Kaodoku vs Pumbuzzle
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Kaodoku
This puzzle game offers a unique twist on Sudoku using symbols instead of numbers. Solve grids where only parts of symbols are revealed, requiring strategic deduction. Enjoy a rich puzzle experience with various difficulty levels and helpful hints.
- Symbol-based Sudoku puzzles
- Partially revealed symbols
- Multiple difficulty levels
- Sophisticated hint system
- Pencil notes and candidate marks
- Export and print puzzles
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Kaodokus are a new variation of sudoku with symbols that are only partially given. Originally invented for Belgian Mensa magazine Commensal, kaodokus offer a lot more variety than ordinary sudokus. Instead of numbers, the cells contain smiley faces which can have three possible shapes and three possible mouths. Each of the nine unique combinations has to appear exactly once in each column, row or other marked area just like in a normal sudoku. The big novelty is that in some cells only the mouth or shape is given, leaving the missing part for you to find. You can even ask for grids that initially don't include a single full symbol! This makes the puzzle experience a lot richer, requiring complex strategies combining bits and pieces of information in original ways. Features: - Normal grids completely free, with as many randomly generated puzzles as you like in many different levels of difficulty. - With a single in-app purchase, you can unlock more complex puzzles with extra diagonals, gray squares and chaotic grids which require even deeper thinking combining all those intersecting regions. - Sophisticated hint system which actually suggests possible ways forward using step by step logic. Especially in the beginning this is very helpful since even the easiest kaodoku grids can be daunting for those not used to them. - Activate pencil notes in the settings so you can zoom in and freely draw whatever doodles you like, just like you would on paper. - Alternatively, you can also use standard candidate marks to keep track of the possible symbols in each cell. In very difficult puzzles, the hints function will take these candidate marks into account if they are the only way of making progress. - Share puzzles with others, export them in pdf or png format, or print them on paper to solve them the old-fashioned way. Feel free to publish puzzles in magazines or on websites, as long as you don't remove the kaodoku web address.
Pumbuzzle
Solve daily logic puzzles by arranging numbers so each row sums to 80. Use directional clues to guide your placement and swap squares to achieve the correct pattern. Compete on leaderboards and replay past challenges.
- Daily pattern puzzles
- Row summation to 80
- Swap squares to solve
- Directional clues (▲▼, ◀▶)
- Replay past puzzles
- GameCenter leaderboards
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Each row adds up to 80. Find the right place for all of the numbers. ▲▼ means a square is in the right column but the wrong row ◀▶ means a square is in the right row but the wrong column Tap two squares to swap them. Moving squares with ▲▼ or ◀▶ increases your score. A new puzzle each day AND the ability to replay puzzles from past days! Leaderboards with GameCenter! New games start at midnight UTC (i.e., 7pm Central US).
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pumbuzzle at none against Kaodoku's 1. Pumbuzzle also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (14 vs 1). Kaodoku's advantage is iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.6). On price, rating, review sentiment 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. Kaodoku sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Pumbuzzle asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Kaodoku against 5.0 for Pumbuzzle. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pumbuzzle has 14 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Kaodoku ships an update every 6 months, Pumbuzzle weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Kaodoku | Pumbuzzle |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (14 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 14 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 18 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Michel Colman | Brainwash Inc. |
Customer experience
Kaodoku
Pumbuzzle
In-app purchases
Kaodoku
- Full version of Kaodoku$0.99
Pumbuzzle
No in-app purchases









