Blockly for Dash & Dot robots vs Pattern Shapes, by MLC
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Blockly for Dash & Dot robots
Learn coding fundamentals through interactive play with robots. This app uses a visual drag-and-drop interface to create programs for Dash and Dot robots, offering challenges and creative freedom for young learners.
- Visual drag-and-drop coding
- Robot programming challenges
- Create custom robot behaviors
- Learn coding concepts (sequencing, loops, variables)
- Bluetooth connectivity to robots
- Playful storylines and puzzles
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PLEASE NOTE: This app requires a Wonder Workshop robot (Dash or Dot) to play. To find out more, please visit our website: https://www.makewonder.com. This app is FREE to play. Blockly is a visual drag-and-drop programming tool developed by Google that allows children to snap together commands like puzzle pieces. This app includes dozes of coding challenges for kids to tackle. They can also invent their own creations using Blockly to program Dash & Dot! Learn concepts like sequencing, events, loops, algorithms, operations, and variables through self-directed play and guided challenges. A series of puzzles teach the concepts of coding through playful storylines, allowing kids to learn and explore all on their own. Kids can confidently embark on their own coding adventures with their newfound knowledge, a dash of creativity, and robot buddy - Dash. For ages 6 and up. As seen on the New York Times, USA TODAY, WIRED, Engadget, BBC, and more. “Thoroughly absorbing.” - New York Times “Both kids begged me to take out the robots and start playing with them again.” - Business Insider “Wonder Workshop's notion that kids need to learn twenty-first century skills (and can have fun doing it) flips the industry paradigm on its head, putting kids first.” - James Oppenheim "They are designed to encourage kids to explore and be curious while also learning problem solving." - VentureBeat HOW TO PLAY - Connect Dash and/or Dot to the Blockly app using Bluetooth Smart/4 - Start with a sample project or start your own projects from scratch - Navigate Dash through a maze or around the room, using object detection to avoid walls - Dash knows when it's being picked up and moved. Program Dash to sound the alarm when there is a disturbance! - Program Dash to do synchronized dance moves with lights, motion, and sounds If you have any questions or suggestions, we would love to hear from you! Contact us at any time at https://help.makewonder.com. ABOUT WONDER WORKSHOP Wonder Workshop, an award-winning creator of educational toys and applications for children, was founded in 2012 by three parents on a mission to make learning to code meaningful and fun for children. Through open-ended play and learning experiences, we hope to instill a sense of wonder while helping kids develop their creative problem solving skills. We play test with children throughout our product and app development process to make sure our experiences are frustration free and fun. Wonder Workshop takes children's privacy very seriously. Our apps do not include any third-party advertising or collect any personal information. For more details, please see our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. Privacy Policy: https://www.makewonder.com/privacy Terms of Service: https://www.makewonder.com/TOS Make Wonder: https://www.makewonder.com/make-wonder
Pattern Shapes, by MLC
This app allows students to explore geometry and fractions through interactive shape manipulation. Users can create designs, fill outlines, measure angles, and annotate their work. It's an open-ended educational tool for learning mathematical concepts.
- Explore geometry and fractions
- Create custom designs
- Measure angles with protractor
- Duplicate, resize, and recolor shapes
- Fill built-in outlines
- Annotate work with drawing tools
- Share creations via image or code
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Students use Pattern Shapes to explore geometry and fractions, creating their own designs, or filling in outlines. As they work with the shapes students explore geometric relationships, think about angles, investigate symmetry, and compose and decompose larger shapes. Many of these explorations lead naturally to thinking about fractions as parts of a whole. This virtual version of pattern blocks is an open-ended educational tool, ideal for elementary classrooms and other learning environments that use iPads. Pattern blocks are a key model used in Bridges in Mathematics, second edition. Online preview available at: www.mathlearningcenter.org/bridges FEATURES • Rotate shapes in increments of 15 degrees. • Measure angles with the protractor tool. • Duplicate and change the color and size of shapes. • Fill the built-in outlines with shapes or create your own to share with others. • Choose between a triangular or square grid, or a blank background. • Hide and reveal work with resizable covers to create your own problems and model strategies. • Use the drawing tools to annotate work and show understanding. • Add equations, expressions, and descriptions with the math text and writing tools. • Share your work by saving an image or providing a share code to others. ABOUT US This resource is brought to you by The Math Learning Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to K-12 education since 1976. Our mission is to inspire and enable individuals to discover and develop their mathematical confidence and ability. www.mathlearningcenter.org This app was crafted by Clarity Innovations. We help improve teaching and learning by creating solutions that match promising technologies with the needs of education. Visit us: www.clarity-innovations.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Blockly for Dash & Dot robots at every 2 months against Pattern Shapes, by MLC's every 26 months. Blockly for Dash & Dot robots also leads on ratings volume (168 vs 17) and device support (3 vs 1). Pattern Shapes, by MLC's advantage is review sentiment (70% vs 53%). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.3 for Blockly for Dash & Dot robots against 4.2 for Pattern Shapes, by MLC. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Blockly for Dash & Dot robots has 168 ratings behind it against 17, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 53% of Blockly for Dash & Dot robots's written reviews are positive against 70% of Pattern Shapes, by MLC's.
Blockly for Dash & Dot robots ships an update every 2 months, Pattern Shapes, by MLC every 26 months. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Blockly for Dash & Dot robots | Pattern Shapes, by MLC |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (168 ratings) — better | 4.2 (17 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 53.3% of reviews | 70.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 168 — better | 17 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 26 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 14.7 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 142 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | MORAVIA Consulting, spol. s r.o. | The Math Learning Center |
Customer experience
Blockly for Dash & Dot robots
Pattern Shapes, by MLC
In-app purchases
Blockly for Dash & Dot robots
No in-app purchases
Pattern Shapes, by MLC
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Blockly for Dash & Dot robots free?
Is Pattern Shapes, by MLC free?
Which has better reviews, Blockly for Dash & Dot robots or Pattern Shapes, by MLC?
Do Blockly for Dash & Dot robots or Pattern Shapes, by MLC have ads?
Which is updated more often, Blockly for Dash & Dot robots or Pattern Shapes, by MLC?
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