Comparison

Recursive vs Dark Math

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

Dark Math

A challenging math puzzle game designed to sharpen your logic and reasoning skills. Place number cards to solve equations, from simple to highly complex, with difficulty that scales to push your limits.

Highlights
  • Logic and reasoning training
  • Diverse difficulty levels
  • Equation solving puzzles
  • Number card placement gameplay
  • Suitable for all ages
Features
Read full description

"Dark Math" is a challenging math puzzle game designed to train your brain's logic and reasoning skills. Place the given number cards into empty slots to complete the equation and solve the puzzle. From simple problems like "2 + 3 = 5" to highly complex equations such as "9.64 / 4.23 + 3.11 * 1.1 - 0.5 = 6.65 / 1 - 1.43," the difficulty scales to push your limits. Game Features 1. Diverse Difficulty Levels: Start with easy puzzles, but be prepared for some challenges that might take minutes, days, or even months to solve. 2. Brain Training: Go beyond basic arithmetic with puzzles that push your logical thinking and reasoning skills to the max. 3. For All Ages: Whether you're a kid, student, professional, or senior, this game is perfect for keeping your mind sharp. How to Play Use cards with numbers and operators to fill the empty slots and complete the equation. Some puzzles are straightforward, but others involve over 20 numbers and 10 operators, requiring deep thought and careful planning. As the famous saying goes, "No pain, no gain," challenge yourself with "Dark Math" puzzles and grow your logic, reasoning, and intelligence while tackling tough equations!

Screenshots

Recursive4 screens
Dark Math4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Dark Math at Free against Recursive's $2.99. Dark Math also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 3) and review sentiment (100% vs 71%). Recursive's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (28 vs 8). On rating, update cadence, device support and iOS requirement 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

Dark Math is free to download; Recursive costs $2.99 up front. Recursive sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Dark Math asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Recursive against 4.8 for Dark Math. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 28 and 8 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 71% of Recursive's written reviews are positive against 100% of Dark Math's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Recursive versus Dark Math: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRecursiveDark Math
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.9 (28 ratings) — better4.8 (8 ratings)
Positive reviews71.4% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings28 — better8
Update frequencyEvery 4 daysEvery 4 days
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB175 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKidoriRedev Inc.

Customer experience

Recursive

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

Dark Math

All ratings8 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Recursive

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

Dark Math

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Recursive free?
Recursive costs $2.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Dark Math free?
Dark Math is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Recursive or Dark Math?
Recursive is rated higher. Recursive averages 4.9 out of 5 from 28 ratings, while Dark Math averages 4.8 from 8 ratings.
Do Recursive or Dark Math have ads?
Dark Math shows ads; Recursive does not.
Which is updated more often, Recursive or Dark Math?
Recursive ships an update every 4 days, and Dark Math every 4 days. Most recently, Recursive was updated on October 24, 2026 and Dark Math on October 25, 2026.

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