Comparison

Smart Sudoku Zen vs HexiPop

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

Head to head
About

Smart Sudoku Zen

Features
Read full description

Sudoku, the calm way. Smart Sudoku Zen turns every puzzle into a quiet moment, and every solved puzzle into a stone in your own temple garden. THE JOURNEY Follow Master Sora through spring, summer, autumn and winter. 32 stages, each teaching one solving technique with a puzzle built for exactly that step: from Full House and Hidden Single to X-Wing, Skyscraper, XY-Wing and Swordfish. YOUR GARDEN Earn coins and restore a forgotten zen garden piece by piece: raked gravel, moss, a koi pond with a red bridge, stone lanterns, a tea house and finally the pagoda. It changes with the seasons, with cherry blossoms, autumn leaves, snow and fireflies on summer nights. HINTS THAT TEACH Stuck? The master shows you the next step and explains why it works, with the pattern highlighted right on the board. Learn 20 techniques instead of guessing. ONE DAILY PUZZLE FOR THE WORLD Every player gets the same puzzle each day: gentle on Mondays, expert on Saturdays, a diagonal on Sundays. Keep your streak, compare your time on the Game Center leaderboard and take on three daily challenges, like finishing all 5s first. EVERY PUZZLE IS FAIR Thousands of verified puzzles with exactly one solution, graded by the techniques they really need, not by the number of empty cells. Play Classic, Diagonal and Windoku. MADE FOR FOCUS • Easy, Medium, Hard and Expert • Explore all 20 techniques with interactive examples, highlighted candidates and connection lines • Notes that tidy themselves, undo and redo • Check against the solution, or only show conflicts for double coins • Jokers and an auto solver that explains every step • Type in or photograph a puzzle from a newspaper, let the solver explain it or play it right away • Game Center: 23 achievements and 7 leaderboards for best times, the daily puzzle, solved puzzles and journey stars • Optional iCloud sync: continue your progress on iPhone and iPad with the same Apple Account • iPhone and iPad, portrait and landscape, keyboard support • Light and dark mode, VoiceOver and Dynamic Type • No ads, calm music Think clear. Play calm.

About

HexiPop

Features
Read full description

Hexi Pop is a hex-grid puzzle game built for quick sessions and long streaks. Drag pieces from your tray onto a hexagonal board. Fill a full row or diagonal and it pops, clearing space for what comes next. The board fills fast — plan your placements, chain your clears, and keep going as long as you can. When nothing in your tray fits anywhere, the round is over. — Clean, distraction-free hex board — Drag-and-drop or tap-to-place piece controls — Built-in tutorial for your first round — Track your rounds and stats over time — 100% offline — nothing ever leaves your device — No ads, no accounts, no in-app purchases Hexi Pop is made for iPhone, designed to feel fast and fit in your pocket for a minute or an hour.

Screenshots

Smart Sudoku Zen4 screens
HexiPop4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Smart Sudoku Zen at none against HexiPop's shown. HexiPop's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 6 months). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Smart Sudoku Zen ships an update every 6 months, HexiPop every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences Ā· 4 level
Smart Sudoku Zen versus HexiPop: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSmart Sudoku ZenHexiPop
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size27 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSmart-Byte GmbHIoannis Pinakoulakis

In-app purchases

None

Smart Sudoku Zen

No in-app purchases

None

HexiPop

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Smart Sudoku Zen free?
Smart Sudoku Zen is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is HexiPop free?
HexiPop is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Smart Sudoku Zen or HexiPop have ads?
HexiPop shows ads; Smart Sudoku Zen does not.
Which is updated more often, Smart Sudoku Zen or HexiPop?
Smart Sudoku Zen ships an update every 6 months, and HexiPop every 2 weeks. Most recently, Smart Sudoku Zen was updated on November 5, 2026 and HexiPop on October 31, 2026.

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