Best Games Like Sudoku: Killer, Nonograms, Kakuro and More

The games most like sudoku are killer sudoku (the same grid with sums added), nonograms (shade squares from number clues until a picture appears) and kakuro (a crossword built from sums). All three are solved by deduction, with no luck involved. Math crosswords such as Crossmath and Arcadia Zen Math keep the grid but add arithmetic. Block games like Blockudoku and Woodoku borrow the 9x9 board and little else: the pieces arrive at random and you play for a score. Below is what each one keeps from sudoku and what it changes, so you can pick by the part of sudoku you actually enjoy.

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 keeps from sudoku

Sudoku has three ingredients: a grid, a rule that no digit repeats in a row, column or box, and a puzzle that can be finished by reasoning alone. The games below keep some of those and swap the rest. The descriptions come from each app's App Store listing.

Killer sudoku: sudoku with arithmetic on top

If you like sudoku and want more of it, killer sudoku is the obvious next step. Its listing explains the rules plainly: fill rows, columns and boxes exactly as in sudoku, but every cell also belongs to a dotted cage, and the digits in a cage must add up to the number in its corner without repeating. Every row, column and box sums to 45, which becomes a technique of its own. Puzzles start with few or no digits, so the sums do the work the givens do in classic sudoku.

Killer Sudoku by Sudoku.com is made by Easybrain, the studio behind Sudoku.com. Its listing promises thousands of levels, daily challenges, seasonal events, hints and notes. It is free with ads (Killer Sudoku No Ads costs $14.99). Our best killer sudoku apps page compares it with the others, and sudoku variants covers diagonal, jigsaw and the rest of the family.

Nonograms: the closest logic without digits

A nonogram gives you a blank grid and a list of numbers beside each row and column. "3 1" means a run of three shaded squares, a gap, then one more. You combine the clues for rows and columns until every square is either shaded or crossed out, and a picture appears. The feel is very close to sudoku: you look for the square that can only be one thing, mark it, and the next deduction opens up.

Nonogram.com comes from Easybrain, the studio behind Sudoku.com. Its listing describes thousands of puzzles across difficulty levels, daily challenges with a monthly trophy, seasonal events, tournaments, hints, extra lives after a mistake and auto-crosses that fill in lines you have already finished. It shows ads and sells Nonogram.com No Ads ($14.99) alongside coin packs. If it becomes your main game, see our Nonogram.com alternatives.

Kakuro and other sum puzzles

Kakuro is a crossword where every answer is a sum. Each white run of cells has a total, and you fill it with digits 1 to 9 without repeating one inside the run. If killer sudoku's cages are your favorite part, kakuro is that idea without the sudoku grid around it. None of the apps in our App Store data is a dedicated kakuro app, so we have no listing to compare here; search the App Store for "kakuro" and check the in-app purchase list before you download.

Math crosswords: Crossmath and Arcadia Zen Math

These look like a crossword filled with equations. You fill the blanks with numbers so every line across and down works out. Multiplication and division come before addition and subtraction, which both listings point out. It is closer to sudoku than it looks: a blank that can only take one number is the same kind of discovery as a hidden single. The difference is that you are calculating, not just placing.

Crossmath offers Easy to Expert levels, a Daily Challenge and an Endless mode where errors are only checked when you submit; it sells Crossmath Premium $7.99, 4000 Coins $1.99, 1000 Coins $0.99 and more. Arcadia Zen Math goes for calm, with large numbers, a plant collection and an offline mode, per its listing. It lists no in-app purchases, and its age rating notes advertising. Our Crossmath alternatives page goes into both.

Number Match: digits, but a looser puzzle

Number Match puts digits on a grid and asks you to cross out pairs that are equal or add up to 10. Its own listing says there are many ways to solve a board, and when you run out of moves you add the remaining numbers as new lines at the bottom. That makes it relaxed and forgiving, and less like sudoku than it first seems: there is no single answer to find. It is free with ads; its listing sells Number Match No Ads $14.99, Number Match Premium Access $3.99. The Number Match alternatives page has more.

Block games on a 9x9 grid

Blockudoku, Woodoku and Playdoku are the ones that show up when you search for sudoku-like games, because they use the same board. You drag shapes onto the 9x9 grid and clear a row, column or 3x3 square when it fills. There are no digits and no solution; the game ends when nothing fits, and you play for a high score. Because the next pieces are random, a run can end on bad luck, which never happens in sudoku.

They are good games for a few idle minutes, just a different kind. Blockudoku sells Blockudoku No Ads for $14.99; Woodoku's listing says it plays offline and sells numbered packages; Playdoku adds a level-based Journey. Our Blockudoku alternatives page compares them side by side.

If it is sudoku itself you want

Sometimes "games like sudoku" means "sudoku, but without what annoys me in my current app". That is where Sudoku Royale fits. It is plain classic sudoku with six levels from Easy to Extreme, a Daily Challenge, an 88-level Journey that teaches one technique per chapter, and no ads, purchases or subscription. Its price line on the App Store reads: Free, no in-app purchases.

It does not do any of the games above. There is no killer, no nonogram and no math mode, and there is no undo. If your goal is variety, one of the apps above will serve you better.

Where another game is the better pick

• You have solved a lot of sudoku and want new rules. Killer sudoku keeps your skills and adds sums. Sudoku Royale has classic only.
• You want to see something take shape. Nonograms end in a picture, which some players find more rewarding than a full grid of digits.
• You like doing sums. Crossmath and Arcadia Zen Math use arithmetic directly; sudoku uses none.
• You want something you can play half-asleep. Block games and Number Match ask less of you per move.
• You play on Android. Sudoku Royale is iPhone and iPad only.

How to choose

Ask yourself what you like about sudoku. If it is the moment a cell can only be one digit, try killer sudoku or a nonogram. If it is working with numbers, try a math crossword. If it is the look of the 9x9 grid and a few calm minutes, a block game will do. If it is sudoku and the app is the problem, try Sudoku Royale. For more, see the best logic puzzle apps, the best number puzzle games and every page on our sudoku app comparisons hub.