Comparison

Sudoku School! vs Night Zookeeper

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

Night Zookeeper

This app makes reading and writing fun for children aged 6-12. It offers mini-games, video lessons, and skill challenges covering a full English language arts curriculum. Children receive personalized feedback from tutors and earn rewards, while parents can track progress.

Highlights
  • Interactive mini-games
  • Video lessons
  • Skill challenges
  • Tutor feedback on writing
  • Parent progress tracking
  • Motivating rewards
  • Collaborative writing opportunities
Features
Read full description

The multi-award winning Night Zookeeper makes reading & writing fantastically fun and easy for 6-12 year olds. It’s trusted by thousands of parents around the world to improve their children’s spelling, grammar, reading & writing skills and really boost their confidence. The app has exciting mini games, video lessons, and skill challenges, created by educational experts and covering an entire english language arts curriculum. Children can play independently, and at their own pace, earning exciting and motivating rewards along the way. Tips from characters and inspiring prompts then help your child to write pieces of writing which our qualified tutors then read and give encouraging feedback on. This feedback can be viewed in your parent dashboard, where you can also track your child’s progress and achievements, and receive monthly printable resources. Alongside the thousands of learning activities and tutor feedback, a Night Zookeeper subscription provides your child with monthly awards, weekly writing competitions, and opportunities for collaborative writing in a safe, moderated environment. Night Zookeeper is: FUN: There are thousands of exciting and engaging activities for Grades 1 to 6. TRUSTED: An award winning program, used by thousands of families. Rated 4.7 on Trustpilot from 500+ reviews. COMPREHENSIVE: The program covers a full language arts curriculum of reading, writing, spelling, grammar & punctuation, that rewards children as they progress. SELF-PACED: Children can play independently and work through the program at their own pace. PERSONALIZED: Children get written feedback from our team of tutors on their pieces of writing- so you don't need to be the bad guy! SAFE: No in-app ads or purchases. TRACKABLE: A parent dashboard helps you to easily track your child's progress. OFFLINE & ONLINE: Free monthly printable resources are sent straight to your inbox. Users must log in with their account details to access Night Zookeeper. "There is nothing quite like Night Zookeeper, and I wish I had started them on it sooner!" Tim & Jennifer, parents "My kids were always frustrated with writing and reading, now they are excited each day and have started writing full stories." Justin, parent “My kids are loving this program and writing more than they ever have before. The game format and reward system holds their attention, and their creative juices keep flowing" Paul, parent Technical details: * Internet connection required Recommended: Latest iPad, Latest iPad Pro, Latest iPad Air, Latest iPad mini, Latest iOS Subscription options: The first 7 days of a subscription are free. Subscriptions renew automatically; your App Store account will be charged unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Privacy Policy: https://www.nightzookeeper.com/privacy-policy Terms & Conditions: https://www.nightzookeeper.com/terms-and-conditions Start a FREE trial of Night Zookeeper today!

Screenshots

Sudoku School!4 screens
Night Zookeeper4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Sudoku School! at free with in-app purchases against Night Zookeeper's subscription. Sudoku School! also leads on iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.0). Night Zookeeper's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 7 months) and rating (4.6 vs 4.4). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume 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 and Night Zookeeper sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Night Zookeeper holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 431 and 616 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 85% of Sudoku School!'s written reviews are positive against 83% of Night Zookeeper's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sudoku School! ships an update every 7 months, Night Zookeeper every 2 months. Both last shipped on October 30, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Sudoku School! versus Night Zookeeper: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSudoku School!Night Zookeeper
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (431 ratings)4.6 (616 ratings) — better
Positive reviews85.1% of reviews — better83.0% of reviews
Number of ratings431616 — better
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS9.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size25 MB378 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSarah PierceWonky Star

Customer experience

Sudoku School!

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

Night Zookeeper

All ratings592 ratings
Positive90.5%
Neutral2.2%
Negative7.3%
Written reviews94 reviews
Positive83.0%
Neutral2.1%
Negative14.9%

User reviews

Sudoku School!

From 431 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

Night Zookeeper

From 616 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Fun and engaging
  • 🚀 Helps improve writing skills
  • 💡 Gamifies learning
  • 👍 Motivates reluctant writers
  • 👍 Constructive feedback from tutors

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Glitchy and laggy performance
  • 🐛 Inconsistent difficulty levels
  • 🔋 Drains device battery
  • 🔒 Questionable subscription practices

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

Night Zookeeper

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Freezing and crashing issues
  • Upside-down screen when creating new characters
  • Audio not working consistently

Requested features

3 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Compatibility improvements for older devices
  • More content for older age groups

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Sudoku School!

One-time2
  • 4x4 puzzle pack$0.99
  • 6x6 puzzle pack$0.99
12 purchases

Night Zookeeper

Subscriptions12
  • NZK 1 Month - 1 License7 Days trial$14.991 Month
  • 1 Month - 2 Licenses7 Days trial$17.991 Month
  • NZK 1 Month - 3 Licenses7 Days trial$17.991 Month
Show 9 more
  • 1 Month - 4 Licenses7 Days trial$21.991 Month
  • 3 Months - 1 License7 Days trial$36.993 Months
  • 3 Months - 2 Licenses7 Days trial$49.993 Months
  • 3 Months - 3 Licenses7 Days trial$49.993 Months
  • Yearly - 1 License7 Days trial$118.991 Year
  • Yearly - 2 Licenses7 Days trial$154.991 Year
  • Yearly - 3 Licenses7 Days trial$154.991 Year
  • Yearly - 4 Licenses7 Days trial$189.991 Year
  • Yearly - 5 Licenses7 Days trial$239.991 Year

Questions

Is Sudoku School! free?
Sudoku School! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Night Zookeeper free?
Night Zookeeper is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Sudoku School! or Night Zookeeper?
Night Zookeeper is rated higher. Sudoku School! averages 4.4 out of 5 from 431 ratings, while Night Zookeeper averages 4.6 from 616 ratings.
Do Sudoku School! or Night Zookeeper have ads?
Neither Sudoku School! nor Night Zookeeper shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sudoku School! or Night Zookeeper?
Sudoku School! ships an update every 7 months, and Night Zookeeper every 2 months. Most recently, Sudoku School! was updated on October 30, 2026 and Night Zookeeper on October 30, 2026.

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