Report updated May 20, 2026
Stack the States® 2
For families and educators seeking ad-free, privacy-compliant geography learning tools for children.
Stack the States® 2 is a well-regarded education app that is a paid app. With a 4.5/5 rating from 1.6K reviews, it maintains solid user satisfaction. Users particularly appreciate educational geography content provides high engagement for children and geography enthusiasts alike, though account creation and player name entry failures prevent users from accessing core features remains a common concern.
What is Stack the States® 2?
Stack the States® 2 is a paid educational geography app for iOS and Android that teaches US geography through interactive 3D stacking games.
Families hire the app to provide ad-free, privacy-compliant educational screen time that feels like play rather than a traditional quiz.
Current Momentum
v2.2 · 6mo ago
Maintenance- Updated Minnesota flag in latest release.
- Renamed Barrow, AK to Utqiagvik, AK.
What makes this app unique?
What Does It Look Like?
What Are The Key Features?
Audio-guided gameplay for non-readers to navigate the app independently
Visual interface featuring major cities and 3D elevation views of each state
Unlockable mini-games including Map It, Connect 2, and Capital Tap
How much does it cost?
- Single purchase at $2.99
Fixed-price model at $2.99 with no in-app purchases or third-party ads, positioning the app as a privacy-focused educational tool.
Who Built It?
Freecloud Design
Providing families with ad-free, physics-based educational games that transform academic trivia into interactive puzzles.
Portfolio
9
Apps
What other apps does Freecloud Design make?
Explore the full Freecloud Design report
Portfolio breakdown, audience, momentum, and every app published by Freecloud Design.
What do users think recently?
Low confidence · 52 reviews analyzed · Based on 52 reviews. Signal may be noisy.
How did the latest release land?
What is the recent mood?
Recent user voice shows a excited sentiment. Users appreciate educational geography content provides high engagement for children and geography enthusiasts alike and interactive state-stacking mechanics create addictive and satisfying gameplay loops for all ages, but report account creation and player name entry failures prevent users from accessing core features and audio quality issues including warped sound and skipped words hinder accessibility for younger players.
What Users Love
What Frustrates Users
What Users Want
How have ratings & review volume moved?
Rating, review sentiment, and total reviews over time, with release markers showing the post-launch impact.
Vertical markers = app releases. Hover any release for the post-release impact delta.
View the full user-sentiment analysis
Mood gauge, ratings & review-volume history, every praise / complaint / request, and sentiment over time.
What is the competitive landscape for Stack the States® 2?
Where is it available?
Localized markets (1)
How's The Education Market?
How does it evolve in the Education market?
Stack the States® 2 maintains a presence in the educational game category, though its #35 Paid rank in the US category suggests it is currently losing momentum against newer, more frequently updated rivals. The lack of in-app revenue streams creates a reliance on upfront sales that requires consistent chart visibility to sustain.
Rank progression
21 active rankings tracked — 30-day window
Which niche is Stack the States® 2 in?
to learn US geography through interactive play
Explore the full Geography Games niche
Every app in this space — 1 tracked, the niche's live rankings, and Marlvel's editorial take on the job-to-be-done.
The rivals identified
Nemeses(1)
Seterra is the direct category leader in educational geography quizzes with a massive, highly-engaged user base that mirrors our target audience.
Differentiators
- Offers over 400 customizable quiz modes covering continents, countries, and cities globally
- Provides a cross-platform web-to-app experience that allows users to sync progress seamlessly
- Maintains a pure-play educational focus without the gamified 'stacking' mechanics of our target
Head to head
To compete, we must expand our content beyond the US while maintaining our unique physics-based interaction model to differentiate from their static quiz-heavy approach.
Contenders(2)
A direct competitor in the geography quiz niche that focuses on rapid-fire identification mechanics.
Differentiators
- Utilizes a 'guess the country' mechanic that prioritizes speed over our target's building-based gameplay
- Offers a simplified, minimalist UI that reduces cognitive load for younger or casual players
A high-volume competitor that dominates the quiz-based geography space with massive review density.
Differentiators
- Includes comprehensive data on flags, coats of arms, and currency beyond just map locations
- Features a competitive leaderboard system that drives long-term retention through social comparison
Same space(2)
A major peer in the educational space that competes for the same 'screen time' budget of parents.
Differentiators
- Provides a completely free, ad-free, and subscription-free curriculum-based learning environment
- Integrates a wide range of subjects beyond geography, creating a 'one-stop' educational ecosystem
While more advanced and adult-oriented, it dominates the geography-as-a-game category through high-velocity updates.
Differentiators
- Uses real-world Street View imagery to create an immersive, high-fidelity exploration experience
- Aggressive release cadence with 26 updates in six months keeps the product feeling fresh
New entrants(1)
A rising threat with high update velocity and a modern approach to geography education.
Differentiators
- Implements a 'learning path' progression system that guides users through increasing difficulty levels
- Frequent updates suggest a responsive development team actively iterating on user feedback
Compare Stack the States® 2 against every rival
All rivals in one side-by-side table — identity, store metrics, ratings & sentiment, and strategic intel — plus a head-to-head page for each.
The outtake for Stack the States® 2
Strengths to defend, gaps to attack
Core Strengths
- Physics-based interaction model creates tactile learning engagement
- 3D graphics provide higher visual appeal than static quiz alternatives
- Privacy-first, ad-free design builds trust with parent segment
Critical Frictions
- Account creation bug prevents access to core features
- Audio distortion issues hinder accessibility for non-readers
- US-centric content limits international market penetration
Growth Levers
- Expansion into international maps or territories
- Integration of teacher-friendly reporting tools for classroom adoption
Market Threats
- Seterra's global content library siphons users outgrowing US-only curriculum
- Free, curriculum-based alternatives like Khan Academy Kids
- High update velocity of emerging rivals like StudyGe
What are the next best moves?
Audit account creation flow because name-entry failure is a top complaint → reduce new-user churn
User reviews explicitly cite inability to progress past guest mode as a recurring frustration.
Trade-off: Pause the 3D map elevation update — fixing the entry funnel has a higher impact on conversion.
Rebuild audio engine because distortion is flagged as a hardware-like failure → restore accessibility
Audio quality issues are hindering the utility of the Voice Mode for non-reading children.
Trade-off: Deprioritize new bonus game development — accessibility is a core product requirement.
A counter-intuitive read
The app's US-centric focus is not a weakness but a moat, as it allows for a higher density of localized 3D landmarks that global quiz apps cannot match.
Feature Gaps vs Competitors
- Global geography content (available in Seterra but absent here)
- Teacher-friendly reporting tools (available in Seterra but absent here)
- Competitive leaderboards (available in World Geography - Quiz Game but absent here)
Key Takeaways
Stack the States® 2 defends its niche through tactile stacking mechanics, but technical bugs in account creation and audio quality threaten to erode its premium value proposition, so the PM must prioritize stability over new content to prevent churn.
Where Is It Heading?
Mixed Signals
The educational geography market is consolidating around global, curriculum-aligned tools, leaving US-only apps like Stack the States® 2 exposed to churn. Unless the development team shifts from minor content updates to addressing core technical friction, the app will continue to lose ground to more responsive, global-first competitors.
Persistent account creation bugs prevent new users from accessing core features, which directly suppresses the conversion rate of new installs.
Recent updates focused on minor content changes like flag updates, indicating the product is currently in a maintenance-heavy development cycle.