Report updated May 19, 2026
▻Sudoku +
For puzzle enthusiasts seeking high-volume, varied Sudoku gameplay with competitive social features.
▻Sudoku + is a market-leading games app that is free with in-app purchases. With a 4.8/5 rating from 83K reviews, it delivers strong user satisfaction. Users particularly appreciate minimalist ad-free design allows for focused mental exercise during daily play sessions, though inconsistent scoring algorithms fail to reward speed and accuracy during puzzle completion remains a common concern.
What is ▻Sudoku +?
▻Sudoku + is a puzzle game for iOS and Android offering 36,000 Sudoku variations with competitive leaderboards.
Users hire the app for focused, ad-free mental exercise that remains playable offline, serving a need for low-friction, high-volume logic puzzles.
Current Momentum
vVARY · 2mo ago
Zombie- Shipped 200 new handcrafted classic puzzles.
- Improved text readability across screens.
- Added larger keypad number options.
Active Nemesis
Sudoku.com - Number Games
By Easybrain
Other Rivals
7-Day Rank Pulse 🇺🇸
PuzzleRating Pulse 🇺🇸
Recent User Mood
What makes this app unique?
What Does It Look Like?
What Are The Key Features?
Calculates scores based on number value and completion speed with a time-decay multiplier
Ranks scores and win streaks against friends and global players via iOS Game Center integration
Offers 36,000 puzzles across standard, X, Hyper, Percent, Color, and Squiggly variations
How much does it cost?
- iOS: $4.99 one-time purchase
- Android: Free with static banner ads
Monetization splits by platform: direct purchase on iOS versus ad-supported inventory on Android.
Who Built It?
PeopleFun CG
Providing polished, accessible versions of classic card and puzzle games for casual players seeking a refined digital experience.
Portfolio
12
Apps
What other apps does PeopleFun CG make?
Explore the full PeopleFun CG report
Portfolio breakdown, audience, momentum, and every app published by PeopleFun CG.
What do users think recently?
High confidence · 102 reviews analyzed · Based on 102 reviews. Signal may be noisy.
How did the latest release land?
What is the recent mood?
Recent user voice shows a thrilled sentiment. Users appreciate minimalist ad-free design allows for focused mental exercise during daily play sessions, but report inconsistent scoring algorithms fail to reward speed and accuracy during puzzle completion.
What Users Love
What Frustrates Users
What Users Want
How have ratings & review volume moved?
Rating, review sentiment, and total reviews over time, with release markers showing the post-launch impact.
Vertical markers = app releases. Hover any release for the post-release impact delta.
View the full user-sentiment analysis
Mood gauge, ratings & review-volume history, every praise / complaint / request, and sentiment over time.
What is the competitive landscape for ▻Sudoku +?
How's The Games Market?
How does it evolve in the Games market?
The app maintains a #50 Paid rank in its category in the US, while its grossing rank lags behind free-tier discovery. This gap signals that the current monetization model underperforms relative to the app's high user retention.
Rank progression
182 active rankings tracked — 30-day window
Which niche is ▻Sudoku + in?
to solve logic puzzles and track scores
Explore the full Sudoku Calculators niche
Every app in this space — 1 tracked, the niche's live rankings, and Marlvel's editorial take on the job-to-be-done.
The rivals identified
Nemeses(1)
Dominates the market with massive scale and a high-frequency release cadence that keeps the product at the top of search results.
Differentiators
- Maintains a massive, active user base that creates a significant network effect for global leaderboards.
- Aggressive release cycle of six updates in six months ensures constant feature refinement and bug squashing.
- Deeply integrated ecosystem allows for cross-promotion across their extensive portfolio of puzzle titles.
Head to head
The target app must pivot toward a community-driven feature set or unique gameplay mechanics to differentiate from the sheer scale and update velocity of this market leader.
Contenders(3)
A stable, long-term competitor with a strong reputation for reliability and consistent, incremental improvements.
Differentiators
- Focuses on long-term stability and performance optimization rather than aggressive, feature-heavy updates.
- Provides a classic, no-nonsense Sudoku experience that appeals to traditionalists who dislike modern UI clutter.
A long-standing, highly-rated competitor that focuses on polished UX and accessibility for casual players.
Differentiators
- Prioritizes a clean, minimalist interface that reduces cognitive load for casual, daily puzzle players.
- Features a highly refined hint and tutorial system that lowers the barrier to entry for beginners.
A high-performing alternative that balances a large user base with consistent, frequent feature updates.
Differentiators
- Integrates advanced puzzle-solving tools directly into the interface to assist users with difficult logic steps.
- Maintains a high update frequency, shipping four major releases in the last six months to improve stability.
Same space(3)
Targets a more advanced, niche audience by offering a specific, high-difficulty variant of the core game.
Differentiators
- Targets power users by focusing exclusively on the 'Killer' variant, which requires advanced mathematical logic.
- Leverages the established Sudoku.com brand to funnel advanced players into a more challenging gameplay loop.
Introduces visual variety to the classic formula, appealing to users seeking a fresh aesthetic.
Differentiators
- Uses color-coded logic paths to simplify complex puzzle solving for visual learners and casual players.
- Provides a distinct visual identity that separates it from the standard black-and-white grid aesthetic.
A strong peer in the casual gaming space with a focus on modern, high-fidelity visual design.
Differentiators
- Employs high-fidelity animations and modern UI design to differentiate from the static, traditional look of competitors.
- Optimized for quick, snackable play sessions that fit into short gaps during a user's daily routine.
Compare ▻Sudoku + against every rival
All rivals in one side-by-side table — identity, store metrics, ratings & sentiment, and strategic intel — plus a head-to-head page for each.
The outtake for ▻Sudoku +
Strengths to defend, gaps to attack
Core Strengths
- 36,000-puzzle library prevents early-game churn
- Offline-first architecture sustains engagement in low-connectivity environments
- Ad-free premium tier creates a distinct value proposition
Critical Frictions
- $4.99 price point exceeds category median
- Scoring transparency issues drive user frustration
- Android-iOS feature parity gap erodes pro-user trust
Growth Levers
- Auto-fill candidate notes would reduce friction
- Tablet-specific layout optimization would improve retention
- B2B education partnerships remain untapped
Market Threats
- Easybrain's high-frequency update cadence outpaces development
- Tetris-branded entries siphon social-feature attention
- EU data-minimization trends threaten ad-inventory tracking
What are the next best moves?
Ship candidate auto-fill because it is the top-requested feature → improve power-user retention
Sentiment data identifies candidate auto-fill as the #1 requested quality-of-life improvement.
Trade-off: Pause visual customization updates — current tile-look satisfaction is high.
Audit scoring algorithm because users report frustration with speed-accuracy rewards → stabilize long-term engagement
Top complaint theme cites inconsistent scoring as a primary source of confusion.
Trade-off: Push the tablet layout sprint to Q4 — scoring logic has higher churn impact.
A counter-intuitive read
The app's #50 rank is a hidden strength: maintenance-mode at this level is less vulnerable to the aggressive, high-burn acquisition cycles that force top-chart apps into constant, risky feature pivots.
Feature Gaps vs Competitors
- Real-time candidate auto-fill (available in Sudoku - Brain Puzzle Games but missing here)
- Tablet-optimized interface (available in Sudoku ▦ but missing here)
Key Takeaways
▻Sudoku + retains users through a reliable, ad-free core, but the lack of feature parity and scoring transparency risks alienating the power-user base, so the PM should prioritize logic-tooling updates to defend against high-frequency competitors.
Where Is It Heading?
Stable
The casual puzzle market is consolidating around high-frequency live-ops, leaving ▻Sudoku + exposed to competitors with faster update cadences. The app's stability is a defensive asset, but revenue growth requires addressing the scoring transparency issues that currently frustrate the most engaged players.
The 36,000-puzzle library provides a deep content moat that prevents churn, sustaining the app's long-term retention baseline.
The lack of feature parity on Android creates a growing sentiment drag, which will likely accelerate churn among pro users.