Number Match Alternatives: Number Puzzles Without the Ads

Number Match is Easybrain's take on an old pencil-and-paper game: cross out pairs of numbers that are equal or add up to 10 until the board is empty. It is free with ads, and its listing sells Number Match No Ads for $14.99 alongside Premium Access and VIP items. If you liked the arithmetic, Crossmath and Arcadia Zen Math are the closest swaps. If what you liked was the quiet number logic, sudoku is the deeper version of it: one answer per puzzle, and every move can be worked out with no luck involved. Sudoku Royale plays it with no ads and nothing to buy.

Number Match has been on the App Store since 2021 and has 250,720 US ratings, so plenty of people are happy with it. This page is for the ones who want the same calm number puzzle without the ads, or who have cleared enough boards to want something with more to think about.

The App Store facts

From each app's US App Store listing, checked October 26, 2026. Prices and paid items change, so check the listing before you buy.

What each game asks of you

These apps all put numbers on a grid, but they ask for different things. The "Ads" column says what each App Store listing shows: an advertising note in the age rating or a paid item that removes ads.

How Number Match plays, and what its listing sells

The rules, as its listing puts them: find two equal numbers (7 and 7) or two that add to 10 (6 and 4) and tap them to cross them out. Pairs can touch across, down or diagonally, or sit at the end of one line and the start of the next. When you run out of pairs, you add the remaining numbers as new lines at the bottom. You win when the board is empty. There is no time limit, and hints help when you are stuck.

The paid items on its listing are Number Match No Ads $14.99, Number Match Premium Access $3.99, VIP Access for a Single Event $4.99. The listing does not say what Premium Access or the VIP event pass include, so read the in-app offer before you buy either.

Why some Number Match players move to sudoku

The two games feel related: a grid of digits, no clock, a satisfying moment when the last cell falls. The difference is in how you get there. In Number Match there are usually several pairs you could take, and its own listing says there are many ways to solve a board. Which ones you take changes what is left later, and adding lines brings back numbers you cannot plan for. You find out whether a choice was good a few moves on.

A sudoku has exactly one solution, and you can prove every number before you place it. Nothing is dealt at random once the puzzle starts. When you are stuck, it is because there is a pattern you have not spotted yet, such as a hidden single or a naked pair, not because the board turned against you. If that kind of certainty is what you enjoy about Number Match, sudoku gives you more of it.

One honest caveat: sudoku uses digits as symbols. There is no adding at all (more on that in is sudoku math or logic?). If the sums to 10 are the part you like, the math puzzles below are a better fit.

The alternatives

Crossmath: for players who liked the arithmetic

Crossmath lays equations out like a crossword, and you fill the gaps so every row and column adds up, with multiplication and division done first. Its listing offers Easy, Medium, Hard and Expert levels, a Daily Challenge and an Endless mode where mistakes are only checked when you submit. It is free with ads and sells coins, hints and tickets; the first items listed are Crossmath Premium $7.99, 4000 Coins $1.99, 1000 Coins $0.99.

Arcadia Zen Math: the calmer math puzzle

The same equation-grid idea with a quieter look: large numbers, a relaxing background and plant collections you unlock as you solve. Its listing mentions an offline mode, a Daily Challenge and weekly leaderboards. Its age rating notes advertising, and its listing shows no purchase to remove it.

Nonogram.com: logic from the same maker

Also by Easybrain. You shade squares using the number clues on each row and column, and a picture appears. It is pure deduction with a reward at the end, closer to sudoku than to Number Match. It has hints, auto-crosses and extra lives, and it is free with ads (Nonogram.com No Ads costs $14.99) plus coin packs.

Sudoku Royale: sudoku without ads or purchases

Six levels from Easy to Extreme, a Daily Challenge with streaks and an archive, and hints that point to a cell and name the technique instead of handing over the number. If you have never played sudoku, the Journey teaches one technique at a time over 88 levels. There are no ads, no purchases and no account to make. It is iPhone and iPad only, and it is classic sudoku only: no math puzzles, no variants. Live games against other players exist but are entirely optional.

Sudoku.com: the familiar choice

If you already like how Easybrain builds its games, Sudoku.com will feel at home: same style of daily challenges and events. It also shows ads, removable with a one-time purchase. Our Sudoku Royale vs Sudoku.com page goes through the differences.

Blockudoku: if you want something lighter

Another Easybrain game, played on a sudoku-style 9x9 grid but with block shapes instead of numbers. It is a different kind of puzzle; see our Blockudoku alternatives if that is the direction you are leaning.

When Number Match is still the better pick

• You want a game you can drift through. Number Match asks for less concentration than a hard sudoku. That is a feature on a tired evening.
• You like the little bit of adding. Sudoku has none.
• You play on Android. Number Match is on Android as well; Sudoku Royale is not.
• You enjoy Easybrain's events. Seasonal events and medals are part of Number Match; the alternatives above have their own, different, ways to keep you coming back.

So which one?

For the arithmetic, Crossmath or Arcadia Zen Math. For picture logic, Nonogram.com. For the purest form of number logic, with no ads and nothing to buy, try Sudoku Royale and start with the Easy level or the Daily Challenge. More options are on the brain games without ads page and the full sudoku app comparisons.