Cracking the Cryptic vs Pathways
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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!
Pathways
A minimalist logic puzzle game where players guide a dot to its home space by drawing colored paths. It offers increasing difficulty levels and daily challenges, with an option for advanced features like custom level creation.
- Draw colored paths to guide a dot
- Solve spatial reasoning puzzles
- Progress through increasing grid sizes
- Daily timed puzzles with score sharing
- Create and share custom levels
- No ads, playable offline
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Pathways is a spatial reasoning logic puzzle with a clean, minimalist design. The goal is simple: move the dot home! How it works: -Each grid has one dot, and one home space -The dot can only move to colored spaces -Use tabs on the side of the grid to draw paths of color -Retract and redraw paths as necessary -Move that dot home! Easy to learn, difficult to master -Start with 3x4 grids to learn the ropes -Up the challenge with 4x4 grids -Put yourself to the real test with 4x5 grids Daily Puzzles -Timed puzzles, share your score with friends -Puzzles increase in difficulty throughout the week -Build your streak! Pathways PRO -Access all packs (375 puzzles + future packs) -Access Daily Puzzle archive to play old puzzles (100+ Daily Puzzles) -Create your own levels, share with friends and/or submit to Pathways to be featured Why Pathways? -Clean, minimalistic design -Simple rules, yet challenging solutions -No ads, no wifi required Up for the challenge? Download Pathways today!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Pathways at 4.8 against Cracking the Cryptic's 4.4. Pathways also leads on review sentiment (90% vs 72%). Cracking the Cryptic's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (210 vs 27). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Cracking the Cryptic sells 13 one-off in-app purchases and Pathways sells 9 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Pathways holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Cracking the Cryptic has 210 ratings behind it against 27, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 72% of Cracking the Cryptic's written reviews are positive against 90% of Pathways's.
Cracking the Cryptic ships an update every 3 weeks, Pathways every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Cracking the Cryptic | Pathways |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (210 ratings) | 4.8 (27 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 72.1% of reviews | 90.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 210 — better | 27 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 14.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 234 MB | 36 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nick Carney | William Arbuckle |
Customer experience
Cracking the Cryptic
Pathways
Bugs and requests
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
Pathways
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
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
Pathways
- Support Developpment$0.99
- Support Developpment$1.99
- Support Developpment$4.99
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- Pathways PRO$7.99
- Support Developpment$7.99
- Support Developpment$9.99
- Support Developpment$14.99
- Support Developpment$19.99
- Support Developpment$29.99
Questions
Is Cracking the Cryptic free?
Is Pathways free?
Which has better reviews, Cracking the Cryptic or Pathways?
Do Cracking the Cryptic or Pathways have ads?
Which is updated more often, Cracking the Cryptic or Pathways?
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