Sumaddle vs Cracking the Cryptic
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Sumaddle
This logic puzzle game transforms pencil-and-paper challenges into interactive brain teasers. Fit number combinations to clues using pure logic, with no mental arithmetic required. Enjoy over 150 free puzzles of varying difficulty, with built-in help and offline play.
- Interactive logic puzzles
- Number combination fitting
- Pure logic solving
- Built-in help and mistake correction
- Over 150 free puzzles
- Offline play
- Ad-free experience
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• “Brilliant puzzle game”, UK App Store review Apr 2025 • “Best Puzzle Game I’ve Ever Played”, US App Store review Jan 2025 • “The ONLY iOS game I've never gotten tired of”, Reddit review Apr 2024 This type of logical puzzle was first seen in the Japan Puzzle Championship 2006 and is sometimes known as Doppelblock, or Smashed Sums. When played with pencil and paper, these puzzles can be hard work to solve. Sumaddle changes that by adding the essential element of interaction. This transforms the puzzles into intriguing brain teasers that unfold before your eyes. Each puzzle has a unique solution. Finding the solution involves fitting the number combinations to the clues. The app makes it easy to view the possible combinations, you don’t need to do any sums in your head. Instead, you can focus on using logic to narrow down the combinations and find a fitting arrangement. Some reasons why you will enjoy playing Sumaddle: • puzzles range in size and difficulty from small and simple to large and mind-blowing • more than 150 puzzles are included for free • all puzzles can be solved with pure logic, no mental arithmetic required • the sophisticated built-in help can explain the logical reasoning at each step and also fix mistakes if you go wrong • the built-in help is completely free, use it as much as you like • works offline (great for long journeys) • a high standard of accessibility, including comprehensive support for VoiceOver • ad-free play - there are absolutely no ads! IGRS age rating (Indonesia Game Rating System): 3+ Designed and developed in Winterthur, Switzerland
Cracking the Cryptic
This app offers a curated collection of handcrafted Sudoku puzzles from world-renowned constructors. Explore classic and unique variants, with new puzzle packs released regularly. A free introductory pack is included with download.
- Handcrafted Sudoku puzzles
- Curated by expert constructors
- Classic and unique variants
- Regularly released puzzle packs
- Free introductory puzzle pack
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OUR NEWEST PACK – CLASSIC VOLUME #2! Classic sudoku is where it all began, and there is still lots of skill to be deployed to solve classic puzzles, and new techniques to be explored. Nikoli, the Japanese puzzle house, named and popularised sudoku from 1984, and we have commissioned 20 puzzles from them for this Classic Sudoku 2 app. We have also created 20 ourselves, and sourced 20 more from Sam Cappleman-Lynes, the brilliant British sudoku expert. The result is a wonderful 60-puzzle pack which will delight and challenge you. -------------------- Welcome to the brand new Sudoku app from the most popular Sudoku channel, Cracking The Cryptic. Unlike other Sudoku apps, we feature handcrafted and curated puzzles from the world’s best Sudoku constructors. Each collection features puzzles made by various authors that are now familiar names to those who follow the channel. Authors like Phistomefel, Clover, Sam Cappleman-Lynes, Christoph Seeliger, Richard Stolk, jovi_al, Qodec, Prasanna Seshadri and of course, Simon and Mark! Downloading Cracking the Cryptic will give you access to our first free collection – a variety pack by Prasanna Seshadri featuring 7 puzzles inspired from our previous Sudoku apps; Sandwich, Classic, Chess, Thermo, Miracle, Killer and Arrow Sudoku. We also have purchasable packs designed for all skill levels and featuring many unique variants not seen previously. We’ll be releasing more free and paid packs in the future so keep an eye on the app for more Sudoku content from Cracking The Cryptic!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Sumaddle at 4.9 against Cracking the Cryptic's 4.4. Sumaddle also leads on review sentiment (95% vs 72%) and ratings volume (767 vs 208). Cracking the Cryptic's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Sumaddle sells 15 one-off in-app purchases and Cracking the Cryptic sells 13 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Sumaddle holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 767 and 208 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 95% of Sumaddle's written reviews are positive against 72% of Cracking the Cryptic's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on September 21, 2026.
| Parameter | Sumaddle | Cracking the Cryptic |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (767 ratings) — better | 4.4 (208 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 94.9% of reviews — better | 72.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 767 — better | 208 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 30 MB | 234 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jonathan Buchanan | Nick Carney |
Customer experience
Sumaddle
Cracking the Cryptic
User reviews
Sumaddle
From 767 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Fun and challenging game
- 👍 Clean and intuitive interface
- 👍 Helpful hint system
- 🚀 No ads or data collection
- 💡 Unique puzzle concept
Room to improve
- 🐛 Automatic hints can be intrusive
- 🐛 Inability to replay completed puzzles
- 💡 Need more free/sample puzzles
- 💡 Difficulty progression could be improved
Cracking the Cryptic
From 208 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Best sudoku app
- 👍 Great variety of puzzles
- 👍 Excellent user interface
- 👍 Challenging and fun puzzles
- 👍 Constant updates with new puzzles
Room to improve
- 🐛 Hints are often incorrect or unhelpful
- 🐛 Bugs and crashes, especially after updates
- 🔋 Battery draining issues
- 🔒 Too many in-app purchases required to access content
Bugs and requests
Sumaddle
Reported bugs
2 issues- Losing progress when minimizing the app
- Inconsistent difficulty ratings
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to selectively pencil in notes
- More difficult puzzle options
- Synced progress across devices
- Detailed statistics and leaderboard
Cracking the Cryptic
Reported bugs
4 issues- Puzzle progress and purchases disappearing after updates
- Incorrect rules or hints in certain puzzles
- Crashes and freezes, especially on older devices or Macs
- Inconsistent behavior when switching between portrait and landscape modes
Requested features
5 requests- Add more color options for pencil marking and highlighting
- Implement a way to clear progress or start puzzles from scratch
- Integrate all CTC apps into a single app for better organization
- Add keyboard support, especially on Mac
- Improve the quality and clarity of hints
In-app purchases
Sumaddle
- Quirky, Pack 5$0.99
- Very Difficult Puzzles$0.99
- Quirky, Pack 1$0.99
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- Premium 9x9 Puzzles, Pack 1$0.99
- Crafty, Pack 1$0.99
- Crafty, Pack 2$0.99
- Crafty, Pack 3$0.99
- Sneaky, Pack 1$0.99
- Sneaky, Pack 2$0.99
- Sneaky, Pack 3$0.99
- Tricky, Pack 1$0.99
- Tricky, Pack 2$0.99
- Tricky, Pack 3$0.99
- Assorted Puzzles$0.99
- Puzzle Generator$9.99
Cracking the Cryptic
- CTC Worms - James Sinclair$0.99
- CTC Worms - Marty Sears$0.99
- CTC Worms - Zetamath$1.99
Show 10 moreShow fewer
- CTC Worms - Blobz$1.99
- CTC Worms - Michael Lefkowitz$1.99
- CTC Worms - Phistomefel$1.99
- GAS Volume #1$2.99
- GAS Volume #2$2.99
- CTC Approachable Sudoku #1$2.99
- Domino Sudoku Pack$4.99
- Lines Variety Pack$4.99
- Classic Volume #2$4.99
- CTC Fog Pack #1$4.99
Questions
Is Sumaddle free?
Is Cracking the Cryptic free?
Which has better reviews, Sumaddle or Cracking the Cryptic?
Do Sumaddle or Cracking the Cryptic have ads?
Which is updated more often, Sumaddle or Cracking the Cryptic?
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