# Recursive: Programming Puzzles — Patterns, Algorithms, Logic

> Puzzle game teaching recursion and programming logic through robot pattern completion. (iPhone/iPad app by Kidori.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/recursive-programming-puzzles/id1550504475 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Kidori](https://appshunter.io/developer/1550451304)
- Category: Games, Education, Puzzle, Strategy
- Price: $2.99 with in-app purchases (on sale, was $3.99)
- Rating: 4.90/5 from 28 App Store ratings · 7 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 14.0 · 4 MB
- Languages: American English, French (France)
- Released: 2021-01-28
- Data updated: 2026-08-29
- Monetization: paid
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/recursive-programming-puzzles/id1550504475/reviews.md

## What is Recursive?

Recursive is a puzzle game about recursion, patterns, and programming. It is the perfect game for people who love hard puzzles.

Your goal is to help little robots complete their mission and collect all gems by finding the correct pattern and translating it into a short program.

# Programming language (no prior knowledge required)

The programming language is minimalistic and easy to learn. It doesn't require any prior programming knowledge and consists of only four instructions.
- Move forward: Move one cell forward.
- Rotate left: Rotate 90° left in place.
- Rotate right: Rotate 90° right in place.
- Change color: Load a chip of a specified color and execute the instructions it contains.

And even with this simple programming language, robots can follow complex patterns thanks to the power of recursion and to other tricks that you can discover along with your progression in the game.

# Rich levels

Recursive offers a large variety of levels thanks to supporting multiple types of elements.
- Robots: They can have different colors that reflect the chip they have loaded.
- Gems: Your goal is to collect all of them.
- Bugs: They destroy robots and make them disappear.
- Chips: They make robots load a different program.
- Teleportation gates: They make robots teleport to a different location.
- Inactive robots: They are activated when touched by another robot.

# Mastering recursion

Recursion is said to be hard to understand as a famous quote attributed to Stephen Hawking says: "To understand recursion, one must first understand recursion." However, we believe that playing Recursive is another fun way to understand it or even master it.

## Key features

- Learn a simple programming language
- Solve puzzles with robots and gems
- Master recursion concepts
- Explore diverse level elements
- Challenging, hard puzzles

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: $2.99.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 10 hint credits | $0.99 | one-time |
| 20 hint credits | $1.99 | one-time |
| 40 hint credits | $2.99 | one-time |


## Recent user reviews (7 of 7)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/recursive-programming-puzzles/id1550504475/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Easy to learn but tough to ace

*2024-07-28*

Wonderful design

### 1/5 — No guide

*2024-02-02*

These is a great app for people who have a basic knowledge of algorithms. But, for the average job it’s very difficult. Specially because there is no guide to help you understand what’s going on. It would be great if there was some lessons.

**Developer response:** Reply

Thanks for your feedback. It’s unfortunate that you were not able to enjoy the game.

It is indeed much easier for programmers, but we also got feedback from non programmers who enjoyed it.

Still, we’ll try to clarify that better in the next update the difficulty level of the game and its target audience.

We’ll also improve the tutorials. And in the meanwhile, we invite you to check the additional ones at https://www.kidori.com/games/recursive/tutorials

Finally, we’ll love to hear more from you by email at hello@kidori.com to help you better understand the game mechanics or if you have any suggestions for improvements.

### 2/5 — UI responds slow

*2022-08-30*

is very cool, but the user experience seems too slow to me. I dont play too much casuse of this. But the idea is really unique

**Developer response:** Hello, and thank you for your feedback.

We have released a new version that should improve performance. So we hope that you'll be able to enjoy the game now.

If that's the case, we would appreciate it if you could change your rating of the app accordinlgy. Otherwise, we kindly invite you to contact us by email and to give us more details about the issue.

Thanks again.

### 5/5 — Finally, a real challenge.

*2022-08-12*

This is a puzzle game for those who want to expand the neural network of their brain and really think in ways that they aren’t used to. Only proceed if you are ready to challenge your mind. Developer has also been very responsive to feedback and helpful in clearing up some mechanics I was having trouble grasping at first. I love this game.

### 5/5 — 🤤

*2021-12-08*

Addictive play. Elegant design.

 I really enjoyed this game. I stared at it for hours and some of the puzzles really had me stumped, But after a day or two there would always be fresh ideas to try.  

When’s the next game coming out?🤗😵‍💫🤗🤤❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

### 5/5 — Fun!

*2021-03-08*

Really well executed concept. Simple but powerful.

### 5/5 — Great fun !

*2021-02-22*

Five stars !

## Frequently asked questions about Recursive

### What is Recursive?

Recursive is a puzzle game designed to teach recursion and programming logic. Players guide robots through levels by creating short programs using a simple, four-instruction language.

### Do I need prior programming knowledge to play Recursive?

No, prior programming knowledge is not required. The game's programming language is minimalistic and easy to learn, making it accessible to beginners.

### What kind of puzzles can I expect in Recursive?

You'll encounter challenging puzzles involving robots, gems, bugs, chips, and teleportation gates. The core mechanic revolves around finding patterns and translating them into recursive programs.

### How does Recursive help with understanding recursion?

The game provides a fun and interactive way to grasp the concept of recursion. By solving puzzles, players naturally learn to think recursively, similar to the quote attributed to Stephen Hawking.

### What devices is Recursive available on?

Recursive is available on Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod, offering cross-platform compatibility for players.

### How much does Recursive cost?

Recursive is a paid application, priced at $2.99. This one-time purchase grants access to the full game.

### Does Recursive have ads?

No, Recursive is ad-free. As a paid application, it does not contain any advertisements, ensuring an uninterrupted gaming experience.

### How often is Recursive updated?

The latest version, 1.2.0, was released on June 5, 2025. The game is actively maintained, with updates typically released to improve features and fix bugs.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.2.0 — 2025-06-05

We have improved the code editor and long-press is no longer required.

### 1.1.9 — 2022-11-27

We updated tutorials.

### 1.1.8 — 2022-11-21

- We have enabled purchasing stars which you can redeem to get hints when stuck.
- We have also fixed an issue that may cause the app to crash.

### 1.1.7 — 2021-12-10

We have removed in-app purchases. All levels remain included when the game is installed.

### 1.1.6 — 2021-03-23

We have solved an issue that may affect hints on levels with inactive robots.

## Apps similar to Recursive

| App | Rating | Price | Category |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [The Chronos Principle](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-chronos-principle/id1551295225) | 4.9 (300) | $2.99 | Games |
| [o-o-o](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/o-o-o/id6443790066) | 5.0 (3) | Free | Games |
| [Lightbot : Programming Puzzles](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lightbot-programming-puzzles/id657638474) | 4.5 (38) | $2.99 | Games |
| [Loco Looper](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/loco-looper/id1271717438) | 4.7 (110) | $4.99 | Games |
| [Stuffo the Puzzle Bot](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/stuffo-the-puzzle-bot/id6444358789) | 4.6 (40) | $4.99 | Games |
| [Sokobond](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sokobond/id1047551452) | 4.7 (17) | $5.99 | Games |

## Related topics

[programming puzzles](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/programming-puzzles) · [recursion](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/recursion)

---

*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-29.*