Number Sums - Numbers Game Reviews

by Gosleyj

This is unacceptable! When you select all correct numbers in a row, the game used to autocomplete the row by erasing the remaining numbers. With the last update, this has been changed. Not sure why the video to advertise the game still shows that feature being part of the game. I’ve read from other reviewers that they were told this was done to enhance the game experience. For who! Those who have been playing this for sometime have had the feature and enjoyed it the way it was. If you wanted to ‘add more challenge’ to the game play, an option to turn the auto-complete feature off could have been added. Or bigger grid sizes could have been developed. Instead you decided for the user if they want to waste time clicking on all the numbers rather than determining the correct ones and be rewarded by the rest clearing. You have lost a loyal player. I found another version that still has this feature and I will be spending my time with their game.

by BlackStar-2.0

I enjoy the game and used to play a lot but they’ve added so many ads. Like a lot of times they’ll have an ad show up when your in the middle of a game/level. It’s super annoying and makes you lose the flow you had going. And not only are there so many ads, a large majority of the ads are really stupid and annoying to watch. There has been multiple times I’ve just stopped playing because I was so frustrated with the constant ads. Plus, some of the ads are pretty long and all of them require you to press more than one ‘X’ to get out of the ad. A lot of times you have to press three separate exit buttons just to move on.

by JueJuey

Ads between rounds is acceptable - even if I have to wait for 3, 4, or 5 between rounds I can tolerate (on mute while I freshen my tea), but multiple ads during game play is inexcusable. In the midst of toggling between circling or erasure, as I’m selecting numbers in the row or column to erase or circle, I am FORCED to watch an ad! My senior brain loses its train of thought and I have to figure out what I was in the midst of doing. It’s not just once per level… it’s constant. This is a good mind exercise but too many ads during play… not for me. Time to delete NumberSums .

by Mom Of 08

I was excited to try , but ads in the middle of the game is a deal breaker. Also, I would prefer to be able to choose numbers and erase numbers THEN choose “submit” or something when I’ve worked through the level. As it is if I bump a number or am trying to work through it it just ends the level. Even Sudoku gives you a notes option or the ability to make changes until you have things the way you want them. I had high hopes and was excited to try but instead I just ended up frustrated with basic functionality.

by Kgsm96

But then the developers turned it into a world wide competition. Not a fan

I was disappointed by the developer’s response to my review “just ignore that part”.

I have been playing this for months. I decided to support the developers and buy the ad elimination feature. Simple game, no stress. Then the developers change the premise and created a competition. There response was to tell me to stop playing that portion of the game. To the developers, instead of telling a supporting customer to stop playing a significant portion of your game, why don’t you provide the ability to opt-out of the competition. From the looks of the scores, the competition doesn’t appear to be very popular anyway.

by Brethren Ella

The function that automatically erased incorrect numbers after selecting the correct ones has been removed. Now, players are required to manually erase all incorrect numbers. I find this function to be repetitive for no good reason. With this game, I picked the lesser two poisons. Ads, I understand as they make revenue for the company as annoying and frequent they are. But removing the function of erasing all incorrect numbers AFTER you’ve already selected the correct ones??????

There’s no real reason no matter how they spin it but I put in a ticket inquiring the new development and was told verbatim that, “This change was made to enhance the gameplay experience by encouraging more active and deliberate participation from players, at the same time, making the game more challenging.”

I personally don’t find this change enhancing or encouraging but it is what it is?????

I’ve reached 950+ levels and to have this new development take place, I find myself not playing Number Sum as much and frustrated enough to write a review at 3:44AM. Out of all things to “fix”, this wasn’t it and a poor decision in my opinion.

It feels like whoever OK-ed this change was the kid that goes, “Oh teacher, you forgot to collect homework!! 🤓” right before class ended.

The game is great, customer service was amazing, Polina gave me a timely, thorough, and polite reply and I’m not mad, just disappointed.

by GHWPhoto.com

I will agree with other reviews that have stated that this is a fun and challenging game. But, the number of ads is simply obscene. Just now, I opened the game and clicked to continue a board I had been playing, and I had to get through an ad before I could play. Then, I made two moves and another ad. This is an extreme example, but the biggest issue that I have with the ads in this game are the mid-level ads. It happens way too often that I’m working through a logical thought process and taking multiple steps to solve a board and, right in the middle of this process, an ad plays. I’ve had this break my chain of thought on numerous occasions.

As you might be able to tell from my review, I haven’t deleted the game. It is a good game. But the mid-level ads are extremely frustrating. If they got rid of those, I’d give this game two more stars. As it is, I’ve been about to delete it on several occasions, but I’ve opted to simply stop playing for a while instead.

by Monkey Dokie

Very fun and engaging game. Low stars due to the endless amount of ads. I have to sit through 3 different segments of the same ad so I can finally skip all 3 of them? Absolutely ridiculous.
After lvl 47 my brain was rotted with all the ads. I finished a level, an ad and skipped it, cool. Press the next level button, another ad, wait 5 seconds, skip, need to wait another 5 seconds to finally skip that ad and start the level.
Ridiculous and unnecessary, if the game wasn't like this definitely this would be my day to day game.

by NicknameShouldBeOptional

Has potential but poorly executed. Instead of working through your choices and submitting, it penalizes you when selecting and only provides two lives. This means you can’t work out options before committing and, after level 10 or so, many possible permutations make it a guessing game not a logic puzzle. Also, the greed pushes the ad frequency past a tolerable level. If you’re okay with a sometime MineSweeper-like guess-or die model, and already plan to buy, this might be your thing. But if you prefer ad-driven use or logic, this may not be for you.

Update: Impressive that the developer responds to reviews. Will keep an eye on NumberSums.

by TexturesStudio

This is a well thought out logic game. If you enjoy Sudoku, this is another game that will use similar skills. Levels vary in difficulty, and there are also daily challenges to win trophies each month. However, there are 2 issues:

1. While you expect ads in free games, most have the decency to place them between levels. This game will break your train of thought with an ad during your current level. Then, you get an ad when you finish a level. This wouldn’t be bad, except that you immediately get a second ad when you click “next level.” The longer I played, the more frequent the ads came.

2. The mechanics of the game are such that it is easy to make a mistake in your marking (either circle or erase each number.) You have to tap circle mode or erase mode, and you constantly switch back and forth. The switch isn’t even debounced, so it often flips itself back due to an accidental double tap.

The bottom line: I deleted this logic game, due to a twitchy mechanic and an unbearable amount of ads.

by CustomerM03

I love this game and I’ve been a big fan of NumberSums since just after it released. It had ads between games which is fine, I can deal with, but now they’ve started advertising in the middle of a game. You can’t wait two more minutes for me to finish this puzzle before you shove ads down my throat? This is what’s turned me off of many games in the past and I’m sad to say that my engagement with NumberSums will probably massively decline because of this.

by Splunkr

I know ads are needed to keep games free but where the ads pop up is important to the playability of a game. They can pop up before or after a round or when you request a hint or some other item. But for a logic puzzle it is illogical to have them pop up in the middle of a game. It breaks your train of thought. If you had a series of moves in mind, you forget what they are. It does introduce a new thought: “it’s time to delete NumberSums”. So that was my next move. Done and gone!

by Rtwtrav

I understand free games need to make money and a break after a level is actually nice sometimes but the developer crossed the line when there’s an ad in the middle of a game. The ads are as long or longer than the game and it’s annoying. Too bad, there a lot of competition out there to exercise my brain and this change made the game no longer fun.

by Jpc-dbk

The ability to make a tentative selection like the Sudoku game. Does the remove ads option remove all ads? I’ve seen games from other companies that removes only some ads. I’d like this for my grandkids but would want to make it as ad free as possible.

Added a star to the rating. I haven’t seen any ads since I purchased NumberSums !
There are still features I’d like to see added but removing the ads is a very good step!

by BlueHose

I rarely write reviews and I typically have no issues with ads, but NumberSums has gone overboard. An ad to start a game, another ad when the game ends..click “new game” and another ad to start the next game. Now to add to the ad nonsense…when you make a correct, educated guess up pops an emoji with “good job”, “way to go”, or “congratulations”….and your reward for making a correct selection...another ad! How stupid…you get penalized for making a correct selection.

by JayDoto

I very well maybe the only to struggle with this, but I don’t like the circle and erase options. I wish that they were separated or maybe different colors when one or the other is selected. I lose more lives swearing that I selected the circle option and the erase option is actually selected or vice versa.

Maybe the background turns red when erase is selected and the background turns green when the circle option is selected. Just a suggestion 🤷🏾‍♂️

by AHH Rider

This was a 5 star game, but the number of ads went from being reasonable to unbearable — not sure if it was a recent update or if the developers decided that once you get to a certain level that you’d pay for NumberSums if they made it more annoying not to, but I no longer enjoy playing when every few moves I get interrupted by yet another ad. For me it’s having the opposite effect and I’ll probably stop playing.

A few minor changes could help with gameplay. Most of my mistakes were accidental. Rather than toggling the delete/select mode it’d be better to have two explicit buttons to select one or the other, where selecting the existing mode is no operation — then I could just click every time rather than having to always look and double check that I’m in the mode that I thought I was and not accidentally change it.

I’d also like a mode that lets me make mistakes and then just make me figure out where I made a mistake, if I did. Sometimes reverse engineering your mistake is its own interesting challenge.

by Gamer0857

Update: The developer's response is so humble and understanding, it encourages me to be more understanding as well. We need more of this in the world. I can see the ads are how they make their $. And while I personally do wish there were far less ads, I will focus more on the positives and say that the developer really does execute the concept well. It is simple, fun, easy to learn and play, varies in difficulty in a pleasant cycle (does not simply get more and more difficult as you advance in levels), allows you to go back and replay levels, all of it is honestly well-done.

Fun game but you can rarely complete a single puzzle without multiple ads popping up as you are erase/circle certain numbers. It's as if ads are attached to specific numbers on the board and when you interact with that number correctly, it triggers an ad. It's gotten so excessive for me that I've lost interest in this particular developer's version of the game. The game itself is a fun concept though and developer executes the game itself well.

by AKA Nameless

I do enjoy this game, although not my favorite. I agree with the many, many other people who have complained about ads in the middle of the game breaking your concentration. Kind of the same with getting an extra life, by the time the ad is done I have to figure out which number I was on and whether I need to circle it or erase it. I also agree with having a feature to turn on or off an auto erase option once you’ve circled the correct numbers in a row or column. Lastly, and to my point of not enough explanations. I had to reinstall the game a couple of times just to see the tutorial again because I didn’t understand, nor do I yet fully understand, how the colored blocks impacts your selection or elimination of numbers. As well as, what are the tiny blocks with a number in the upper left hand corner of some of the blocks?! I cannot figure out any pattern or clue they may be providing at all!

by WendyAK

I loved this game. Honestly, I had to slow myself down. But, now, I’m doing daily games and I am CONSTANTLY bombarded with ads. Why are you interrupting me after hitting every 3 numbers? Why am I forced to watch and get another life then press a number and be forced to watch again? More often than not, I just put it away and DON’T play it until I can tolerate the ads again. So get the game. I guess you can see how tolerant you are. I think I’m in the medium range. To the developers, just stop.

by Whateverxforever

I’ll start by saying I DO love this game/ When I started playing the ads weren’t too bad because it was just one after some games and each one allowed you to skip after 5 seconds.. now there’s ads before games, in the middle of games, after games, when you try to start a new game after - and not all of them allow you to skip after 5 seconds like before. It’s just become too much and I rarely find myself playing anymore. Quite a bummer.

by Sb1045

First, I love the game. Challenging, addicting, fun. Keeps this retired persons brain functioning. I would give it a 5 star rating BUT the addition of ads during games is unacceptable. I understand that ads are required to make games financially feasible for developers. I’ve not purchased the game so I accept whatever ads the developers choose to display before starting play or between games but interrupting every game multiple times is, as I stated previously, unacceptable. I guess I’ll have to determine my next steps. Continue as is (extremely irritating), delete the game which I hate to do, or pay the purchase price which I have never had to do previously. DUH, guess what, getting more subscribers is obviously the reason for inserting ads in games.

by Agh!allnicknamestaken

Generally enjoy this game. It’s challenging and really makes me think.
I also understand that the developers need to pay for their costs and make some money and am resigned to watching ads (since I’m too “frugal” to buy the paid version). However, the random ads in the middle of a round are really annoying. I’ll gladly watch an ad before or after a round. I’ll watch an ad for an extra life. Interrupting me in the middle of a round to watch an ad is a huge distraction.

I also don’t find the “toggle” between circle and delete unintuitive. More than once I’ve meant to circle a number and then lost a life because the button was in the wrong position.

by TripleGold3

Fun game, excellent, smooth interface. Started out by playing an ad between each game which is annoying but the game was worth it. Quitting because it now plays ads multiple times within each game. I do not understand why the ads repeat either. If I have seen your game in an ad and did not like it, or downloaded it and deleted it due to boredom or ads, showing me the same add multiple times is not going to make me download it. Such boring repetition, makes me delete your game, too. Sad that there seems to be no purchase option because I would have paid a few bucks for this game without ads.

by Leader Bob

The idea of the game is great. The levels are well done. The game layout has 2 critical mistakes. First, the game uses a toggle rather than a select between erase and circle. This toggle results in >95% of the errors I make. I hit erase and then lose a life because it toggled to circle. The display is not obvious enough regarding which is chosen. It should be more obvious, and a switch should be programmed in settings to let the user choose to select or toggle. Second, the sums on the colored regions are too small, and difficult for elders to read. A font 25% larger would make a big difference when playing the game during insomnia. Those 2 issues drop the game from 5 stars to 3.

by Jerseypeach

Okay, I love this game but the controls which consist only with a toggle switch have given me trouble from the start. You choose an option to circle keep or delete any number on the board. The problem is , and it happens many times in every game, is that say you choose delete and the game slips it back to keep and vice versa, there are only two choices and it should not be hard to keep you choice in the place you have chosen.

I do the math, decide what action I will take and pick the keep/delete option I want but it does not necessarily stick with your choice.

I know that I could just say, no big deal, but it is a big deal.

by AMoreAPlayers

I love the concept of the game. It is so inventive and original and fun! But the ADS have become WAY to much. Like, I was doing a puzzle, and ads would keep showing up in the middle of the puzzle. Like, every 3 minutes, my puzzle gets interrupted by ads. I feel like maybe once every 10 or 15 minutes if you really need to, but this is insane.

Sadly, I’m uninstalling.

by SonnigBlitz

I’ll start out by saying that no ads for this game is a one time $5 USD charge, which is so much better than some other puzzle games that charge subscription fees or insane amounts.

I have always been of the mind that if I like a free game, I’ll buy some add on from the developer (usually no ads) because I don’t mind spending money on a great app. This game is fun and challenging. I probably would have bought no ads anyways.

That being said, I want new players to know that at some point (I’m not sure if it was a change that happened at some time, or if it happens once you get to a certain level) the game starts throwing ads at you mid-puzzle. In my opinion, this really takes the steam out of completing the puzzle. You could be adding numbers in your head and suddenly not see them anymore. To me, it’s pretty annoying and disruptive. I understand why the devs did it, but I want to let anyone know before they go into it since it made the game a lot harder for me.

by August Berkshire

Some of the games are harder than others but all can be solved without guessing or hints and each row can ultimately be solved on its own without having to factor in other rows. Odd/even number strategies can be helpful.

While I expected there to be ads, it’s sad that there are ads in the middle of a game. The worst part about this is you can get a pop up ad in the middle of solving a row, and you have to quickly remember the move you were about to make before the ad so you can do it when the ad is done. These mid-game ads aren’t long but they do break your concentration, making them especially annoying. Too bad they don’t happen when a row is at least completed.

by $;5)&):5 Jyyndhh Dr. On K G

Not another dead end, boring, match game for sure. This game is enjoyable, challenging (but not to the point of frustration) and definitely a good workout for the brain. My only advice is not to waste a ton of time getting sucked into their tournaments with “unique rewards” which end up being a little picture of some stupid medal or something. Really? Can’t do any better than that? I thought they’d at least pony up on a few free hints!! Won’t make that mistake again. I’ll still play the game but won’t let my competitive side get me involved in another non-rewarding event!

by BZappMom

I see this suggestion has already been made, but this game would be even more addictive if there was an option to change the white screen. Even on my phone’s lowest brightness, the background of this game can light up a room if playing at night. Otherwise, LOVE this game!

by Reebercat

It’s a really fun game that gets progressively more difficult, then gives you a rest with an easier level every now and then. The ads, though! They interrupt you right in the middle of a move. If they would just wait until you complete a row, it would feel a lot less like they’re interrupting your thought process on purpose in order to cause mistakes, which causes you to watch more ads.

by Windy.Skies

I’ll start by saying that this game can be played without spending money but the number of intrusive ads makes it much harder to concentrate and takes the fun out of it. That said, I believe in supporting developers if a game is good and I play it a lot, so I’m glad the cost of buying it is fairly reasonable because without the ads I do find it very enjoyable. It’s good to find a game that’s not mindless but not too hard if you focus on it.

There’s only one issues that keeps me from giving it five stars, when I’m working numbers in my head I tend to not pay attention to which mode the select/delete tool is in and just select the mode as needed… that’s a problem if what I need is already selected and tapping it again changes the selection to the one I don’t want. If I tap select or delete, it should never select the other mode instead. To me this is a bug that is causing me to make unintentional mistakes. The only reason this isn’t a really big issue is because losing a life doesn’t actually mean anything, being that it gives them to me for free now that I paid for no ads. That feels like a strange feature but it’s compensating for the tool selection issue so I hope they don’t change it unless they also fix the tool selection issue.

by Kmegamom

I really like the game. As I’m retired, I like to challenge my brain and this one does. I do really hate the deceptive ad for the game. It’s nothing like the game itself. But as mentioned in another review, it’s better then the ad.

by Thankful User 611

This game is fun, and $4.99 is very reasonable compared to a lot of apps that try to rip you off and charge you monthly. I don’t understand people that expect things to be free. With that being said, I’m confused by the “color hints” that pop up because there wasn’t much explanation about how to use them. Can you please explain and maybe add that to your “how to play” instructions? Thanks!

by SchwartzMama

I submitted a help ticket informing them of the issue with the spam website popping up every few seconds. They ended up working on making it to where it doesn’t happen. So the customer service is great and so is this game! Just hope those websites stay away. Thank you guys for working on fixing the problem!

by Isabella Jae

I love this game because you can use your brain to think and it is good education for young children probably in second or third grade and up. Fun way to get your child’s mind thinking during the summer instead of having them watching videos on YouTube.👍I would definitely recommend this game to other people. 😄

by Jiggy With It 626

I really enjoy the game. But the ads were truly unbearable. You would just figure out a row, tap one of the numbers in that row, and it would break for an ad. Completely breaking your concentration. I had one game where there was an ad break almost every time I touched a number. So unless you are willing to pay the $5, don’t even think about downloading it. I thought the game was worth $5, and I’m now enjoying it without ads. Perhaps download it, and play a couple of games, just to see if you want the game or not. The first few games did not have very many ads.

by Splashinc

I introduced my friend to your number sum game on my iPad and we both love it.
He wanted to add it to his iPhone games. unfortunately the game is
Different and more difficult. Why only 2 hearts and why don’t the extra numbers disappear when the line is complete?

by JodiMac55

First game I have written a review on. First, let me admit I like numbers - and that’s what this is, so if you want more than maybe not for you. what I LOVE about this game: it’s no timed, so if I need to think, I can. It doesn’t waste my time with silly “fluff” - it’s hard, but can be solved - I’m almost 70 and this challenges my brain, it is based on skill and not on luck - the only thing is sometimes a add comes up in the middle and I’ve lost what my train of thought- but that’s very minor - this may be the first game I will purchase a no add version - I really enjoy this game

by AmyKayP

I downloaded this game from an ad in another game and I am so happy I did. I played the ad version for a couple of days and decided this was the perfect game for me so I paid to have ads removed. The rounds can be challenging and sometimes I have to guess for a certain number, but most are achievable with some brain power.
This is my daily go to game!