# Sandwich Sudoku — user reviews > 58 indexed App Store user reviews of Sandwich Sudoku by Nick Carney, rated 4.90/5 from 128 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sandwich-sudoku/id1476116705/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sandwich-sudoku/id1476116705.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 118 · 4★ 8 · 3★ 0 · 2★ 0 · 1★ 2 ## What do users think of Sandwich Sudoku? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 👍 Excellent, handcrafted puzzles - 👍 Intuitive and functional tools - 👍 Great variety of difficulty - 👍 Satisfying gameplay experience - 👍 Clean and polished UI - 👍 Good value for money - 👍 Helpful hints and guidance - 👍 Supports multiple notation types **Cons** - 🐛 App freezes and loses progress - 🐛 Battery drains quickly - 🐛 UI can be confusing/tedious - 🐛 Hints are sometimes cryptic/unclear - 🐛 Puzzles not always unlocked in order - 🐛 Lack of puzzle sorting/difficulty indication - 🐛 Fixed list of puzzles, no new ones - 🐛 Non-unique puzzle solutions found - 🐛 Automatic deletion of 'possibles' is disliked - 🐛 Corner/center pencil marks behave the same **Commonly reported bugs** - App freezes and loses progress - Game progress not shared across devices - Forces single orientation on iPad - Update makes things frustrating (welcome message, hint messages) - Landscape mode UI resizing issues - Drains battery massively - Fixed list of puzzles, no new ones - Non-unique solutions found **Most requested features** - Bookmark latest puzzles - Separate corner and center pencil marks - Option to turn off automatic deletion of 'possibles' - Explanation for random numbers in circles - Sort puzzles by difficulty - Unlock puzzles in difficulty order - Sync progress across devices (iCloud/similar) - Dark mode - Resume last puzzle feature - Landscape mode for iPad - Apple Pencil support for writing in squares - Detailed step-by-step walkthroughs for hints - Add traditional Sudoku mode - Moveable hint/number guide windows - Reset puzzle records - In-app purchase for more puzzles - Time comparison to other players - Button to show options outside sandwich totals - Video tutorial for UI - Horizontal play on iPad with controls offset - More color schemes - Buttons divided between actions, modes, and objects ## Newest reviews (12 of 58) ### 4/5 — Good stuff… *2026-03-08* …but I wish I could bookmark my latest puzzle(s?). I’ve asked twice, and I see others have too — it’s a shame there has been no response. ### 4/5 — I’m hooked! *2023-04-24* I’m spending way too much time on these, but having a blast! I wish the corner and center pencil marks were separate like they are on classic sudoku app. In this app, if you change one, the other changes too. Might as well not pretend they have different functions. ### 4/5 — Hints are sometimes more cryptic than the puzzles *2021-02-23* I have been enjoying this and other Sudoku apps by this maker. However, sometimes when I get stuck and look at the hints, the hint is not explained well. Can’t get past the hint let alone the puzzle unless I just accept the ultimate result of the hint (i.e. the stated hint result is to place a specific number in rXcY). I understand there are word space limitations, but I suggest improvements in the hints as this is a way of learning. Also, the game does NOT identify what level you are in after you initially select a level or when closing. So when you stop and want to come back to it, what level/game were you on? There is no indication such as “do you want to continue with...” or icon depicting a partially completed puzzles. Frustrating. ### 4/5 — GREAT Puzzles, Poor Interface *2020-07-22, version 2.7* After discovering Cracking the Cryptic on YouTube recently, I went on a sudoku binge. They completely renewed my puzzle passion and I learned a ton of new tricks for expert puzzles. So I was easily able to justify spending $5 on their app to support them. Like the headline says, it has incredible puzzles! I really enjoy the challenges and the fresh feel to them. My biggest complaint is the interface and the hints. For comparison: the sudoku.com app has a MUCH better hint system. I actually learned some new logic processing from it. This app is wordy and doesn’t “show” hints that apply to your specific notes. And I wish I could press-and-hold a number to “lock” it (also like the other app) If they could incorporate a better hint system and better entry (instead of opening the menu, toggling, exiting) it would be a flawless app! ### 4/5 — Good, but could be better *2020-05-28* The games are really good and get progressively harder. Portrait mode on iPad is cumbersome, please allow landscape. (If coded in Swift, fairly easy to do). Disappointed that iPad and iPhone are not kept in synch. I got through several games on iPad then went to iPhone and had to start from level 1 again. While we’re waiting for synch, please remove the lock so that I can at least choose which game I want to play on either device without having to work through them all again. Locking levels is no benefit. Also, 5 in corner pencil looks the same as 5 in the other pencil mode so please apply different styling eg colour or font style. ### 4/5 — Great content, with a decent UI *2020-05-18* What sets this apart from other apps is the fact that the puzzles have an intended logic path and the hint system helps guide you along that path, rather than giving you the contents of a random cell. The app is only let down by some missing basic features, such as “resume last puzzle” and a dark mode. But on the whole, well worth the purchase ### 5/5 — Nice *2020-04-17* awesome app, thank you ### 5/5 — Fantastic *2020-03-24, version 2.3* Excellently written puzzles, nice interface, and very helpful support! ### 5/5 — Loving it so far *2020-03-13* Enjoying the gradual difficulty bump. A couple things I would love to see added: 1. iCloud sync or something similar to sync levels between devices 2. Apple Pencil support on iPad so I can write in the squares rather than having to tap the numbers ### 5/5 — Great App *2020-03-04* Even with out handcrafted and absolutely brilliant puzzles, the user interface of the app already makes it the best sudoku out there. I find myself looking forward to the beginning of each month to get the newest puzzles. I highly recommend ### 5/5 — Great App *2020-02-16* The app is great. I love the different puzzles. There’s just enough of a grind to keep you from skipping puzzles, but not so much it gets tedious. I really find that tapping on the sandwich totals is helpful. You should consider adding a way to see the options outside the sandwich. For instance, if it’s 23, have a button to show options for 12 as well. ### 4/5 — Great, but drains battery fast! *2020-01-15, version 2* This app is great. I found it through their YouTube channel and I’m pleased with it. But, I believe it suffers from the same things a lot of unity engine apps do, in that it drains the battery really quickly. Often because the frame rate is not capped and it uses way more resources than it should. A basically static display shouldn’t use many resources at all. Fix that and it’d be 5 stars. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Non unique solutions *2026-03-07* I have found two puzzles with non unique solutions. I really hate this. I have ADHD and can get quite obsessive. Puzzles that don’t work are actually painful for me. It’s actually really irresponsible to release puzzles like this. ### 1/5 — Not Worth It *2022-10-24, version 3* There’s a fixed list of puzzles that don’t seem to be in any particular order, so there’s no way to set up a difficulty or do new puzzles. The interface is completely inscrutable; just a bunch of unlabeled buttons with meaningless symbols. This is clearly a quickly hacked together Unity project meant to make a quick buck. ### 1/5 — Renewed my interest in Sudoku *2020-06-01* Recently been watching Cracking the Cryptic videos and was very pleased to learn about the multiple variations on the game. Sandwich being one. Really enjoy the app. Definitely challenging enough. Plan to replay levels at least a second time to see if I can beat past times. Hoping to see other variations as well in the future. If you love Sudoku, definitely give this well-made app a strong look. Edit: Removed a couple stars since game progress not shared across devices. And on iPad, it forces you to only play in a single orientation. Removed another star as the update makes things frustrating. For example, if you hop into settings, then go back, the welcome message pops up. Hint messages also come up automatically. Wish there was a way to turn that off. Still cannot share game state between devices. Removed yet another star. Your implementation of Landscape mode was to literally just resize the UI to fit? And now have buttons very small or UI in the unsafe areas on iPhone X or 11? Fun concept of a game but absolutely horrible app experience. Drains battery massively as well even with the so-called battery saver app. Now deleting this app. No response from Cracking the Cryptic on all the issues first reported months ago. Also, not going to purchase any other titles since they will suffer the same horrible experience. Tip: rewrite the app to have a great iOS experience and I’ll return as a customer. ### 1/5 — Draining battery *2020-05-31* I really enjoy the game but it seems to drain my battery whenever I play it. I feel it’s damaged the battery quite a lot since I’ve had the game and is most probably the cause for my battery now being severely degraded (it caused this to a 9 month old phone). I’m happy to share screenshots of my battery draining during usage. Please advise if there are any settings I can change to stop this from happening or update the app so it is less power hungry. I’ve already turned mobile data off so it’s not that. ### 1/5 — Not what I expected. *2019-09-17* I thought I was purchasing an app that would allow me to enter the starting point of a puzzle and then solve it along the lines of the app that’s use in the YouTube videos. Disappointed. Can I have a refund please? ### 2/5 — Pleeeease add landscape *2020-03-22* Please also add a landscape mode for iPad, so I can use this app while traveling. ### 3/5 — Too easy, little variety *2022-05-06* I really enjoy the Cracking the Cryptic YouTube channel, and I’ve enjoyed playing several of their apps on iPhone from the App Store too. However this app isn’t one of the better ones. There’s some basic problems such as the inability to sort the puzzles by difficulty, and the puzzles not being unlocked in difficulty order - meaning you need to play puzzles that are far easier than the last one you did, rather than progressing smoothly in difficulty - but the main issue is that the puzzles are all simply too easy and with little variety. Once you learn a couple of simple “tricks” they are simply repetitive. I enjoyed the miracle sudoku and killer sudoku apps more, I feel they had more variety and were more challenging also ### 3/5 — Tedious UI *2021-11-25* Great game and lots of awesome puzzles, but the UI is pretty painful to use. God forbid you forget which puzzle you were working on because each time you open the app it just brings you to the entire list and doesn’t highlight the ones you’ve started versus the ones you’ve completed. Kind of painful. ### 3/5 — Puzzles are great, but app freezes *2020-12-03* The app keeps freezing and losing my progress in a puzzle so I have to start it again! Otherwise the puzzles and hints are excellent, and the functions are very good (two types of notation, highlighting, etc). ### 3/5 — Expensive for only 45 games *2019-10-11* The app SudokuKiller has much better layout. You cannot move the list of possibilities for a particular sum. Unfortunately I’ve now done all 45 puzzles and may try them again in a year to see if I do better or worse times. Could you not have an in app purchase of more puzzles? Ability to syncing between devices (mentioned in other reviews, but also a problem with SudokuKiller) would be nice. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Very good puzzles *2023-01-07* Bit late to this but I have only just discovered the Sandwich Sudoko variant so very happy to have found this app. Excellent puzzles however I dislike the way it automatically deletes my other “possibles” in the region/line etc when I place a definite number. It very often impacts on other decisions so prefer to review and erase myself, as with pencil and paper. Is there a way to turn this feature off? Also what do the random numbers in circles under the puzzle number on the menu page mean? Can’t find any explanation anywhere. Other than that I am really enjoying the puzzles and format. ### 5/5 — Give us more puzzles!! *2022-07-05* The mechanics of this app are beyond fantastic. The puzzles range from rudimentary to challenging. The array of settings provided are plentiful to accommodate any sudoku solver’s needs. I hope they some day create a sequel to the Sandwich Sudoku app!!! I tried the chess sudoku and was let down in comparison. I find this style more rooted in deduction based reasoning and critical thinking when comparing the two. ### 5/5 — Very fun and easy to use *2020-10-01* I have every one of these apps by cracking the cryptic and I gotta say this is my all time favourite version of sudoku to play. They are a great balance of challenging and satisfying making you work for but not have to fight for every next step or clue. It also comes together and concludes is a really satisfying way overall great experience and app ### 5/5 — Love all their sudoku apps *2020-09-02* Just finished all the puzzles. It is a lovely relaxing, and challenging, activity to pick one of the puzzles and work on it in the evening. I found a few quite tough - and had to laboriously try multiple paths, eliminating them one by one. So it was rewarding and good value for money to get a few weeks of challenging entertainment. The same clean interface as the rest of their apps. The tips, if you want to use them, are a bit difficult to understand - maybe they could be highlighted on the screen. Overall: very good and quite enjoyable. ### 5/5 — génial *2020-07-20* cette application correspond exactement à la description et présente un grand nombre de niveau (plus de 100). Les indices sont super bien rédigés de telle sorte que l’on ne reste jamais bloqué trop longtemps. C’est tout simplement la meilleure application pour les personnes fan de sudoku mais qui en ont marre des sudoku classiques générés par des ordinateurs et donc très peu amusant. Je recommande vivement ### 5/5 — Fun and challenging *2020-06-23* I’ve been playing a normal sudoku app for a while and got pretty bored of the puzzles. These are so challenging and so much fun. They are also fun to play again and again as you learn different strategies. I also love the interface compared to other sudoku apps. It’s really easy to use once you get the hang of it! Worth the money! ### 5/5 — Everything you would want from a sudoku app *2020-06-15* I would give $5 bucks and get nothing in return just to support CTC, so maybe I am a bit biased. With that said, the controls are super easy to use, the premise is explained well, and hints follow a natural progression to guide you through if you need it. Along with the tons of levels of various difficulties, the amount of gameplay options you have to fine tune it to your skill level is insane. Can’t wait to grind through the rest of these levels. ### 5/5 — Great puzzles! *2020-06-10* I don’t rate many apps, but this app will become an exception for me. This app is fantastic and will capture Sudoku fans interest for hours. The puzzles are intuitive and all contain a logical process compared to standard computer generated Sudoku puzzles. Well done. ### 5/5 — Loving this *2020-05-31* I have been in a bit of a drag with normal Sudokus, but these manage to break the mold. The personal touch can be felt in each and every one of them. The only minor thing I could think to improve, is a possibility to sync between devices. I know, however that this has it’s own complications with servers and the sort, so it’s only a minor gripe. ### 5/5 — Fantastic puzzles *2020-04-29* I absolutely love your handcrafted puzzles. Unlike a random computer generated one, there is always a fairly intuitive way of moving the puzzle forward. Feature suggestions: - iPad rotate option. Portrait mode on a 12.9” device is very impractical - make the combination window movable, so it doesn’t cover the screen. --- *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 2026-08-31.*