Comparison

Sudoku School! vs Simplex Spelling Light

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

Head to head
About

Sudoku School!

This app teaches children and beginners how to play Sudoku with simplified 4x4 and 6x6 puzzles. It offers in-game help, colored tiles for easier recognition, and ten difficulty levels to accommodate growing skills. Multiple user accounts and a trophy system encourage progress.

Highlights
  • 4x4 and 6x6 Sudoku puzzles
  • In-game rule explanations
  • Colored tiles for beginners
  • Ten difficulty levels
  • Multiple user accounts
  • Trophy wall for progress
Features
Read full description

Great for building spatial reasoning and logic skills! Sudoku School is the perfect sudoku app for kids and other sudoku beginners. It teaches you to play using 4x4 and 6x6 puzzles that are much simpler than the usual 9x9 sudoku puzzle. It also has an in-game help feature that explains the rules clearly with drawings and simple text. The game tiles have both numbers and colors, so younger players can use the colors for help until they get comfortable using the numbers. Ten puzzle levels cover a huge range of difficulties, from the easiest 4x4 level, which is perfect for younger kids, to the expert 6x6 level which is almost as hard as regular sudoku. This means the game can grow with you for a long time while you progress. Once you have mastered all the levels in this app, you are ready to graduate to regular sudoku! Multiple user accounts make it easy to share--perfect for families or for the classroom. • Easy to use drag and drop puzzles • Colored tiles to help beginners • Ten levels of difficulty • In-game explanation of the rules • Trophy wall to celebrate progress • Score tracking for multiple users • Six puzzle themes • 5000 puzzles available (20 puzzles are free) We made sudoku school free to download so that you can test it without having to buy anything. It comes with 20 free sudoku puzzles--two puzzles in each of the ten levels. There are 5000 additional puzzles available for download, but the free puzzles should keep your sudoku student busy for a while :)

About

Simplex Spelling Light

This app enhances spelling and reading skills with a unique "reverse phonics" approach and contextually relevant spelling rules. It offers interactive learning for various student types, providing immediate feedback and explanations for word construction.

Highlights
  • Reverse phonics approach
  • Contextual spelling rule hints
  • Letter-by-letter feedback
  • Over 50 high-frequency words
  • Spoken words in sentences
  • User stats and reporting
Features
Read full description

Simplex Spelling Light improves spelling and reading skills in a fun and interactive way using a unique “reverse phonics” approach in combination with contextually relevant spelling rules. It has the same critically acclaimed design and features as the full versions of Simplex Spelling but comes with its own new high frequency word spelling lists. This Light version has been made available so that customers can evaluate the Simplex Spelling software to decide if they want to purchase a full version of Simplex Spelling Sight Words, CVC Words, Phonics1, Phonics2, or Phonics3. Simplex Spelling Light contains the main features of the full versions, while targeting more than 50 all new high frequency words in the English language. This makes the Light version a beautiful compliment to the full versions of Simplex Spelling. The Light version also includes placement tests in the Phonics1, Phonics2, and Phonics 3 classrooms to help customers determine which app is the best fit. In contrast with many of the current approaches that use flash cards, Simplex Spelling enables the student to build each word. Students gain skills above and beyond the sheer memorization of words, as the informative spelling rule hint feature explains why words are spelled in a particular manner. Simplex Spelling's unique, immediate letter by letter feedback system is designed with clues and hints that will enable every student to spell each word successfully. Simplex Spelling enhances understanding in a variety of students as it appeals to audio, visual and tactile learners. It is great tool to have for kids learning to spell, remedial students, or those learning English as a second language. Recommended for ages 5+. Note: You can not create your own spelling lists in Simplex Spelling Light. Features: - Over 50 high frequency spelling words to help build literacy. - Spelling words are spoken and used in a sentence to establish context. - The introduction spelling list seamlessly leads a student through all of the application’s features by providing spoken information while having the student spell new words. - A powerful phonics hint feature sounds out each word and provides a list of possible phonograms for each sound. - Features a full “reverse phonics” approach that includes sounds made by all the different letter combinations. This is in addition to the basic “single letter” phonics that most applications are limited to. - Contextually relevant spelling rule hints that help explain “how to spell” English words. - Unique letter by letter feedback system that provides feedback while the student is in the process of spelling each word. - Guaranteed success on every word. - Support for 40 user accounts. - User stats screen that allows you to see at a glance words that have been mastered and words that require further practice. - Ability to export & email student reports. - Remembers each user’s position in every list, so that you can immediately resume from where you last left off. - Supports both upper and lower case letters. - Supports both alphabetic and QWERTY keyboard layouts. - Supports both US, UK and Canadian English spelling of words. - An approach that appeals to audio, visual and tactile learners. Privacy Disclosure: - No 3rd party ads - Does not share any data - No In-App purchases - Contains child protected links to Apple App Store. - Contains child protected links in app to developer's website for additional information, support and teaching tips. - Contains child protected link to developer email support. COPPA Compliant 
https://pyxwise.com/privacy-policy/

Screenshots

Sudoku School!4 screens
Simplex Spelling Light4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Sudoku School! at 4.4 against Simplex Spelling Light's 3.8. Sudoku School! also leads on ratings volume (432 vs 11) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.0). Simplex Spelling Light's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads 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. Sudoku School! sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Simplex Spelling Light asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sudoku School! holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sudoku School! has 432 ratings behind it against 11, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 85% of Sudoku School!'s written reviews are positive against 77% of Simplex Spelling Light's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sudoku School! ships an update every 7 months, Simplex Spelling Light every 10 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Sudoku School! versus Simplex Spelling Light: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSudoku School!Simplex Spelling Light
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (432 ratings) — better3.8 (11 ratings)
Positive reviews85.1% of reviews — better77.1% of reviews
Number of ratings432 — better11
Update frequencyEvery 7 months — betterEvery 10 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS9.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size25 MB257 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSarah PiercePyxwise Software Inc.

Customer experience

Sudoku School!

All ratings430 ratings
Positive84.4%
Neutral8.4%
Negative7.2%
Written reviews154 reviews
Positive85.1%
Neutral5.2%
Negative9.7%

Simplex Spelling Light

All ratings11 ratings
Positive72.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative27.3%
Written reviews48 reviews
Positive77.1%
Neutral12.5%
Negative10.4%

User reviews

Sudoku School!

From 432 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to learn
  • 🤩 Fun and addictive
  • 🧠 Helps develop logic skills
  • 🎨 Colorful and visually appealing
  • 👨‍👧‍👦 Great for kids and beginners

Room to improve

  • 💰 Limited free content, need to pay to unlock more
  • 🔒 Locked levels restrict full access
  • 🙄 Only 2 free puzzles per difficulty level

Simplex Spelling Light

From 11 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great for basic spelling
  • 👍 Engaging for children
  • 👍 Reinforces phonemic awareness
  • 👍 Good for dyslexic students
  • 👍 Clear voice and interface

Room to improve

  • 👎 Advanced phonemes for beginners
  • 👎 Digraphs split into individual letters
  • 👎 Ads for paid version
  • 👎 No volume/sound issues
  • 👎 American English pronunciation

Bugs and requests

Sudoku School!

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Tiles sometimes lock up and can't be moved
  • No win acknowledgment after completing puzzles

Requested features

3 requests
  • Unlock all levels for free
  • Provide more free puzzles
  • Add daily free puzzle challenges

Simplex Spelling Light

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Consonant digraphs don't match phonemes
  • Letters sounded out individually instead of phonemes
  • No volume

Requested features

10 requests
  • Ability to create custom word lists
  • Option to lock lists until mastered
  • More word lists/grade levels
  • Option to make sentences with words
  • Illustrations for engagement
Show 5 more
  • Practice and learn section
  • Option to select English spellings
  • English accent option
  • Sticker collecting feature
  • More expansions/spelling lists

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Sudoku School!

One-time2
  • 4x4 puzzle pack$0.99
  • 6x6 puzzle pack$0.99
None

Simplex Spelling Light

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Sudoku School! free?
Sudoku School! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Simplex Spelling Light free?
Simplex Spelling Light is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Sudoku School! or Simplex Spelling Light?
Sudoku School! is rated higher. Sudoku School! averages 4.4 out of 5 from 432 ratings, while Simplex Spelling Light averages 3.8 from 11 ratings.
Do Sudoku School! or Simplex Spelling Light have ads?
Neither Sudoku School! nor Simplex Spelling Light shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sudoku School! or Simplex Spelling Light?
Sudoku School! ships an update every 7 months, and Simplex Spelling Light every 10 months. Most recently, Sudoku School! was updated on November 6, 2026 and Simplex Spelling Light on November 10, 2026.

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