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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Dance School Stories vs Ice Skating Ballerina

Dance School Stories 4.7★ · Free to download · ⚠ stale 65
Winner Dance School Stories
Ice Skating Ballerina 4.7★ · Free to download · ⚠ stale 60

Dance School Stories offers a more engaging storyline and variety of dance styles, but both apps suffer from aggressive monetization and excessive ads.

Full reviews: Dance School Stories · Ice Skating Ballerina

Both Dance School Stories and Ice Skating Ballerina are free-to-download games with similar issues regarding in-app purchases and ads. Dance School Stories has a slight edge due to its more developed storyline and diverse dance options, despite user frustration over locked content and unreleased updates.

Head to head

Features and Content edge: Dance School StoriesR1R2R5R8
Dance School Stories Users appreciate the variety of dance styles (ballet, hip hop, Latin, jazz) and the engaging storyline in Dance School Stories R5R8R13. However, many core features, including access to the doctor, specific outfits, and additional dance options, are locked behind paywalls or ads R1R9R13. Players also express frustration over the lack of updates and unreleased 'part 2' of the story, despite waiting for years R2R18R35R39.
Ice Skating Ballerina Ice Skating Ballerina is praised for its core ice skating gameplay and the ability to play as an ice skater . However, a significant portion of content, including skate moves, VIP items, and customization options, is locked behind subscriptions or paywalls, leading to a 'pay to win' perception . Users also wish for more free content and better interaction options with partners .
Ease of Use and Monetization tieR1R9R10R13
Dance School Stories Dance School Stories is heavily criticized for its aggressive monetization, with many essential game elements, like the doctor's office, outfits, and even basic clothing items, requiring payment or watching an excessive number of ads R1R9R13R19. Users report ads appearing every 30 seconds or after every action R10R52R57. Some players resort to playing offline to avoid ads R22.
Ice Skating Ballerina Ice Skating Ballerina also faces strong criticism for its overwhelming number of ads, which appear constantly for outfits, moves, emotes, and entering/leaving places R61. Many users feel that almost everything is locked behind a subscription or paywall, making the free experience very limited and frustrating .
Reliability and Performance edge: Dance School StoriesR3R4R24R27
Dance School Stories Users report various technical issues, including the game not opening past the lobby R4, glitches with character animations , and problems with restoring purchases R3. Some players also experience issues with previously unlocked items becoming locked again R24R27.
Ice Skating Ballerina Ice Skating Ballerina has significant and recurring glitches, most notably characters missing heads, legs, or becoming completely invisible . Users also report issues with the 'play' button not working after the first launch and problems with restoring purchases .
Price and Value tieR1R13R19R34
Dance School Stories Both apps are free to download, but Dance School Stories is perceived as having poor value due to the high number of essential features locked behind payments or excessive ads R1R13R19R34. Users feel the developers are 'money hungry' and that the game is not truly free R19R34.
Ice Skating Ballerina Ice Skating Ballerina, while free to download, also offers poor value for non-paying users because most desirable content and moves are locked behind a subscription or in-app purchases . Users feel it's a 'pay to win' game, where those with VIP access have an unfair advantage .
Support and Updates tieR2R18R19R35
Dance School Stories Many Dance School Stories users complain about the lack of updates, with 'part 2' of the story being promised for years but never released R2R18R35R39. There's a strong sentiment that developers do not listen to feedback regarding monetization and ads R19.
Ice Skating Ballerina Ice Skating Ballerina users report significant, unaddressed glitches like missing character body parts and issues with the play button , suggesting a lack of timely support or updates to fix critical bugs. Problems with restoring purchases also indicate potential support shortcomings .
Pick Dance School Stories if

you prefer a game with a more developed story and diverse dance styles, and are willing to tolerate frequent ads and in-app purchases for locked content R5R13.

Pick Ice Skating Ballerina if

you are specifically interested in ice skating gameplay and are prepared to encounter numerous ads and paywalls for most features, or if you are willing to purchase a subscription .

Evidence note: Both apps are free-to-play and share similar monetization strategies, leading to similar negative feedback regarding ads and locked content. The evidence for both apps is strong and consistent across reviews.

Frequently asked

Do Dance School Stories and Ice Skating Ballerina have free content?
Both Dance School Stories and Ice Skating Ballerina are free to download and offer some initial free content, but a significant portion of the gameplay, including essential story progression elements, outfits, and dance moves, is locked behind paywalls or requires watching an excessive number of ads (R1, R13, R22, R49, for Dance School Stories; , , , , for Ice Skating Ballerina).
Are there many ads in these games?
Yes, both games are heavily criticized for having an overwhelming number of ads; users report ads appearing every 30 seconds or after almost every action, making the gameplay experience frustrating without a paid subscription (R10, R52, R57 for Dance School Stories; R61, , , , , , for Ice Skating Ballerina).
Do these games receive regular updates?
Users for Dance School Stories frequently complain about the lack of updates, with a promised 'part 2' of the story unreleased for years R2R18R35R39. Ice Skating Ballerina also appears to lack timely updates, as many critical glitches like missing character body parts and non-functional play buttons remain unaddressed .

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R1] Dance School Stories 1/5 · US Pay to finish game: You can only finish the game if you pay for the doctor I thought it had changed for I used to play it many many years ago but still nothing has got better about this game.👎🏻
  2. [R2] Dance School Stories 5/5 · US BEST GAME EVER but……: This game is sooooooo fun but you have to pay for a lot of things and I finished the game and they said they are going to make the other part and they haven’t did it For ever so please MAKE THE PART!
  3. [R5] Dance School Stories 5/5 · US My rate: I love this game because there is so much cool things and u can learn new dance moves
  4. [R8] Dance School Stories 5/5 · US It’s really: I like it. It’s really good. I like that and they have different music types dance two it’s really nice.
  5. [R9] Dance School Stories 3/5 · US Clothes locked 🔒 and unnecessary amount of ads😑: I love this game, but every it tells me to dress for ballet I try to but the clothes are locked so I would be stuck in hip hop clothes and I would have to perform in them so please fix this and also fix the unnecessary amount of ads. Please and thank you!
  6. [R10] Dance School Stories 1/5 · US Waaaaaaay to many ads: Ads every 30 seconds.
  7. [R13] Dance School Stories 1/5 · US It’s fun but…. (here is why): i had this game like a year ago and then i deleted it, then about like 3 days ago i got it back. this game is fun and i like the options to do ballet, hip hop, latin and jazz, but… 1. to litterly have fun with the game and to do things, you have to pay. you have to pay for things like the doctor, different outfits, more dance options during the rescital, etc. which i
  8. [R3] Dance School Stories 3/5 · US pls let me restore my purchase: Hello I had this game in like 2021 I’m not sure but I remember purchasing everything in the game, I re downloaded it and pressed restore purchases and it didn’t work even tho it did work multiple other times. If you guys don’t believe I’ll send a email with a screenshot of my purchase history.
  9. [R4] Dance School Stories 1/5 · US Help: what should I do if I can't get into the game? The lobby opens, but then nothing. · translated
  10. [R24] Dance School Stories 3/5 · US Please fix this, this is a must read: So I loved this game until it happened, I was playing and I had a profile and I got to the point where I watched a ad to get a tutu for ballet and all the sudden it had a lock on it, I knew you had to wait a minute for it not to have a lock because it didn’t have a lock before, and so I waited, it’s been two days and all the stuff you have to watch ads for now
  11. [R27] Dance School Stories 3/5 · US Why: Used to have like ads and you can use other things that are locked but now you can’t use anything that’s squat and it’s like really weird because I have a K-pop shoes on and I was doing a lot in performance and it just really sucked so can you make it back? We can have ads to get more stuff.
  12. [R19] Dance School Stories 1/5 · US Devs don’t listen and are money hungry: No matter how many reviews this game has not changed and it’s a great game.My problem with cocoplay is that the devs are MONEY HUNGRY take nightshade review she said that it costs to much money the Devs responded has our game changed NO this has been going on for 6 YEARs this is my last chance for cocoplay please make it FREE THIS IS A game for people over 4
  13. [R34] Dance School Stories 1/5 · US You have to pay: This game is pretty fun but when you get later into the story, you have to pay to continue to play. Cocoplay? More like another greedy corporate.
  14. [R18] Dance School Stories 3/5 · US the games fire: i love this game very much but ive been waiting on the part 2 for like 5 yrs now..when is it coming out?
  15. [R35] Dance School Stories 4/5 · US My Review: Game is great. I first got it in 2019. It would be great if the game was updated so many newcomers as well as old timers will be able to continue playing this wonderful and detail oriented game.
  16. [R22] Dance School Stories 2/5 · US ads: good god there are so many ads. you need ads to get clothes. you need ads to unlock places. you get ads entering and leaving places. you arent even able to change some of your clothes because itll be locked behind a paywall. you literally have to play the game offline to enjoy it. if you dont want to deal with that you have to pay 10 whole dollars a month to get everything. i love this game a
  17. [R49] Dance School Stories 1/5 · US I WAS HAVING FUN UNTIL I FOUND THIS OUT: IT’S ABSOLUTELY INSIDIOUS AND RIDICULOUS HIW MANY THINGS IN THIS GAME COST MONEY I CANT EVEN WEAR HIPHOP PANTS NOT BALLET SKIRTS NOT EVEN LATIN SKIRT?! ABSOLUTELY HORRENDOUS HOW MUCH YOU GUYS ARE GREEDY FOR MONEY I CANT EVEN DO PAY THE DOC A VISIT QUEST, AS AN 8 YEAR OLD THIS MADE ME CRY I HOPE YOU GET CANCELLED!!
  18. [R52] Dance School Stories 1/5 · US Too many ads and unupdated: WAY TOO MANY ADS, every time you do something or click on something, you get a long add. Ad to dress up, ad to choose shoes, ad to choose a dress, ad to perform, terrible This game has been unupdated since like 2019, it is stuck at the part where you choose between Sam and Parker and there’s nothing after that! I wish they would FINALLY update this game Also, the scor
  19. [R57] Dance School Stories 3/5 · US Too many adds: Too many adds
  20. [R61] Ice Skating Ballerina 2/5 · US i like this: cool game but way to many ads
  21. [R39] Dance School Stories 3/5 · US needs update: finished all i was able to in 2 days just to find out its not even done after 6 years bro 😭😭 also the characters can get so...out of character like wht 💀 like sometimes its just like "why is he so jealous he has no reason to act like that"

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store