Simon Tatham's Puzzles vs Cracking the Cryptic
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Simon Tatham's Puzzles
Explore a diverse collection of 38 engaging single-player puzzle games designed for mobile devices. Enjoy a wide variety of challenges, from logic and spatial reasoning to pattern recognition and strategy.
- 38 single-player puzzle games
- Variety of puzzle types
- Logic and strategy challenges
- Spatial reasoning puzzles
- Pattern recognition games
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This is a collection of 38 single-player puzzle games for the iPhone and iPad. Included games are: Black Box - Bridges - Cube - Dominosa - Fifteen - Flip - Flood - Filling - Galaxies - Guess - Inertia - Keen - Light Up - Loopy - Magnets - Map - Mines - Net - Netslide - Pattern - Pearl - Pegs - Range - Rectangles - Same Game - Signpost - Singles - Sixteen - Slant - Solo - Tents - Towers - Tracks - Twiddle - Undead - Unequal - Unruly - Untangle
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!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Simon Tatham's Puzzles at none against Cracking the Cryptic's 13. Simon Tatham's Puzzles also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.4) and review sentiment (95% vs 72%). On price, ratings volume, 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
Both are free to download. Cracking the Cryptic sells 13 one-off in-app purchases. Simon Tatham's Puzzles asks for nothing beyond the download.
Simon Tatham's Puzzles holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 220 and 210 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 95% of Simon Tatham's Puzzles's written reviews are positive against 72% of Cracking the Cryptic's.
Simon Tatham's Puzzles ships an update every 2 weeks, Cracking the Cryptic every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Simon Tatham's Puzzles | Cracking the Cryptic |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (220 ratings) — better | 4.4 (210 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 94.6% of reviews — better | 72.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 220 — better | 210 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 234 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Greg Hewgill | Nick Carney |
Customer experience
Simon Tatham's Puzzles
Cracking the Cryptic
User reviews
Simon Tatham's Puzzles
From 220 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Great variety of puzzles
- 👍 No ads or in-app purchases
- 👍 Simple, intuitive interface
- 👍 Customizable difficulty levels
- 👍 Offline playability
Room to improve
- 🐛 Compatibility issues with iOS 14
- 👎 Lack of zoom/scaling options
- 👎 Reliance on long-press controls can be awkward
- 👎 Some puzzles not as intuitive on mobile
Cracking the Cryptic
From 210 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Best sudoku app
- 👍 Great variety of puzzles
- 👍 Excellent user interface
- 👍 Challenging and fun puzzles
- 👍 Constant updates with new puzzles
Room to improve
- 🐛 Hints are often incorrect or unhelpful
- 🐛 Bugs and crashes, especially after updates
- 🔋 Battery draining issues
- 🔒 Too many in-app purchases required to access content
Bugs and requests
Simon Tatham's Puzzles
Reported bugs
2 issues- Crashes on startup with iOS 14
- Filling/marking not working properly in some puzzles
Requested features
3 requests- Zoom/scaling options for larger puzzles
- Alternative control schemes (e.g. tap-to-flag)
- Inclusion of all puzzles from desktop version
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
In-app purchases
Simon Tatham's Puzzles
No in-app purchases
Cracking the Cryptic
- CTC Worms - James Sinclair$0.99
- CTC Worms - Marty Sears$0.99
- CTC Worms - Zetamath$1.99
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- 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
Questions
Is Simon Tatham's Puzzles free?
Is Cracking the Cryptic free?
Which has better reviews, Simon Tatham's Puzzles or Cracking the Cryptic?
Do Simon Tatham's Puzzles or Cracking the Cryptic have ads?
Which is updated more often, Simon Tatham's Puzzles or Cracking the Cryptic?
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