Exception; vs Recursive
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Exception;
Engage in a unique single-player game where you program AI units to overcome challenges and defeat enemies in a virtual world. Strategize and code different unit types to progress through levels and uncover the secrets of a seemingly perfect system.
- AI programming gameplay
- Strategic unit control
- Challenging single-player levels
- Virtual world exploration
- Uncover system secrets
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Exception is a game about AI programming. During the game, the player assists the units to defeat their enemies in the virtual world. However, the player needs to control the units by programming instead of controlling them directly. This is a challenging single-player game. In each level, the player needs to think about the strategy and program the units accordingly. The player needs to program different types of units to beat the level. ************************** In a virtual world where everything operates steadily under an omnipotent system, you will play the role of an operator named 159, who oversees and maintains the system. Nevertheless, there is no perfect system. You find an exception in the program one day. What is stranger is that the program made a request… You will discover the secret underneath this cyber world. ************************** [LEVEL SOLUTION] [WHEN] Success Rate = 100% [DO] Next level :D [WHEN] Success Rate ≠ 100% [DO] Optimize it :3 [/LEVEL SOLUTION] ************************** Contact us:support@kunpo.cc [Code monkeys change the world]
Recursive
A challenging puzzle game where you guide robots to collect gems by creating simple programs. Master recursion and logic with a minimalistic, easy-to-learn language and diverse level elements.
- Learn a simple programming language
- Solve puzzles with robots and gems
- Master recursion concepts
- Explore diverse level elements
- Challenging, hard puzzles
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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.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Exception; at none against Recursive's 3. Exception; also leads on ratings volume (2.7K vs 28) and chart position (#196 vs unranked). Recursive's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs fortnightly). On price, rating, ads and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Exception; costs $2.99 and Recursive $2.99 up front. Recursive sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Exception; asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Exception; against 4.9 for Recursive. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Exception; has 2.7K ratings behind it against 28, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 82% of Exception;'s written reviews are positive against 71% of Recursive's.
Exception; ships an update fortnightly, Recursive every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Exception; | Recursive |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | $2.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (2.7K ratings) | 4.9 (28 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 82.1% of reviews — better | 71.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2.7K — better | 28 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #196 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 14.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 79 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kunpo | Kidori |
Customer experience
Exception;
Recursive
Bugs and requests
Exception;
Reported bugs
2 issues- Bots not responding to commands as expected
- Scripting errors when retreating
Requested features
4 requests- Sandbox mode to create custom levels
- Hint system for difficult levels
- Ability to sync progress across devices
- Multiplayer or co-op modes
Recursive
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Exception;
No in-app purchases
Recursive
- 10 hint credits$0.99
- 20 hint credits$1.99
- 40 hint credits$2.99









