Comparison

Recursive vs Stuffo the Puzzle Bot

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Learn a simple programming language
  • Solve puzzles with robots and gems
  • Master recursion concepts
  • Explore diverse level elements
  • Challenging, hard puzzles
Read full description

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.

About

Stuffo the Puzzle Bot

Guide a lonely puzzle bot through a world of challenging logic puzzles. Use blocks to climb, push, and teleport to reach the exit in this brain-testing, yet relaxed, game.

Highlights
  • Logic puzzle gameplay
  • Block manipulation (climb, push, teleport)
  • 65 challenging levels
  • Relaxed atmosphere
  • Original soundtrack
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

"Stuffo the Puzzle Bot fires on pretty much every cylinder, so if you’re a fan of logic-style puzzles that will really test your grey matter it’s an effortless recommendation." - TouchArcade Game of the Week Stuffo is the last remaining puzzle bot stuck in a world filled with bite-sized brain-teasers. Help Stuffo to solve the mind-bending puzzles by using various blocks to climb, push and teleport your way to the exit. Key Features - Approachable yet smart puzzle gameplay. - 65 levels with more to come! - A laid-back experience that challenges your brain, not your reflexes. - Chill out to the deep downtempo beats and ambient atmosphere of the original soundtrack. About the Developer Hapatus is the creative outlet for solo projects of Antti Tiihonen. He is one of the masterminds behind Legend of Grimrock -series of dungeon crawling RPGs where he created tons of puzzles, levels, game design, audio and graphics as a warmup excercise for Stuffo ;). He has also worked on titles such as Noita, Control, Alan Wake and Druidstone.

Screenshots

Recursive4 screens
Stuffo the Puzzle Bot4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Stuffo the Puzzle Bot at none against Recursive's 3. Stuffo the Puzzle Bot also leads on review sentiment (88% vs 71%) and chart position (#196 vs unranked). Recursive's advantage is rating (4.9 vs 4.6) and price ($2.99 vs $4.99). On ratings volume, update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Recursive costs $2.99 and Stuffo the Puzzle Bot $4.99 up front. Recursive sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Stuffo the Puzzle Bot asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Recursive holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 28 and 40 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 71% of Recursive's written reviews are positive against 88% of Stuffo the Puzzle Bot's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Recursive ships an update every 4 days, Stuffo the Puzzle Bot weekly. The most recent releases landed on August 29, 2026 and September 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Recursive versus Stuffo the Puzzle Bot: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRecursiveStuffo the Puzzle Bot
Price$2.99 — better$4.99
Rating4.9 (28 ratings) — better4.6 (40 ratings)
Positive reviews71.4% of reviews88.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2840 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank—#196 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB138 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKidoriHapatus Oy

Customer experience

Recursive

All ratings28 ratings
Positive96.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive71.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative28.6%

Stuffo the Puzzle Bot

All ratings40 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive88.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative12.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Recursive

One-time3
  • 10 hint credits$0.99
  • 20 hint credits$1.99
  • 40 hint credits$2.99
None

Stuffo the Puzzle Bot

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Recursive free?
Recursive costs $2.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Stuffo the Puzzle Bot free?
Stuffo the Puzzle Bot costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Recursive or Stuffo the Puzzle Bot?
Recursive is rated higher. Recursive averages 4.9 out of 5 from 28 ratings, while Stuffo the Puzzle Bot averages 4.6 from 40 ratings.
Do Recursive or Stuffo the Puzzle Bot have ads?
Neither Recursive nor Stuffo the Puzzle Bot shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Recursive or Stuffo the Puzzle Bot?
Recursive ships an update every 4 days, and Stuffo the Puzzle Bot weekly. Most recently, Recursive was updated on August 29, 2026 and Stuffo the Puzzle Bot on September 18, 2026.

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