Support
Need a hand? Email jeff@macktoys.com and tell us which device, and what happened. A real person at Mack Toys reads every message.
Unlocking packs and add-ons
Swipe the spaceship’s map to the left (or tap the arrow) to fly further out. Its first two pages of worlds, Close to Home (Earth, the Moon, Mars and the Sun) and Farther Out (Pluto, the Happy Asteroid, the Nebula and planet Bork), are free. The next three, Deep Space, Moons and Mysteries and Nearby Stars, show their worlds padlocked until a grown-up unlocks them: tap Unlock for that page’s pack ($1.99) or All for All of Space, all three packs ($4.99), answer the grown-up question, and the store takes it from there.
The add-ons are in the shop, the shopping bag on the spaceship’s map: Space Gear, Galaxy Fur & Star Rooms, Rocket Toys & Space Snacks and Alien Pets, $0.99 each, or all four in the Space Kit for $2.99. A padlocked look in the maker or at a mirror opens the shop on its own pack. Alien pets are aliens, so like every alien they appear only on the spaceship and in the far places beyond our Sun.
Restoring purchases
Packs are one-time purchases that belong to the store account you bought them with. The app asks the store what you own every time it opens, so packs come back on their own on a new device signed in to the same account. To check by hand, tap the padlock button at the bottom left of a locked page of the spaceship’s map (it asks a grown-up question first) and choose Restore Purchases.
Refunds
Purchases are handled by the store, so refunds are too: use reportaproblem.apple.com for the App Store, your Google Play order history for Google Play, or your Amazon account's digital orders for the Amazon Appstore.
Where did our game go?
Everything your child makes is saved only on the device, never online. Deleting the app deletes the save, and saves don’t move between devices. Mackaboo Universe and Mackaboo Worlds keep separate saves.
Privacy
No ads, no accounts, no tracking, nothing about your child leaves the device. Read the full privacy policy.
Questions parents ask
What ages is Mackaboo Universe for?
Young children, roughly ages 3 to 8. Very little reading is needed: everything is a toy to tap, drag and play with, so little ones can play on their own and grown-ups can play along.
Does Mackaboo Universe have ads?
No. There are no ads of any kind, now or later.
Does it collect any data about my child?
No. There are no accounts, no analytics and no tracking, and nothing about your child leaves the device. See the privacy policy for details.
Is it free?
Yes. The spaceship, Earth, the Moon, Mars, the Sun, Pluto, the Happy Asteroid, the Nebula and planet Bork are free: 38 places to play in. Deep Space, Moons and Mysteries and Nearby Stars, four worlds each, are optional one-time packs at $1.99 each, or $4.99 for all three together (All of Space). Four add-ons (Space Gear, Galaxy Fur & Star Rooms, Rocket Toys & Space Snacks and Alien Pets) are $0.99 each, or $2.99 for all four in the Space Kit. There are no subscriptions, and every purchase sits behind a grown-up question.
Is it educational?
Gently. Papaboo, who guides the crew, tells a true fact about every world now and then: why Mars is red, what Pluto’s heart is made of, why a comet’s tail points away from the Sun, how long a year lasts on a planet round another star. The real places are drawn to show their facts: Saturn behind Titan’s haze, Europa’s cracked ice, three shadows under Gliese 667 Cc’s three suns.
Are there aliens? Are they scary?
There are friendly aliens, never scary, and never in our own solar system: they live only far beyond our Sun, in the Nebula, on planet Bork, at Betelgeuse and the Black Hole, and on the real planets round other stars, and they can ride the spaceship home with the crew.
Does it work offline?
Yes. Everything plays offline and is saved exactly where it was left.
Which devices can play it?
iPhone and iPad from the App Store, Android phones, tablets and foldables from Google Play, and Amazon Fire tablets from the Amazon Appstore. On a folding phone like the iPhone Duo or a Pixel Fold, the buttons stay off the fold whether it is open like a book or standing like a laptop.
Can my family share packs?
On Apple devices, packs work on every device signed in to your Apple Account and, with Family Sharing on, for everyone in your family. On Google Play and the Amazon Appstore, packs belong to the account that bought them and come back on any device signed in to it.
How is it different from Mackaboo Worlds?
Mackaboo Universe is its own app, with its own save: the same eight friends, now flying a spaceship from world to world. Mackaboo Worlds, at mackaboo.com, is the dollhouse town game they come from.