Essential Sudoku vs Close Cities
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Essential Sudoku
A minimalist and clean logic-based number puzzle game for iPhone and iPod touch. It offers a pure sudoku experience with no ads, in-app purchases, or distracting features. Enjoy straightforward gameplay focused solely on solving puzzles.
- Minimalist design
- No ads
- No in-app purchases
- No tracking
- No hints
- No timers
- Pure sudoku gameplay
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Solve sudoku puzzles on your iPhone or iPod touch. This is a clean, simple, minimalist sudoku app: • No ads • No in-app purchases • No tracking • No hints • No timers • No themes • No leaderboards • No achievements • No clutter Enjoy! (c:
Close Cities
Build beautiful cities on diverse worlds by solving unique puzzles. This relaxing game guides you through 160 levels with a simple tap or drag interface, requiring no architectural knowledge. Conquer each world's challenges and travel through time with its calming soundtrack.
- Build cities on empty maps
- Solve 160 unique puzzle levels
- Intuitive tap and drag controls
- No architectural knowledge needed
- Travel through different worlds
- Relaxing music and pace
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Close Cities is a relaxing puzzle game in which you will have to build cities in different worlds over time. Find a road and start there. Solve all 160 levels and become a Close Cities legend! UNIQUE PUZZLES You will start each level with an empty map that you will have to fill with beautiful cities. Choose the right road, choose the area and tap or drag with your fingers! DOES NOT REQUIRE KNOWLEDGE OF ARCHITECTURE Close Cities offers a fun experience even if you don't know the difference between a square and a bevel. The game's tutorial will show you everything you need to know at a relaxed pace. CONQUER ITS 160 LEVELS Each world has its king and 16 levels that you must solve to build his empire. TRAVEL THROUGH TIME During the course of the game you will discover different worlds over time with relaxed music to let you go.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Close Cities at Free against Essential Sudoku's $3.00. Close Cities also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (356 vs 14). Essential Sudoku's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and ads (none vs shown). On rating 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
Close Cities is free to download; Essential Sudoku costs $3.00 up front. Close Cities sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Essential Sudoku asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Essential Sudoku against 4.8 for Close Cities. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Close Cities has 356 ratings behind it against 14, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of Essential Sudoku's written reviews are positive against 69% of Close Cities's.
Essential Sudoku ships an update every 4 months, Close Cities every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on August 29, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Essential Sudoku | Close Cities |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.00 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (14 ratings) | 4.8 (356 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 69.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 14 | 356 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.4 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 158 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | CyberMoai | Juan Manuel Altamirano Argudo |
Customer experience
Essential Sudoku
Close Cities
In-app purchases
Essential Sudoku
No in-app purchases
Close Cities
- Hints - Small Pack$0.99
- Hints - Medium Pack$2.99
- Remove Ads + Hints$2.99
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- Hints - Big Pack$5.99
