How This Geography App Works
Stack the States 2 is a geography app with a trivia game format and a fun, tower-building element. When kids correctly answer factual questions about the 50 states, they earn an animated version of the state to drop onto a stack. When the pile of states, precariously perched one on top of another, reaches a checkered goal line that hovers above the stack, players win a state to place on the map of the United States. In this manner, kids are tasked with "stacking the states" as the title implies.
This Version Has Audio Questions
The geography questions vary, but each quizzes facts relating to states' locations, capitals, nicknames, shapes, cities within, abbreviations, landmarks, and flags. The questions can be read aloud.
Each state won in the stacking game can be studied to learn more about its facts and its location on a map. By collecting states, kids are able to gradually unlock three additional games called Map It!, Connect2, and Capital Tap.
The main menu also offers a "Learn" section where kids can explore an interactive map, or scroll through each state as a flashcard.
App Analysis
Stack the States 2 makes learning about the 50 states fun because of its enjoyable stacking-the-states activity. The animated states show hilarious expressions as kids rotate and then drop them on top of other states. They also are proportional to their real size when being stacked. To be successful at the stacking, kids need to use logic as they apply the laws of gravity and physics. By playing
Stack the States 2, kids gain map awareness and information about the 50 states in America.
But, this stacking activity isn't as easy as it sounds, since the states have weird shapes, many of which don't lend themselves to fitting neatly within a stack. Players will frequently lose a state because it topples off the stack. Eventually, the repetition and the constant failure of stacking odd-shaped states can diminish the player's fun.
Nonetheless, kids will be motivated to keep playing the main stacking game because it provides the means to unlock the other three games in the app. However, the three other games aren't nearly as much fun as the one about stacking. In Map It!, kids try to place the states on the map. But the United States' map is black, with no individual state outlines shown, making it very challenging. In Connect 2, you have 60 seconds to connect as many two-state combos as you can. The two states appear on the screen and the player moves them around until they align the way they do on a map. This is a hard skill, because the alignment must be precise. Capital Tap reinforces the name of each state's capital; but then it requires kids to know the exact spot on the map where the city is located. With only three misses before the game ends, this game can get frustrating.
For the children seeking more in-depth information, particularly about the places of interest, there is no resource within the app to find more detail. On a positive note, the app uses gorgeous background photos of famous locations throughout the United States; and kids can choose which facts they want to drill.
Stack the States 2 is a good geography game for learning state locations and basic state information. It offers up to six player profiles. If you already own the original
Stack the States, it probably isn't worth buying this new, slicker version because it is not all that different from the first one. But it sure is prettier.
Best For
Kids who enjoy building with blocks will be drawn to this geography app that taps into the joy of creating tall piles of stacked states.
For more geography apps, check out our recommended list called
Geography Apps Show Kids the World.
This Stack the States 2 kids' app review was written by Jinny Gudmundsen.
All tech products are judged on a five star scale by looking at the following factors: fun, education, ease of use, value, and technical.
