Logic puzzle · No account · No subscription
A DragonBox Algebra alternative
that is a puzzle with no lessons.
DragonBox Algebra is an award-winning educational game designed by a former math teacher. Children move cards to isolate a box on one side of the board and gradually discover they have been solving equations. It is now Kahoot! Algebra by DragonBox, part of the Kahoot! Kids family of learning apps. Tare shares one idea with it, two sides that must stay equal, but Tare is a logic puzzle with no lessons. Each of its 200 levels is a painted hanging mobile: you hang weights until every beam balances and work out hidden weights from wordless picture cards.
How does Tare compare to DragonBox Algebra?
One is an algebra tutor in the form of a game; the other is a logic puzzle built on the lever rule.
What it's for
Tare: A logic puzzle for any age, with no curriculum and no symbols. There is one physical rule, followed exactly, and the levels ask you to reason with it.
DragonBox Algebra: Teaching algebra. It covers solving equations with addition, subtraction, division and multiplication and is recommended from age five; Kahoot! Algebra 2 by DragonBox continues for ages 12 to 17.
DragonBox Algebra: Teaching algebra. It covers solving equations with addition, subtraction, division and multiplication and is recommended from age five; Kahoot! Algebra 2 by DragonBox continues for ages 12 to 17.
How a puzzle works
Tare: Drag weights onto hooks either side of each pivot until every beam balances. Weight × distance must be equal on both sides, and a nested beam pulls its whole load at the hook it hangs from.
DragonBox Algebra: Manipulate cards to get the DragonBox alone on one side of the board. As you progress, the cards are replaced by numbers and variables, and you find you have been isolating x in an equation.
DragonBox Algebra: Manipulate cards to get the DragonBox alone on one side of the board. As you progress, the cards are replaced by numbers and variables, and you find you have been isolating x in an equation.
The unknowns
Tare: Some weights hide inside a “?” bubble, and a beam carrying one will not settle, so you can't weigh it. Picture cards showing how the pieces compare are the only way to deduce what it weighs.
DragonBox Algebra: The unknown is the DragonBox, later x, and each puzzle is about getting it alone on one side.
DragonBox Algebra: The unknown is the DragonBox, later x, and each puzzle is about getting it alone on one side.
How much there is
Tare: 200 handcrafted levels in ten chapters of 20, each machine-checked to have exactly one answer.
DragonBox Algebra: 200 puzzles in 10 chapters (five learning, five training) plus daily puzzles. Algebra 2 has 357 puzzles in 20 chapters.
DragonBox Algebra: 200 puzzles in 10 chapters (five learning, five training) plus daily puzzles. Algebra 2 has 357 puzzles in 20 chapters.
Price and account
Tare: Free download. Chapter I's 20 levels stay free, and one $2.99 purchase unlocks the other 180, with Family Sharing. There is no account, subscription or ads.
DragonBox Algebra: Free to start, with full access through a premium upgrade. The listed in-app purchases are Kahoot! Kids at $5.99 a month or $35.99 a year (the description mentions a 7-day free trial) and a $19.99 one-time purchase. Accounts and profiles are managed in a Parents menu.
DragonBox Algebra: Free to start, with full access through a premium upgrade. The listed in-app purchases are Kahoot! Kids at $5.99 a month or $35.99 a year (the description mentions a 7-day free trial) and a $19.99 one-time purchase. Accounts and profiles are managed in a Parents menu.
Privacy and platforms
Tare: Data Not Collected. It has no account or analytics, opens no network connections of its own, and works fully offline. iPhone and iPad, iOS 18 or later. No words in the puzzle.
DragonBox Algebra: Data Linked to You: contact info, user content, identifiers, usage data and diagnostics, with identifiers and usage data used for analytics. iPhone and iPad, iOS 15 or later, in 13 languages.
DragonBox Algebra: Data Linked to You: contact info, user content, identifiers, usage data and diagnostics, with identifiers and usage data used for analytics. iPhone and iPad, iOS 15 or later, in 13 languages.
| Feature | Tare | DragonBox Algebra |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A logic puzzle | An educational algebra game |
| Who it's for | Any age: rated 4+, nothing to read | Recommended from age five (Algebra 2: ages 12 to 17) |
| The core idea | Weight × distance equal on both sides of every beam | Isolate the box (later x) on one side |
| The unknowns | Hidden “?” weights, deduced from picture cards | The box, which becomes x |
| Content | 200 handcrafted levels | 200 puzzles in 10 chapters, plus daily puzzles |
| Price | Free; $2.99 once for the other 180 levels | Free to start; Kahoot! Kids $5.99/month or $35.99/year; $19.99 one-time option |
| Account | None, ever | Kahoot! Kids account for profiles and subscriptions |
| App Store privacy label | Data Not Collected | Data Linked to You, incl. analytics |
| Languages | No words in the puzzle | 13 languages |
| Platforms | iPhone and iPad | iPhone and iPad |
| Best for | A calm puzzle the whole family can share | Teaching a child to solve equations |
DragonBox details were checked on 9 October 2026 against the US App Store listings for Kahoot! Algebra by DragonBox and Kahoot! Algebra 2 by DragonBox, including their release notes, in-app purchases and privacy labels. The description and the release notes describe the pricing differently, so check the current offer before installing.
Verdict: a tutor and a puzzle
Pick Tare if you want…
- A puzzle with no curriculum, symbols or score
- One balance rule, with hidden weights to deduce from picture clues
- No account, no subscription and nothing collected
- No words, so it plays the same at any age in any language
- 20 levels free, then one $2.99 purchase, with Family Sharing
Pick DragonBox Algebra if you want…
- A child learning to solve equations, from age five
- A path that ends with real equations in numbers and x
- Algebra 2 for older students, ages 12 to 17
- A Kahoot! Kids subscription that includes other learning apps
- An award-winning design from a former math teacher
If you want your child to learn algebra, DragonBox was built for exactly that, and Tare wasn't. If you want a balance puzzle the whole family can share, with no account, no subscription and nothing to read, pick Tare.
About Tare
Questions
FAQ
What is a good alternative to DragonBox Algebra?
It depends on the goal. For learning algebra, stay with DragonBox; Kahoot! Algebra 2 by DragonBox continues it for ages 12 to 17. For a balance puzzle with no account or subscription, Tare is a wordless logic puzzle for iPhone and iPad: hang weights until every beam on a mobile balances, and deduce hidden weights from picture cards. Its first 20 levels are free and one $2.99 purchase unlocks the other 180.
Does Tare teach algebra?
Not as a course, and we don't claim it does. Tare has no lessons, symbols or equations. Its rule, that a beam balances when weight times distance is equal on both sides, is the same idea as keeping both sides of an equation equal, and working out a hidden weight from picture cards is a kind of solving for an unknown. If the goal is to learn to solve equations on paper, though, DragonBox is made for exactly that.
Is DragonBox Algebra free?
Kahoot! Algebra by DragonBox is a free download, and its release notes say it is now free to start, with full access through a premium upgrade. Its App Store description still says a Kahoot! Kids subscription is required, starting with a 7-day free trial, and the in-app purchases listed are $5.99 a month, $35.99 a year and a $19.99 one-time purchase. Tare's first 20 levels stay free; one $2.99 purchase unlocks the rest.
What age is Tare for?
Tare is rated 4+ and has no words anywhere in its puzzles, so anyone who can drag a weight can start. The arithmetic is small enough to do in your head, but the later chapters ask for real deduction: mobiles with several beams that must balance at once, hidden weights, and decoys that fit nowhere. There is no timer and there are no lives.
Do I need an account for either app?
Tare never asks for one. It has no account, sign-in, ads, or analytics, it opens no network connections of its own, and its App Store label is Data Not Collected; its privacy policy has the detail. Kahoot! Algebra by DragonBox uses a Kahoot! Kids account for profiles and subscriptions, and its label lists contact info, user content, identifiers, usage data and diagnostics as data linked to you. Labels are self-reported and can change.
Who makes DragonBox and Tare?
DragonBox was created by former math teacher Jean-Baptiste Huynh, and DragonBox games were the basis of a research project at the University of Washington's Center for Game Science; the app is now published by Kahoot ASA. Tare is made by Lagerland Apps, an independent studio in Finland.
Try it
Open Tare
Two hundred hanging mobiles and one rule, with no words. Twenty levels are free, and there is no account or subscription.
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