▻Sudoku Reviews

First off, let me say that I have loved this game and that this has to be the only game that I actually consistently played. However the pop ups have made my enjoyment of the game non existent....in fact, they only serve to aggravate me to the point that I’ve stopped playing the game for weeks at a time. I frequently give up playing after one or two games because the ads and the pop ups just take so much from my enjoyment of the game that it’s just not worth it. No more.
I’ve been playing it for years, and in fact I have paid to be rid of these ads. However after one of your upgrades this fact was apparently lost and in spite of having paid, I am again stuck with ads. This I find not only poor business practice but rather typical of the underhanded manner in which Apple finds ways to take money from unsuspecting customers.
I was so desperate to play that I was willing to pay again, just to be free of those ads! However..... when I looked for a way to pay for the game, none was evident, which means the ad revenue is way more than what you get from me when I pay!
Well, I’ve had enough. This customer is not satisfied. You’ve taken my money from me and continue to force me to watch ads. Unless you restore my paid up status, I will no longer play this game.

This is one of my "go to" games. It was one of the first games I downloaded years ago when I got my first smart phone. I love the interface, the colors, the layout. The highlighting of the buttons makes it easy to see which number you are working on. The note function is great. I usually turn the sound off on any game I'm playing, but I actually like the sound effects!

My only real issue is with scoring. Why is the score based on which number I "finish"? Currently you get a higher score if you finish all the 9's or 8's first. this app is a game about patterns, not the actual value of the numbers you're entering in the squares. The scoring should be based on finishing any given number not the numerical value of that number. I finished a game in less time, with the multiplier at a higher number than my last game but had a lower score because the pattern of the lower numbers (1,2,3) was easier to figure out than the higher numbers (7,8,9). Please change this or have the option to turn the scoring off.

I've played this this app game for a while before rating it. It's also the only time I've ever played a this app game. I think Sudoku is great. I especially like the note taking ability to solve the puzzle, writing in numbers that are possible in squares. At first I didn't think it valuable but it is important on the higher/harder difficulties. The whole user interface of highlighting boxes (all of that same number on the grid) is useful. Selecting numbers, removing them s from the board when they are all used (found) is smart thinking by the developers. Bottom line, I think the developers thought through and put into the game all the elements a player would want and need. This is definitely a game I'm keeping. Because it is a free game it is a true winner that you should have in your games selection!

There are some issues that need to be worked out. I've just noticed that despite my phone being on silent, any time a game is finished and a new game begins, the first tile I touch makes a sound. The first time this happened, I double checked and sure enough my phone was silent but perhaps I was hearing things? Nope, it still happens...
I also wish the buttons were a little more sensitive. Going back and forth between the notes function and the live tiles, I often click the notes button to turn it on and end up laying a live tile because it didn't actually kick on. Of course when this happens it is typically the wrong tile that goes down and I get a penalty mark.
Also with the screen sensitivity, many times I accidentally grab the wrong tile but it's too late and I get a penalty. I wish there was some sort of time delay where if you press the correct tile within like .2 seconds it would let you put that one down and not be penalized.
Otherwise this is the best this app app I've found in Sudoku Store.

I never bought the ad free version of you app since you do not seem to care about my complaint that the tile size for selecting numbers is too small and they are too close together for my fingers. It’s frustrating to get penalized because your finger hits an adjacent number in error frequently. Today though. I am ready to dump Sudoku all together, 5 times in a fairly short period of time, an audio ad started playing while I was playing the game, not in between games like the other ads. My phone was muted, but still the sound played, you may think I have no choice but to be bombarded by sound as even when I am choosing to play with my sound off, but I can delete your abusive ap and never download another app created by you. Maybe you will take this seriously, maybe not. I am going to give you a few days to change your policy before I delete it.

I have been addicted to Sudoku for years, and it is certainly the best this app app that I've ever downloaded. I do not play every level- only hard and occasionally expert, but every puzzle seems to use the same two or three go-to numbers . I can almost always guarantee that the numbers 4 and 6 are going to be the first completed on every single hard level puzzle. It's irritating to be continually playing what seems to be the exact puzzle over and over again with the numbers just moved around in different patterns.

This is not an issue that many reviewers have, and it is extremely minor compared to glitches in Sudoku that others have had. It's just obnoxious. It doesn't stop me from playing constantly though! I just brush it off as my OCD and keep playing.

I've spent a lot of time playing this game, and it's good. My only complaint is the mistake tracker. I wish I could be allowed to be able to make mistakes without being given the answer. At least there should be a setting where I have that choice. Sometimes at the end, I'm trying to make a good time and I've got it figured out and I accidentally hit the wrong key, or I don't change from the permanent selection to the notes selection and I get a mistake. Also, on expert, sometimes I do actually 'guess' between two possibilities to see which one will play out. I can't do that with this version because I'm marked with a mistake and the answer is given. But, considering how often I use Sudoku , I think it would be hypocritical to give it less than a 4 star rating.

Great help getting my mind off things. this app is a puzzle game that really doesn’t have anything to do with numbers aside from being symbols. If you’ve never played, give this a try and begin with the “Flash” game. It is easiest for beginners. It is a very simple game and is only more challenging once you begin games with less numbers/symbols.
Note to developer: You could give more direction and explanation for beginners and even use some simple pics or letters instead of numbers for a set of puzzles. (Should I give Sudoku less than five stars? Nah.)
I’ve been doing this app for decades. I spent a great deal on this app puzzle books in years past. Glad I don’t have to anymore. Thanks for your work on design and I wish you continued success. Be well.

Update: Most of the issues I had with the UI from before have been resolved. I'm glad that pausing no longer takes away multipliers, too! Still my favorite this app app, and I come back to it often these days. It has made me a better this app player overall haha.

Original review:

For the most part, this is a fabulous this app app. I like that the rounds are timed--adds a little more suspense. I also really like that it's connected to GameCenter.

My only problems are with the touch responses and the pause screen. Whenever you pause (either by accident--tapping a blank square too many times prompts the pause screen to show up--or on purpose) takes a multiplier away automatically. I also accidentally tap the ads A LOT, since they're so close to the number row and I have fat finger syndrome. Any time you come back from an ad click-away, you lose another multiplier. Super-aggravating when you're on a roll and you're about to beat your old high score. Combined, these are the only reasons I'm taking away a star.

Other than the minor UI annoyances and how little stupid things cause your multiplier to decrease, this really is a great this app app (even better that it's free!). I don't like using normal this app apps now that I'm so used to racing against the clock!

I like how the game keeps track of previous scores; you can push yourself for better speed & accuracy. For a free app, the adverts are acceptably visible but non-obtrusive.
To make the ‘expert’ level more challenging, I only allow up to three ‘hints’ of any given number per block of nine; if, say, a number six has four possible squares inside a given block, I won’t enter any hints for six in that block until one of those squares is solved by another number.
One more twist: at ‘expert’ level, sometimes at the outset a new game will give you none of the squares in a certain block solved. I’ll enter hints only (three max) in that block and never actually enter the solutions, but only take away incorrect numbers as the game progresses.
Long review, I know, but hey, I’m kinda like addicted...

The developers are aware of how the update broke a previously flawless game. To their credit, I got a response almost 5 weeks ago that they were going to fix it. Evidently, it is not high on their list of things to fix.

In their efforts to incorporate even more obnoxious advertising, they somehow have broken the game. I realize they are entitled to earn money. But to break something in that quest is hardly a way to do it.

I will admit, though, that they have created or allowed the MOST OBNOXIOUS ADS I've ever seen in a game. I hope the advertisers are listening because I will NEVER buy any product that SCREAMS at you to buy it! Advertising can be effective without being obnoxious. Things like the distracting penguins will never cause me to even consider buying the product.

I genuinely think this is one of the better this app apps out there. I love that the notes are also highlighted when selecting a number, that the numbers on the bottom disappear when all are used, and I like the soft clicking sounds.

The only reason I’m giving it 3 stars is because of the quality of the puzzles themselves, namely on expert mode. I’ve gotten to the point where 9 out of 10 expert puzzles aren’t solveable by a this app method other than chaining out possible options - or basically guess and check. No XY wing, no swordfish.... just guess and check. It’s so not fun. I’ve even tested this with this app solving apps and putting in some of the puzzles.

None of the other difficulties have any of these advanced strategies, so the jump from hard mode to expert mode is just introducing the guess and check. It’s a huge bummer.

When my old iPad was no longer supported for Sudoku, I downloaded & tested out about a dozen other apps. I JUST want to play this app. I don’t want/need “jazzed up bells & whistles,” just make GAME PLAY useful w/as little frustration as possible, thank you. ONLY this app app I’ve found that does THAT. I deleted ALL the alternatives & just played “old fashioned” paper & pencil this app.

Returned to iPhone last week & am ECSTATIC to discover my FAVORITE this app app available again! Forgot what a PLEASURE playing this app could be!

Find the perfect settings for how YOU like to play & forget all those others! All I need is to have current digit I’m looking for HIGHLIGHTED on board & remove optional numbers below when I’ve found all of that digit = easy to please 😁 so why was that so hard for all those other apps???

First off I got about 25 hours of play time on this the last year so this is by no means a first players impression. Let me say right off the bat this is a fun game but it is also too easy. Right now my fastest expert is 1:59 and that is due to the UI limitation of having to select each number and each tile vs just sticking with the last number you used. This brings me to my next point. The scoring system makes no sense. For 3 months my highest score was a Hard puzzle complete in 6 minutes mean while my under 3 minute expert puzzles were always 6-9 thousand points under the score. That was even after solving all numbers in direct descending order. Frankly if you're playing for the score it might as well be "Whose Line is it Anyway". A global leaderboard would be nice and get rid of that dumb cheer, man is it annoying.

This is a well-done app. Light years beyond pencil and paper! My favorite feature is that when I enter "notes" showing possible numbers for a square, and then I figure out the number of another square in the same dimension, it will auto-remove that number from the note if I configure the game to allow that. My main problem is that my fat finger sometimes touches the wrong key accidentally, but not much they can do about that. Update: They DID do something about it! Instead of dragging a number onto the squares, I can tap the destination square to select it, and then tap the number, and if I hold my finger on the number for a second it will display the number above my finger to verify before I release. This is a very well-designed game!!

This is the first game or app I’ve seen that’s totally free… No in app purchases! Woo hoo! And not only that it’s a fun addicting game of Suduko. I recently had to delete every app that I bought something on. Sometimes you don’t know how much you’re actually spending on those in app purchases. And there’s been a couple times they’ve added things that they shouldn’t have… All you apps are use in app purchases… You know who I’m talking about... They make it impossible to get anything done without spending some money. It’s an app guys… It’s supposed to be fun and I’d rather have them charge me 1 fee in the beginning And be done with it. If this game can do it for free and be a good fun game. Then Others can too! So basically this game is great fun and free! Thank you!

Really enjoy playing puzzles, always have. Now, in the senior years of my life, I slowly learned to play this app. The more I played the better my game. Like most, I started with the easiest game, and hesitated to try the harder ones, but, eventually I did.
I love the challenge of trying to reach a higher score. My highest is in the 89...
I do much better in this app, than I do at Crosswords.
However, recently this app has introduced a lot of advertising, that interrupts the flow of my game, and I’ve even thought of deleting Sudoku from my iPad. I really don’t like those adds, I’m just not interested! I have cut down my playing, however... I get a least one game in each morning, only to notice that I’m getting slower as I age. Still, I love the game, and glad I learned it.
Irene.

Love this game. Have it on my iPhone and when I got my iPad mini I just had to transfer it over. The best one out of all the this app games I have played.
🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈It has been a while back since I downloaded this this app game. I have tried other this app Games and still I continue to come back to this game. I just love the setup. As long as you continue to update, I will still be playing it. It's the 💣💣💣💣💣
💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯
Still playing and loving Sudoku.✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️ I 'm still playing this this app setup because I just love it. I have tried others and I just keep coming back to this one. I like the graphics 👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾

The quality of the game is not great, but for a free game, the problems are not severe enough to subtract more than one star.
1. The layouts are random, not symmetrical the way quality this app puzzles are supposed to be. This makes the level of difficulty vary within a given level.
2. You have to switch back and forth between writing notes and filling cells.
3. On a small screen, cells are difficult to select, especially along the right side.
4. Due to 3 and 4, it's easy to make marks you didn't intend. You can undo notes, but there's no Undo that lets you take back a mistake if you fill a cell that you only meant to make a note in.
5. The programmers recognize this and compensate by letting you make three mistakes before counting it against you. On the fourth mistake, the game is treated as a loss.
6. It would be nice to have a Reset that allows you to repeat a setup that you lost or got stuck on.
7. The notes are small. It would be helpful if the contrast were enhanced for folks with marginal eyesight.
8. Ads are unobtrusive, but it's easy to touch them by mistake, and then you have to go through the process of closing the browser and finding your way back to the game.

This is one of the better this app apps out there. I play a few games a day and have no issues with performance or crashes. The scoring system is confusing (I feel like “Best Run” is always the same as “This Run” so I’m not sure what any of that means), but that’s a minor complaint. The only other issue I have is the way the ads work. I understand ads are important to keep Sudoku free, so I’m fine with placing a tower in some tower defense demo between games and hitting the “X” to close out. But the ad pops up after the “Play Again” button, so I often click on the ad when I’m trying to start a new game. If the ad played before the next game, or if the “Play Again” button popped up after the ad, it would be fine. Just a minor critique of an otherwise awesome app :)

I deleted the game as I said that I would and went about looking for other this app games. I noticed that this one did update their platform and the game looked superior so I tried it. In a week I discovered that the game still has multiple issues and more than I remember from the previous version. One game was down to one number and two empty spaces. It should have been easy from there, right? Wrong! Putting that number into the first empty space I chose became an error. Placing the number in the other empty space showed one empty space left with no numbers left to choose from at the bottom. I tried to snap a picture of it and couldn’t before the hidden number appeared. My only mistake was cheated upon me by the game. True, I should have noticed the sector I was placing the (what appeared to be) the last number already contained that one, but seriously, if you can’t trust the game to reveal its true settings then you can’t trust the game. It’s a pretty game, I’ll give it that. But, I don’t like it. Untrustworthy. Slow, locks up a lot, the sound does not always coincide with what you are seeing. The Chinese have an old saying, no matter how good the fish looks, if the head stinks then the whole fish is bad. Might I reiterated, the game had always performed perfectly, best ever until a software update from Apple sometime back, five or seven updates ago. I said so immediately.