Comparison

Sumaddle vs Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Interactive logic puzzles
  • Number combination fitting
  • Pure logic solving
  • Built-in help and mistake correction
  • Over 150 free puzzles
  • Offline play
  • Ad-free experience
Features
Read full description

• “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

About

Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles

This logic puzzle game challenges you to fill a grid with stars, ensuring no two stars touch, even diagonally. It offers daily and weekly challenges with varying difficulty levels and tracks your progress.

Highlights
  • Daily puzzle challenges
  • Leaderboards for competitive play
  • Weekly challenges for advanced players
  • Multiple difficulty levels
  • Puzzle packs for beginners
  • Solving strategy guide
  • Player stats and progress tracking
Features
Read full description

Hoshi (星, Japanese for star) is a free and competitive Star Battle game with daily challenges. Star Battle, also known as "Two Not Touch", is a classic pen-and-paper logic puzzle published in newspapers and puzzle magazines worldwide. If you enjoy playing tricky puzzles and brain-teasing games and seek a new challenge, then you should give Hoshi a try. If you have never played the Star Battle logic game before, don’t worry the rules are straight forward: Similar to other logic puzzles you have a grid that you need to fill. In a normal 2 star “Two Not Touch” game each row, column, and region must have exactly 2 stars. Stars are not allowed to touch, even not diagonally. Hoshi includes Star Battles with 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 stars, but games with more stars are yet to come ;) Hoshi offers you: - Everyday we release a new number game (daily puzzle challenge) - Track your solving time and compete against other players (leaderboards) - There is also a weekly challenge for geniuses (3 star plus games) - There are 5 different difficulties (easy to diabolical) - Packs with hand-selected logic puzzle (e.g. for beginners) - Guide with solving strategies - Profile with stats about your skill level & progress Coming soon: - Add your friends and play with them a numbers puzzle - Star Battle games with more than 5 stars Privacy policy: https://guriddo.app/hoshi/legal/privacy Terms of use: https://guriddo.app/hoshi/legal/tos

Screenshots

Sumaddle3 screens
Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Sumaddle at 95% against Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles's 59%. Sumaddle also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (4.9 vs 4.7). On price, ratings volume, update cadence 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Sumaddle sells 15 one-off in-app purchases and Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles sells 30 in-app purchases, starting at $0.79 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sumaddle holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 767 and 263 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 95% of Sumaddle's written reviews are positive against 59% of Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sumaddle ships an update every 3 weeks, Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Sumaddle versus Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSumaddleStar Battle Hoshi Puzzles
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (767 ratings) — better4.7 (263 ratings)
Positive reviews94.9% of reviews — better59.1% of reviews
Number of ratings767 — better263
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size30 MB75 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperJonathan BuchananSimon Schuster

Customer experience

Sumaddle

All ratings767 ratings
Positive98.3%
Neutral0.7%
Negative1.0%
Written reviews98 reviews
Positive94.9%
Neutral1.0%
Negative4.1%

Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles

All ratings263 ratings
Positive93.2%
Neutral3.8%
Negative3.0%
Written reviews44 reviews
Positive59.1%
Neutral11.4%
Negative29.5%

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

Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

15 purchases

Sumaddle

One-time15
  • Quirky, Pack 5$0.99
  • Very Difficult Puzzles$0.99
  • Quirky, Pack 1$0.99
Show 12 more
  • 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
30 purchases

Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles

Subscriptions3
  • Supporter (Weekly)$0.797 Days
  • Supporter (Monthly)$2.491 Month
  • Supporter (Annual)$14.991 Year
One-time27
  • Beginner Pack 8$0.99
  • Beginner Pack 10$0.99
  • Beginner Pack 14$0.99
Show 24 more
  • Beginner Pack 12$0.99
  • Beginner Pack 11$0.99
  • Beginner Pack 9$1.99
  • Beginner Pack 6$1.99
  • Beginner Pack 3$1.99
  • Beginner Pack 5$1.99
  • Beginner Pack 4$1.99
  • Beginner Pack 7$1.99
  • Expert Pack 7$1.99
  • Expert Pack 6$1.99
  • Advanced Pack 6$1.99
  • Expert Pack 5$2.99
  • Advanced Pack 5$2.99
  • Advanced Pack 8$2.99
  • Advanced Pack 4$2.99
  • Expert Pack 4$2.99
  • Advanced Pack 2$2.99
  • Advanced Pack 3$2.99
  • Expert Pack 3$2.99
  • Expert Pack 2$2.99
  • Genius Pack 4$2.99
  • Genius Pack 3$3.99
  • Wizard Pack 1$3.99
  • Genius Pack 2$3.99

Questions

Is Sumaddle free?
Sumaddle is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles free?
Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Sumaddle or Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles?
Sumaddle is rated higher. Sumaddle averages 4.9 out of 5 from 767 ratings, while Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles averages 4.7 from 263 ratings.
Do Sumaddle or Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles have ads?
Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles shows ads; Sumaddle does not.
Which is updated more often, Sumaddle or Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles?
Sumaddle ships an update every 3 weeks, and Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles every 2 weeks. Most recently, Sumaddle was updated on September 21, 2026 and Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles on September 24, 2026.

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