Sudoku Royale vs Brainium Sudoku: Calm Solving, Compared

Brainium Sudoku is the more configurable app: auto-fill notes, optional error checking, landscape play and a left-handed layout. Its hint system explains the logic behind each move. It is free with ads, and its listing sells a Remove Ads purchase for $11.99. Sudoku Royale has no ads and nothing to buy, a sixth difficulty level, and structured lessons and drills built around its hints, but fewer board settings. Both apps aim for a quiet board rather than a busy game. The choice comes down to whether you would rather pay once to remove ads and get more options, or play a simpler app that costs nothing at all.

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.

Board tools and settings

This is where the two apps differ most. Brainium's feature list is long, and every item below comes from its App Store listing.

Paying to remove ads, or not paying at all

Brainium Sudoku has been on the App Store since 2011 and has 161,164 US ratings, so plenty of people are happy with how it works. Its age rating notes advertising, and the Remove Ads purchase at $11.99 is how you turn the ads off. If you have played it for years, that price is small for an app you open every day. If you are new to both, Sudoku Royale gives you an ad-free board from the first launch with no purchase screen anywhere. The only things to "buy" in it are avatar outfits, paid for with shurikens you earn by solving.

Two kinds of hint that teach

Both apps refuse to just hand you the answer, which is rare. Brainium's listing describes a hint button that shows the technique you need, explained with animations and visuals that are unique to each puzzle, so you learn why a number goes where it does. It is available in every puzzle you play.

Sudoku Royale's hint is narrower. It appears in Practice after about 90 seconds without progress, points at a cell, names the technique (a hidden single, a naked pair) and stops short of the number. It needs an internet connection. Where Royale goes further is around the hint: the Journey teaches one technique per chapter, the Dojo drills each pattern on a timer until you spot it quickly, and the Sensei coach picks positions from your own recent games to practise. If you learn best by being shown once, Brainium's hint is enough. If you learn by repetition, Royale's drills are the bigger help. Our guide to sudoku hints covers what a good hint should do.

Notes and mistakes

Brainium lets you choose how much the app does for you. Auto-Fill Notes writes in every candidate, Auto-Clear Notes removes them as you place numbers, and Auto-Check Errors is a switch. You can run it as a bare grid or as a heavily assisted one.

Sudoku Royale makes those choices for you. Notes are yours to write, and they clear from the row, column and box when you place a number. Every number is checked as you place it, and a wrong one is rejected. There is no switch to turn that off, no auto-candidates and no undo. Players who like to find their own mistakes, or who hate writing candidates by hand on hard puzzles, will prefer Brainium here.

Where Brainium Sudoku is the better pick

• You want automatic pencil marks. Auto-Fill Notes saves a lot of tapping on harder grids. Royale has no equivalent.
• You play in landscape or left-handed. Brainium supports both. Royale is portrait-only on iPhone and has no left-handed mode.
• You want a bigger board font. Brainium's grid font size is adjustable. Royale's digits grow with the cell, not with your text size setting.
• You type on an iPad keyboard. Brainium lists iPad keyboard support. See the best sudoku apps for iPad for more on the big screen.
• You want to choose whether mistakes are flagged. Brainium's error check is optional.

Where Sudoku Royale is the better pick

• No ads, and no purchase to remove them.
• A harder top end. Master and Extreme sit above Expert, and the Dojo goes as far as X-Wing, Swordfish and XY-Wing.
• Practice that targets your weak spots. A skills radar tracks speed, accuracy and the techniques you use, and the coach builds sessions from your own games.
• A daily puzzle with an archive. The Daily Challenge keeps streaks, a leaderboard and every past day back to January 2026.
• Optional games with friends. A weekly belt league and live matches if you ever want them. Solo play never depends on them.

Which should you choose?

If you like to tune every setting, play in landscape, or rely on auto-filled notes, Brainium Sudoku is the stronger app, and the ad removal is worth paying for if you stay. If you would rather not pay anything and want lessons that go past the hint, try Sudoku Royale. For other options see the Brainium Sudoku alternatives, how Royale compares with Good Sudoku, and every matchup on the comparisons page.