Comparison

Sudoku vs Scatterbox

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

Head to head
About

Sudoku

Engage your mind with a variety of Sudoku puzzles, including classic and unique variations like Diagonal, Irregular, and OddEven. Offers a no-ads experience with features to aid gameplay and track progress. Perfect for logic puzzle enthusiasts seeking a mental challenge.

Highlights
  • Six Sudoku variations
  • No ads
  • Weekly bonus puzzles
  • Multiple difficulty levels
  • Graphic puzzle previews
  • Unlimited hints and undo
  • Dark Mode support
Features
Read full description

Play six different Sudoku variations in a single app! Start with classic Sudoku grids and advance to Diagonal Sudoku, Irregular Sudoku and OddEven Sudoku - each with a different look and a unique twist of brain challenging logic. Huge brain-bashing Mega Sudoku puzzles, also known as Monster Sudoku, are offered for iPad only. With its diverse variations and straightforward no-frills game design, Conceptis Sudoku brings a new dimension to Sudoku mobile gaming - on both iPad and iPhone. To help see the puzzle progress, graphic previews in the puzzle list show the progress of all puzzles in a volume as they are being solved. A Gallery view option provides these previews in a larger format. For more fun, Sudoku contains no ads and includes a Weekly Bonus section providing an extra free puzzle each week. PUZZLE FEATURES • 160 free Classic Sudoku and Sudoku variant puzzles • Variants include Mini, Diagonal, Irregular, OddEven and Mega • Extra bonus puzzle published free each week • Multiple difficulty levels from very easy to extremely hard • Grid sizes up to 16x16 • Puzzle library continuously updates with new content • Manually selected, top quality puzzles • Unique solution for each puzzle • Hours of intellectual challenge and fun • Sharpens logic and improves cognitive skills GAMING FEATURES • No ads • Unlimited check puzzle • Unlimited hints • Show conflicts during gameplay • Unlimited Undo and Redo • Pencilmarks feature for solving hard puzzles • Autofill pencilmarks mode • Highlight Excluded Squares option • Lock number on keypad option • Concurrently playing and saving multiple puzzles • Puzzle filtering, sorting and archiving options • Dark Mode support • Graphic previews showing puzzles progress as they are being solved • Portrait and landscape screen support (iPad only) • Track puzzle solving times • Backup & restore puzzle progress to iCloud ABOUT Conceptis Sudoku variations have also become popular under other names such as Sudoku by Dave Green, Sudoku 12x12, Sudoku 16x16, Jigsaw Sudoku, Nonomino Sudoku, Squiggly Sudoku, Sudoku X and many more. All puzzles in this app are produced by Conceptis Ltd. - the leading supplier of logic puzzles to printed and electronic gaming media all over the world. On average, more than 20 million Conceptis puzzles are solved each day in newspapers, magazines, books and online as well as on smartphones and tablets across the world. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.conceptispuzzles.com/index.aspx?uri=info/doc/220

About

Scatterbox

Features
Read full description

Scatterbox is a game of pure deduction. A handful of atoms are hidden in a grid. You fire a beam in from any edge, see where it comes out, and reason your way to what must be inside. No reflexes. No timers. No luck. Every board has exactly one answer, and it is always findable. There are only four things a beam can do: • Miss — straight in, straight out the far side. That lane is clear. • Hit — the beam never comes back. It ran into an atom head-on. • Deflection — passing an atom on the diagonal turns the beam ninety degrees. • Reflection — two atoms turn it back out the square it entered. Learn those four and you have learned the whole game. In the Ray Lab the atoms are visible: place them anywhere, fire beams, and watch every path bend, bounce, or vanish. BOARD OF THE DAY One puzzle a day, the same for everyone, built from the date. The difficulty rotates through the week — gentle on Monday, brutal by the weekend. Solve it to build a streak; miss a day and the streak resets. Your best streak is always on the home screen. FREE PLAY Set your own board — width, height, and atom count, up to 12×12 on iPhone and 16×16 on iPad — or switch on random mode and get a fresh shape every game. BUILT FOR THINKING • Every marker is numbered, so you are never guessing at colors • Dark mode and a color-blind friendly palette • An optional timer if you want the pressure, off by default • "Check" your guesses before you commit — for a small score cost • Reveal shows the full path every beam actually took Your score is the number of beams you fired plus a penalty for wrong guesses. Lower is better. There is no way to lose — only to solve it in fewer beams next time. Scatterbox plays entirely on your device. No account, no sign-in, nothing to sync. It works on a plane. Scatterbox is an independent game in the tradition of Black Box, the deduction puzzle designed by Eric Solomon in 1976. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the original game or its publishers. Free to play, with ads. A one-time "Remove Ads" purchase turns them off for good. Privacy Policy: https://scatterbox.ggates1020.com/privacy/ Terms of Use: https://scatterbox.ggates1020.com/terms-of-use/

Screenshots

Sudoku4 screens
Scatterbox4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Sudoku at none against Scatterbox's shown. Sudoku also leads on iOS requirement (15.6 vs 26.5). Scatterbox's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 3 months). On price, in-app purchases and device support 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 sells 11 one-off in-app purchases and Scatterbox sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sudoku ships an update every 3 months, Scatterbox every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Sudoku versus Scatterbox: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSudokuScatterbox
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (1.1K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews94.9% of reviews—
Number of ratings1.1K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better26.5
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB4 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperConceptis Ltd.GEORGE,HOWARD GATES

Bugs and requests

Sudoku

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes or freezes
  • Incompatibility with older devices
  • Lack of color blind support

Requested features

6 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • More free/variety puzzle packs
  • Ability to discard used puzzles
  • Hint feature to help when stuck
  • Ability to highlight numbers in different colors
Show 1 more
  • Chain strategy explanation

Scatterbox

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

11 purchases

Sudoku

One-time11
  • Classic Easy 1$0.99
  • Diagonal Medium 1$1.99
  • Irregular Medium 1$1.99
Show 8 more
  • Classic Medium 1$1.99
  • Classic Hard 1$1.99
  • Diagonal Hard 1$1.99
  • Irregular Hard 1$1.99
  • OddEven Hard 1$1.99
  • OddEven Medium 1$1.99
  • Classic Devil 1$2.99
  • Mega Medium 1$3.99
1 purchases

Scatterbox

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$2.99

Questions

Is Sudoku free?
Sudoku is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Scatterbox free?
Scatterbox is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Sudoku or Scatterbox have ads?
Scatterbox shows ads; Sudoku does not.
Which is updated more often, Sudoku or Scatterbox?
Sudoku ships an update every 3 months, and Scatterbox every 2 days. Most recently, Sudoku was updated on October 19, 2026 and Scatterbox on October 13, 2026.

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