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Killer Sudoku by Sudoku.com

Math crossword & number puzzle

Ratings

Age

13+

Category

Board

Languages

English

Killer Sudoku by Sudoku.com is a new take on the world-famous number puzzle. In addition to the standard Sudoku rules, you must use arithmetic to solve 'cages'—areas with a target sum. With thousands of levels ranging from easy to expert, it’s a perfect tool to sharpen your logic and math skills every day.

Dinsun Expert Review

Our Expert Score

83/100

Killer Sudoku by Sudoku.com is a fantastic evolution of the classic number puzzle. For the uninitiated, Killer Sudoku adds 'cages' to the standard grid—each cage has a small number in the corner that represents the sum of all digits inside it. This adds a fascinating layer of arithmetic to the traditional logic, making the puzzles significantly more challenging and rewarding.

The app's interface is clean and utilitarian, which is exactly what you want for a serious puzzle game. The daily challenges and seasonal events provide a great reason to check in every day. The 'auto-check' and hint features are well-implemented, offering help without making the game too easy. It’s a deep, brain-bending experience that is perfectly suited for long commutes or quiet evenings. For anyone who finds standard Sudoku too repetitive, this is the perfect upgrade.

Dinsun reviewed on: Thu Feb 26 2026

Features

1

Thousands of puzzles for all levels

2

Daily challenges and trophies

3

Helpful hints and auto-check

4

Notes and undo features

Tips & Walkthrough

Gameplays

Screenshot

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Q&A

Killer Sudoku adds 'cages' with sum requirements, adding an arithmetic challenge to the logic.

Ratings & Reviews

10/10, Worth it! (After Ad Removal)
Fri Oct 28 2022 Ixiion

Let me preface this review by saying that this ONLY applies to the game after removing ads. It seems the massive majority of complaint reviews are regarding the very numerous and intrusive ads. I loved this game so much from the jump that I purchased the ad removal after just playing a couple games, so I never experienced all those ad issues, so I can't comment on them. However... aside from the ads, the game is awesome IMO. It's become my favorite sudoku game tied with another, and I've been playing it every single day since downloading it, and sometimes for hours. I've only had the game a couple weeks and have already played well in excess of 300 games. It's a very interesting version of sudoku, and gives it a fresh new challenge. I especially love that they're mostly randomized games, not set levels, essentially meaning that I can play forever and am not limited to just the set levels. Also I really enjoy the difficulty levels. I mainly play on Hard & Expert lately where the challenge is quite fun and makes you use your brain, & sometimes play Medium as a break when I just wanna play and zone out. All in all, especially if you're willing to purchase the ad removal (which isn't expensive), then I absolutely recommend this game. IMO it's worth it, and I'd do it again to support the devs, too. (I mean, I recommend the game either way to be honest, but as I said, I can't speak to what I haven't experienced.) I rarely review apps, but this has become one of my favorite games & I've been playing it every single day since downloading it.

Math Idiot Enjoys herself
Fri Jul 28 2023 Rose's Alpha

Ok I’m the primo math idiot around. And at my age (let’s just say I’ll admit to being over 50) I’m not getting any better. But in law school I was lighting fires and I knew my strength was in word power and writing but also in logic. So once I was told Sudoku was about logic and reasoning, not math I decided to (secretly) give it a shot. No one had to know if I failed after all. So why did I get Killer Sudoku then when it’s clearly math? Ok it’s really arithmetic and adding at that but still …. And I might as well admit I use a form of counting on my fingers to this day. I know I’m a far cry from a dummy; I was carrying an A- GPA in law school (had to leave when the money ran out). But I still feel secretly ashamed of not being competent at math. My IQ is estimated at around 160 but we’re a society that reveres math. But I just had to try this form of Sudoku. And even though I’m at the Easy level here (I’m starting the Hard levels in other Sudoku games), I’m finding that the arithmetic needed is really more of a form of clues and it’s challenging to see if you can multitask. Keeping track of your addition yet also using your logic to work out the numbers and what will work where. I’m usually only happy juggling at least 3 balls at once; i.e. watching a movie (usually was with my late husband), knitting a complex sweater, having a snack and possibly reading a book during commercials. My husband used to say he could only get my full attention on a movie when he took me to a theater (and even then he’d check my purse for smuggled knitting lol). So I think I may just like this version of Sudoku. We’ll see.

Such a fun twist on Sudoku!!
Thu Sep 19 2024 Bjd4

I don’t mean to scare off anyone from this game, it is a great, fun Sudoku+ puzzle game!! I had been solving Sudoku puzzles for years when I first encountered it, so I cannot speak from personal experience as to how it might be to solve as a true novice, but it adds another element that gives you information about which number goes in which square, so I feel like the easy puzzles might be even easier and more fun for someone who is struggling to solve beginner-level Sudoku puzzles using only logic. And for those of us who love logic puzzles, it adds another layer! As an Expert Level (or whatever fun moniker is given to the most difficult level of Sudoku puzzle) Sudoku fan, I have been playing this game for YEARS now. I love that it gives me an additional tool for solving Sudoku problems! The “math” is very simple addition, and keeps my single-digit addition facts fresh, but mostly it is just incredibly satisfying to be able to solve a “blank” Sudoku puzzle! High praise to the creator(s) and developers! Thank you for adding a fresh take on a fun puzzle to my daily brain challenge!!

Needs options NOT developers forcing users
Sat Aug 17 2024 KRKapple

UPDATE: Most recent update created a tournament and other events in the app. Still showing notifications for these even though I NEVER participate in them 🙄 and now they are trying to push you to participate in the tournament by including it in the score of daily games 😒 I didn’t ask for that! I didn’t give you permission to do that. I’ve NEVER participated in the tournament. Why are you trying to force this on users other than being greedy and wanting more ad money?! 😡 This is NOT going to get me to use your app more and it just cost you another star ⭐️ | Issues with notifications still exist and now they’re getting greedy that there are ads every other move or 2 in the hard games that you really need to focus on. I still beat the one today without any mistakes 😛 But I shouldn’t have to close and reopen the app repeatedly bc of your stupid ads interfering with game! You lost a ⭐️ | overall I like this game as a way to challenge my mind but my biggest complaint aside from the ads which interrupt you in the middle of playing (make sure you pay attention to where you are and if you have notes on or not!) is the notifications about “events” that pop up full screen when you open this app. It’s annoying to have a notification say something like “the event is over. Better luck next time” when you never even participated in the event! 🙄 Surely the developers can make it that only people who actually PARTICIPATED in the event see these or create a setting for us to shut events OFF so we don’t get these.

Great to disappointed
Wed May 17 2023 hgknox93

Edit: I’ve been reading through other reviews and I’m glad I’m not the only one who is very upset about mid game ads. Even reviews from ONE YEAR AGO saying they had this issue and on of the developer replies said they were going to get rid of the mid game ads, seems that was a lie. Their only other responses are well just pay for ad free…no because we play it because it’s free. I understand ads help you to make money to keep it free but it’s sudoku not a high tech action game…seriously there can not be a high enough expense to have ads play 3-5 times from start to finish of one game of sudoku... I’ve played call of duty free on my phone and had zero ads and other high animation games that only play one ad after each round (which is fine). You guys need to reevaluate your ads placements…seriously. I loved this game ever since I started playing it, the fun of sudoku with the added challenge of adding up the numbers to fit the certain boxes. It was my constant go to game, but all these ads recently have really made it a lot less fun. I was fine with the ads after you complete a puzzle, no problem, but now I get 2 or 3 ads every game randomly throughout the middle of playing my rounds. I go to fill in a square and boom random ad, it’s infuriating and super annoying. Sadly, I’m going to have to uninstall because of this reason and search for a new sudoku that doesn’t have ads pop up in the middle of my game play.

It was fun till i paid for it.
Thu Oct 17 2024 mecdoss

3 mistakes and 1 hint limit for the free version made it challenging and fun. Keeping a long streak of wins was actually exciting, but then i paid for the app and the thrill is gone. Im so disappointed, like what is the point? You really have to try and lose to lose at this game. And the challenges and rankings are absolutely worthless because you can just take unlimited hints and clear a game in no time, making you the fastest player online. Games with rankings shouldnt have a pay to win feature like this one has. If you like this game and want to keep it challenging, dont pay for it A couple more things. On the paid version there is an option to restart a game, this button is in the same position “new game” would be, so you will accidentally click it sometimes. Tge downside is that doing so resets your winning streak which is the one statistic that matters to me. I had twenty wins in a row wiped because i accidentally clicked that button. Lastly, the error graphic is very hard to discern from the correct graphic, so many times when i make a mistake i wont even notice and ill continue making mistakes till i lose the game because dark red is really hard to differentiate from dark blue in a thin font. Even worse, the correct animation animates from red to blue.

Excellent Game
Tue Jul 05 2022 t o m a

I really enjoy this version of Killer Sudoku. I've played thousands of games and not seen any that were "badly formed." Some were truly devilish to solve, and I often think that the expert level could be divided into 2 levels because of the differences in difficulty among those puzzles. Like another reviewer, I also noticed that I got more expert puzzles as dailies as I went along. I assumed that the game learned the players skill level and tuned the game to present appropriate puzzles. However this seems to have reset after the June 2022 update - the one that added the pop up showing what percent of users have solved the puzzle. I have recently seen many hard puzzles where for the last year I only ever got expert puzzles for the daily. I removed a star to give a 4-star rating because I enjoyed the events, but have not seen one in years. The following comment is from my initial review, and I leave it here because I purchased the game and no longer see ads. That also solved the following problem. YMMV: One comment for improvement is on the Ads. I like the way they are handled and how I can FF through many of them, and I like that they have the Adsense triangle on most of them to allow reporting bad ads. This is especially helpful because there are a set of ads that never exit and don't provide an X or close button. Those also don't seem to render properly. On those ads the only thing that works is clicking through to their website or returning to the ad. On them I have to kill the Killer Sudoku app and restart it to move on. Yet other ads lock up my iPad almost completely. I remember groaning over and over when the killer ad came up. It was for drinkable makeup or something like that. I have iPad 4 FWIW.

Have loved this game BUT…
Mon Jul 08 2024 Ellybelly10

Lowered my rating from 5 stars to 3. This has been my favorite game for months and feel it has sharpened my focus and ability to mentally juggle several things (numbers) at once. However, recently Ads have interrupted the game when I’m trying to mentally hold on to 3-4 numbers in play. I don’t mind ads in the beginning or the end of a game or to get a reward but really? Stop the game in progress for an ad? No other game I play does this. Shame on you killer sudoku developers! Second review - later date: I still think it’s naughty to interrupt a game in progress that depends on remembering and mentally manipulating several possibilities at the same time. But developers - I’m still playing, so I guess you win! New review. I ve adapted to the ads but now when an ad is supposed to start, it doesn’t! The screen goes white and stays that way for very long time. I get up and do something else and after 5 minutes, it’s still white. So I go to another game. You’re defeating your purpose with the ads if players like me just leave the game. There’s a lot of games out there! I hope you can fix this.

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