Newton at 4.1 against Quandary's 3.5. Osmo Newton also leads on review sentiment (65% vs 25%) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 34 months). Quandary's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Osmo Newton holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Osmo Newton has 384 ratings behind it against 13, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 65% of Osmo Newton's written reviews are positive against 25% of Quandary's.
Osmo Newton ships an update every 2 months, Quandary every 34 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Osmo Newton | Quandary |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.1 (384 ratings) — better | 3.5 (13 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 65.4% of reviews — better | 25.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 384 — better | 13 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 34 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 451 MB | 162 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Tangible Play | Learning Games Network The |
Customer experience
Osmo Newton
Quandary
Bugs and requests
Osmo Newton
Reported bugs
10 issues- App crashes on launch or during gameplay
- Unresponsive app after recent updates
- Lorem Ipsum placeholder text stuck on screen
- Achievement page frozen preventing gameplay
- App incompatible with iPad Air 2 and 11-inch iPad
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- Camera permission prompt issues on newer iOS
- Line detection fails to recognize drawings
- Game slows down significantly with multiple balls
- App fails to load or gets stuck on loading screen
- Whiteboard compatibility issues
Requested features
8 requests- Back/front camera option for better positioning
- Pause menu functionality
- More levels beyond the current 61
- Grid screen option for better line detection
- Adjustable camera sensitivity settings
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- Better instructions and tutorial for beginners
- Start button before gameplay begins
- Support for older iPad models
Quandary
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Osmo Newton
No in-app purchases
Quandary
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Osmo Newton free?
Is Quandary free?
Which has better reviews, Osmo Newton or Quandary?
Do Osmo Newton or Quandary have ads?
Which is updated more often, Osmo Newton or Quandary?
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