Comparison

Monster Mingle vs Simple Machines by Tinybop

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

Head to head
About

Monster Mingle

Design and build your own unique, friendly monster by combining various body parts. Explore magical islands, discover creatures, and interact with the environment in a free-play imaginative landscape. This app encourages creativity and exploration without any goals or objectives.

Highlights
  • Combine diverse body parts (eyes, mouths, limbs, wings, etc.)
  • Explore land, sea, and sky environments
  • Discover and interact with creatures
  • Feed your monster
  • Free play sandbox environment
Read full description

Build your own friendly monster! Choose different body parts to help explore the world and uncover each unique island. Discover fun creatures, musical scenery and hidden surprises as your monster plays in this magical kingdom. A free play imaginative landscape helps children to be creative, building the creatures they want and learning what is needed to fly high, swim fast or simply walk around. Can you find all 40 body parts? Features: - Combine different eyes, mouths, noses, beaks, arms, legs, wings, fins, horns and bodies - Hop and walk on land, swim under the sea or fly in the sky - Find food to feed your hungry monster - Talk and sing to the other creatures - No goals or objectives, just a free play sandbox Child friendly app: - No in-app purchases - No third-party advertising - No social media Created by Cowly Owl, a British micro-studio creating playful digital toys and educational games. http://www.cowlyowl.com/

About

Simple Machines by Tinybop

Explore the playful side of physics and learn about simple machines through interactive experiments. Kids can discover how levers, pulleys, and other mechanisms work by building and testing them in a digital sandbox environment. This app is designed to spark curiosity and understanding of scientific principles.

Highlights
  • Explore 6 simple machines
  • Experiment with real-world physics
  • Investigate physics at work
  • Learn about force and motion
  • Kid-friendly design
  • Interactive labels in 40+ languages
Features
Read full description

Explore the playful side of physics! “I just love how apps like these get kids genuinely excited about science." — COOL MOM TECH Experiment with levers, pulleys, inclined planes, inclined planes, wedges, wheel and axles, and screws. Discover how they work and investigate the invisible forces behind them in this sandbox app. Destroy a castle, make music, send satellites into orbit & more! *** App Store Editor's Choice *** *** Parents’ Choice Gold Award winner *** Simple Machines integrates with STEM curriculum: kids can alter and test each machine to learn about force and motion, actions and reactions, inputs and outputs, conservation of energy, mechanical advantages, and tradeoffs. Get free activity sheets at tinybop.com. Simple Machines is No. 4 in Tinybop’s Explorer’s Library series, designed for curious kids ages 4+ to dive deep into big ideas. The apps in this series have won Best of the App Store, App Store Editors’ Choice, Parents’ Choice, and Children's Technology Review Editor’s Choice awards. Features: * Explore 6 simple machines: levers, pulleys, inclined planes, wedges, wheel and axles, and screws. * Experiment with real world physics, actions and reactions, inputs and outputs. Learn about force and motion. * Investigate the physics at work behind each machine. * Sophisticated sound design rewards experimentation. * Original artwork by James Gilleard. * Smart features use your device’s camera to bring your kids’ world into the app. * Learn new vocabulary in 40+ languages with interactive labels. * Intuitive, safe, and kid-friendly design. * Entertaining for kids and adults alike. FREE handbook Our expert-reviewed handbook is full of facts, interaction hints, and discussion questions to support learning in this app, in the classroom or at home. Download in your app or at: http://tinybop.com/handbooks. Privacy Policy We take your and your child’s privacy very seriously. We do not collect or share personal information about your child, nor do we allow any third-party advertising. When the camera, microphone, and other services are used within an app, your information is neither collected nor distributed outside of the app. Read our complete privacy policy at tinybop.com. Tinybop, Inc. is a Brooklyn-based studio of designers, engineers, and artists. We make toys for tomorrow. We’re all over the internet. Visit us: www.tinybop.com Follow us: twitter.com/tinybop Like us: facebook.com/tinybop Peek behind the scenes: instagram.com/tinybop We love hearing your stories! If you have ideas, or something isn’t working as you expect it to, please contact us: hi@tinybop.com. Compatible with iPhone 5, 5s, 5c, 6, 6 Plus, iPod touch (5th generation), iPad 2, 3, mini, and Air. **This app is optimized for iPad 2 and iPhone 5 or higher. Requires iOS 7.0 or later. psst! It's not Tiny Bop, or Tiny Bob, or Tiny Pop. It's Tinybop.

Screenshots

Monster Mingle4 screens
Simple Machines by Tinybop4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Monster Mingle at 89% against Simple Machines by Tinybop's 37%. Monster Mingle also leads on rating (4.0 vs 3.7). Simple Machines by Tinybop's advantage is price ($2.99 vs $3.99). On ratings volume, update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Monster Mingle costs $3.99 and Simple Machines by Tinybop $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Monster Mingle holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 28 and 62 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 89% of Monster Mingle's written reviews are positive against 37% of Simple Machines by Tinybop's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Monster Mingle ships an update every 6 months, Simple Machines by Tinybop every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Monster Mingle versus Simple Machines by Tinybop: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMonster MingleSimple Machines by Tinybop
Price$3.99$2.99 — better
Rating4.0 (28 ratings) — better3.7 (62 ratings)
Positive reviews89.2% of reviews — better37.4% of reviews
Number of ratings2862 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 4 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.012.0
Further details — not scored
Size300 MB112 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCowly Owl LtdTinybop Inc.

Customer experience

Monster Mingle

All ratings28 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral10.7%
Negative14.3%
Written reviews37 reviews
Positive89.2%
Neutral2.7%
Negative8.1%

Simple Machines by Tinybop

All ratings62 ratings
Positive62.9%
Neutral14.5%
Negative22.6%
Written reviews131 reviews
Positive37.4%
Neutral8.4%
Negative54.2%

Bugs and requests

Monster Mingle

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Simple Machines by Tinybop

Reported bugs

8 issues
  • Crashes immediately on launch
  • Cannot install after purchase
  • App crashes after loading screen
  • No sound
  • Does not work
Show 3 more
  • Download issues
  • Does not open
  • Chinese language not displayed

Requested features

8 requests
  • Add a creative building mode
  • More levels and modules
  • Sandbox mode
  • Ability to build own machines
  • More interactive elements
Show 3 more
  • Add more complex mechanisms
  • Improve wheel and axle interaction
  • Allow bringing up planets in pulley game

In-app purchases

None

Monster Mingle

No in-app purchases

None

Simple Machines by Tinybop

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Monster Mingle free?
Monster Mingle costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Simple Machines by Tinybop free?
Simple Machines by Tinybop costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Monster Mingle or Simple Machines by Tinybop?
Monster Mingle is rated higher. Monster Mingle averages 4.0 out of 5 from 28 ratings, while Simple Machines by Tinybop averages 3.7 from 62 ratings.
Do Monster Mingle or Simple Machines by Tinybop have ads?
Neither Monster Mingle nor Simple Machines by Tinybop shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Monster Mingle or Simple Machines by Tinybop?
Monster Mingle ships an update every 6 months, and Simple Machines by Tinybop every 4 months. Most recently, Monster Mingle was updated on September 18, 2026 and Simple Machines by Tinybop on September 23, 2026.

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