Comparison

Folded BY vs Excavate! Mesopotamia

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

Head to head
About

Folded BY

Explore origami through video tutorials that teach you how to create figures and understand the underlying mathematical principles. This app is designed to help K-12 students develop abstract thinking, problem-solving skills, and an interest in engineering.

Highlights
  • Origami figure tutorials
  • Origami math principles
  • Abstract thinking development
  • Problem-solving confidence
  • Engineering concepts
  • Video guidance
Features
Read full description

Learn to make origami figures and understand origami math principles through easy video tutorials. The Folded BY-U application aims to reach and engage K-12 students, their parents and educators. The goal of this application is to be an excellent tool to help these groups to practice abstract thinking skills, develop problem solving confidence and broaden their ideas of what engineering is about. It builds on the familiarity and low barriers of entry of origami, in that it uses simple materials, is tactile, artistic and fun , as a means to move from elementary shapes and geometry, to more complex movements, materials, and mathematics as tools for engineering problem solving. This application has been created in collaboration with Brigham Young University's Museum of Art and Compliant Mechanisms Research for the Folding Paper: The Infinite Possibilities of Origami exhibit. This application focuses on three primary groups: 1) those preparing to attend the Museum Exhibit, 2) those that are at the Museum Exhibit or as a take-home activity after the exhibit, and 3) a separate experience for those students that will not have the opportunity to attend the exhibit.

About

Excavate! Mesopotamia

Explore ancient Mesopotamian civilizations through interactive archaeological inquiry. Analyze artifacts and historical evidence to understand daily life, societal roles, and architectural innovations. Designed for students, it offers a unique, object-based learning experience.

Highlights
  • Archaeological thinking and inquiry
  • Analysis of evidence and artifacts
  • Exploration of Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian life
  • Object-based learning
  • Historically accurate illustrations and models
  • Teacher guides and lesson plans available
Features
Read full description

Learn History in a new way with Excavate! Mesopotamia, a world history game for students! Use Archaeological thinking to apply skills of Inquiry and Evaluation of Evidence to aspects of Babylonian, Sumerian, and Assyrian daily life not covered in textbooks. By excavating and analyzing three significant locations, players will:   · Explore the significance of Sumerian art · Gain a new perspective on the role of the military in ancient Assyria · Describe the role of gods in Babylonian society · Distinguish the roles of women and men in Mesopotamian societies · Compare and contrast the lifestyles of the Babylonians, Assyrians and Sumerians · Piece together daily life · Explain architectural innovations that were used to build temples and palaces   “The quality of information and the methodology behind the questions is stronger than any educational game I've ever played.” K-12 Director of Technology, MD   Players can explore the sites in any order; progress is recorded in journals that log collected artifacts, field notes and achievements. Throughout the game, players use C3 skills to analyze and make connections. They carefully deduce the facts about each area, stratum by stratum and artifact by artifact. At each location, players make meaning of how artifacts were used through a series of analysis questions and reports that require players to make connections, read closely and consider the historical context of the primary source artifacts. Finally, players see each site come alive as artifacts populate historically accurate images of Babylonian, Sumerian or Assyrian life.   Features: • Engage with objects of daily life textbooks never include • Use archaeological thinking to piece together historical understanding • See artifacts in context in the ancient world  • Design input from Social Studies teachers  • Historically Accurate Skills-Based learning • Free Teacher Guides, Lesson Plans, and Extension Activities online • Bundle with other Excavate! games for a complete curriculum solution What people are saying about Excavate!™ “Excellent illustrations and collection of source material. I could see using this as a resource for a project. Good Collections of terms and other historical objects.” 7th Grade Social Studies, MD “I LOVED the analysis questions because it assisted the kids in seeing the "big" picture and making connections.” – 5th Grade Social Studies, OH Excavate! Series: Built in consultation with history teachers, Excavate! uses overarching questions to focus student inquiry as they dig, analyze, report and learn through object-based evaluation. Highly detailed, historically accurate illustrations and artifacts help students make connections and see the “big picture” of ancient history. Interaction with artifacts, including detailed 3D models, allows students to understand what life was really like for people of different social roles. Extensive in-game resources such as comprehensive location and artifact information and an interactive glossary make it easy to extend the learning off the screen. Supporting educator materials, standards information and extension activities help educators seamlessly include Excavate! in any ancient history curriculum. Track student performance using the new GBLxAPI learning data format, which reports student progress against C3 and ELA standards in an easy to read format. Excavate! is a multi-game world history series that includes old and new world civilizations such as Rome, Greece, Egypt, Maya, Inca and more. All Excavate social studies games have accompanying lesson plan materials and additional activities available from our website for free.

Screenshots

Folded BY3 screens
Excavate! Mesopotamia4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Folded BY at every 3 weeks against Excavate! Mesopotamia's every 34 months. Folded BY also leads on ratings volume (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (7.1 vs 11.0). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Folded BY against 5.0 for Excavate! Mesopotamia. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Folded BY ships an update every 3 weeks, Excavate! Mesopotamia every 34 months. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Folded BY versus Excavate! Mesopotamia: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFolded BYExcavate! Mesopotamia
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 34 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS7.1 — better11.0
Further details — not scored
Size167 MB167 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBrigham Young UniversityDig-It Games, LLC

Customer experience

Folded BY

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Excavate! Mesopotamia

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Folded BY

No in-app purchases

None

Excavate! Mesopotamia

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Folded BY free?
Folded BY is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Excavate! Mesopotamia free?
Excavate! Mesopotamia is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Folded BY or Excavate! Mesopotamia?
Folded BY and Excavate! Mesopotamia are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Folded BY or Excavate! Mesopotamia have ads?
Neither Folded BY nor Excavate! Mesopotamia shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Folded BY or Excavate! Mesopotamia?
Folded BY ships an update every 3 weeks, and Excavate! Mesopotamia every 34 months. Most recently, Folded BY was updated on October 2, 2026 and Excavate! Mesopotamia on October 19, 2026.

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