Comparison

Recursive vs World of Goo 2

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

World of Goo 2

Build intricate structures and solve physics-based puzzles using a variety of unique Goo creatures. Explore a new story across numerous levels, encountering new Goo types with special abilities. Collect Goo to uncover the mysteries of a seemingly benevolent corporation.

Highlights
  • Build bridges and towers
  • Terraform terrain
  • Fuel flying machines
  • Realistic flowing liquid physics
  • Discover new Goo species
  • Solve physics puzzles
  • Explore new story and levels
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Build bridges, grow towers, terraform terrain, and fuel flying machines in the stunning followup to the multi-award winning World of Goo. Discover realistic flowing, splashing, viscous liquid. Route the flow of liquid like a river, convert it into Goo Balls, extinguish fires, and solve puzzles. WHAT STRANGE NEW CREATURES! Discover new species of Goo: Jelly Goo, Liquid Launchers, Growing Goo, Shrinking Goo, Explosive Goo, and more. All with mysterious new properties. IT SOUNDS LIKE… World of Goo 2 has dozens of new musical tracks in a beautiful and haunting new soundtrack. WELCOME TO… A thrilling new story to explore over the course of 5 new chapters, bursting with over 60 new levels, each featuring additional challenges. YOU ARE NOT ALONE... A powerful company has re-branded as an environmentally friendly, sustainable, green, clean, Goo processing non-profit.Help them collect as much Goo as possible. But what do they really want? Explore a new story spanning hundreds of thousands of years and watch the world change. LET’S SEE WHAT HAPPENS THIS TIME. Be careful! The world is beautiful, but it is dangerous. Guide as many Goo Balls into the exit pipe of each area as you can. ...but what's on the other end of the pipe?

Screenshots

Recursive4 screens
World of Goo 24 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Recursive at 4.9 against World of Goo 2's 4.0. Recursive also leads on price ($2.99 vs $9.99) and update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 weeks). World of Goo 2's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and chart position (#99 vs unranked). On ratings volume, 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 World of Goo 2 $9.99 up front. Recursive sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. World of Goo 2 asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Recursive holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 28 and 54 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of Recursive's written reviews are positive against 59% of World of Goo 2's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Recursive ships an update every 4 days, World of Goo 2 every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Recursive versus World of Goo 2: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRecursiveWorld of Goo 2
Price$2.99 — better$9.99
Rating4.9 (28 ratings) — better4.0 (54 ratings)
Positive reviews71.4% of reviews — better58.6% of reviews
Number of ratings2854 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank—#99 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS14.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB472 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperKidori2D BOY

Customer experience

Recursive

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

World of Goo 2

All ratings50 ratings
Positive72.0%
Neutral8.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews58 reviews
Positive58.6%
Neutral10.3%
Negative31.0%

Bugs and requests

Recursive

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

World of Goo 2

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Crashes on level 3
  • Game freezing and lagging

Requested features

2 requests
  • Option to turn off sound/music
  • More tutorial and onboarding for new players

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Recursive

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

World of Goo 2

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Recursive free?
Recursive costs $2.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is World of Goo 2 free?
World of Goo 2 costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Recursive or World of Goo 2?
Recursive is rated higher. Recursive averages 4.9 out of 5 from 28 ratings, while World of Goo 2 averages 4.0 from 54 ratings.
Do Recursive or World of Goo 2 have ads?
Neither Recursive nor World of Goo 2 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Recursive or World of Goo 2?
Recursive ships an update every 4 days, and World of Goo 2 every 2 weeks. Most recently, Recursive was updated on November 3, 2026 and World of Goo 2 on November 8, 2026.

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