Last updated on January 19th, 2026 at 11:11 am
KenKen Classic – Education Game Review
KenKen Classic is a Education/Puzzle game from KenKen Puzzle, LLC, first launched in 29th February 2012.
It’s rated 4+ and currently has 3,113+ ratings on the App Store.
What Makes KenKen Classic Stand Out
KenKen® – Brain Training Puzzle
Train your brain with KenKen®, the unbelievably fun, exciting and addictive logic and math puzzle! KenKen is an amazing puzzle that is frequently described as “sudoku on steroids.” If you like other brain games such as sudoku, 2048, Threes, Kakuro, Unblock Me, Tricky Test, Tetris, Flow, jigsaw puzzles, word search puzzles, or crossword puzzles, then you will LOVE KenKen!
This is the ONE-AND-ONLY Original KenKen app, created by acclaimed Japanese mathematics educator Tetsuya Miyamoto. Don’t be fooled by unauthorized versions such as mathdoku and calcudoku, and don't get stuck in a sudoku rut. Play KenKen math puzzles today!
KenKen appears daily in the New York Times and hundreds of other publications around the globe. NY Times puzzle editor, Will Shortz, calls KenKen "the most addictive puzzle since sudoku."
There are virtually unlimited KenKen puzzles available to you on this app. The first 50 are included FREE with the download. If you need more…no problem! Just order them and they'll appear immediately. YOU select the size, difficulty level, and operations.
KenKen Classic includes:
- 50 FREE fun math puzzles of every size and difficulty level
- Unlimited FREE 3×3 size puzzles to learn from and enjoy
- Virtually unlimited puzzles, ranging from 3×3 to 9×9 grids, from Easy to Expert
- A variety of color schemes and music (you can even set your own music to play in the background)
- 3 input modes for digits and notes
- Great extra features such as Hints, Check, Undo, Redo, Reset, Pause, and Timer
- Online leaderboards
- Ability to post results directly to Twitter
- Ability to email results and invite friends
This Education game offers engaging gameplay and regular updates for mobile players.
Player Feedback
As a newer release, KenKen Classic is building its player community. Early feedback suggests .
Recent Updates & Development
Latest Update: 3rd December 2023
Recent improvements include:
We've just made some behind-the-scenes improvements to enhance your privacy and security. Rest assured, your data is in safe hands. To continue enjoying our app hassle-free, simply update to the latest version. Thanks for being a part of our community!
Download & Availability
KenKen Classic is available through the official App Store for iOS devices.
Get KenKen Classic on App Store
Requirements: Requires iPhone 5s / iPad Air / iPad Air (Cellular) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina, Cellular) / iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus / iPad Air 2 / iPad Air 2 (Cellular) / iPad Mini 3 or later.
Compatible with iPhone and iPad devices.
Player Experience Highlights
Community Insight:
This app is great for those of us who love playing with numbers and keeping our minds sharp. Prices are reasonable and the tech support is great.
This seems to be the best KenKen app out there, and the pricing is fair. We would suggest a few small UI improvements that some other good, non-KenKen, apps out there have, but nothing major. Contact us if you want more details, developer.
The puzzles are fun and challenging with a wide range of challenge levels. Their service, when needed, is excellent and prompt. We highly recommend it.
Kenken is so much better than normal sudoku. We were devastated when our new phone iOS wouldnt support it.
Perfect game for all the long car trips help us calm down and makes a great thing to do instead of video games. No suggestions except make more 9×9 puzzles Love the game so much cant think of any other game thats better.
We've been playing this for years and love it. We just bought our third 1000 game expansion pack. Theres a known bug when you buy that is cured by deleting and reinstalling the game and then recovering your purchases. Seems like, if they know about it, why not fix it. We play only 9×9 expert games. Having devised several numeric relationships rules, the others are too easy. Still, after all these years and games, the game still has some new twist every few plays. Star rating is greyed out. Would be a five star.
KenKen is awesome and this mobile app is the best way to play it. For how many hours we play, the price is well worth it.
Playing is so natural in this app.
Been doing Ken Ken for years. We play two 6×6 Hard games a day, one with only Add functions, and the other with all four arithmetic functions: Add/Subtract/Multiply/Divide. The games with all four functions are a little easier because 5s cant be in Division blocks and are thus easier to place. We like the 6×6 Hard games because they are challenging but can still usually be completed in less than 10 minutes. The user interface is wonderful, allowing you to add notes (candidates) to help solve the puzzle, and great Undo/Redo options, but we try to solve them using pure logic, without notes or either-or guesses. Of course, if all else fails, we do whatever it takes. No puzzle can escape being eventually solved.
We have enjoyed it and love that we can pick up some KENKEN anytime! One thing is that it would be amazing if there was a dark/night mode.
Helps keep the mind active. Great way to challenge yourself.
These are super easy to play and easy to press. We love that they have up to a 9×9 and they have from easiest to expert to challenge you. Overall super amazing. 10/10 would DEFINITELY recommend.
We have been using this app for over 10 years, and we have enjoyed developing our ability to solve these puzzles. Highly recommended.
Great app and very enjoyable to play. Our only complaint is that the vast majority of levels are useless to us. We only play 9×9 Hard and expert games and we wish there was a way to only buy those levels.
Thats what we love about this app. We admit it: we are a KenKen addict :).
The only problem with this game is that we cant put it down.
Wish we could see times for all the puzzles Ive solved. Most reset to zero. Still, its quite fun.
We really enjoy the app but the timer is stressful because we play to relax. Please let us turn it off.
KenKen is our favorite number puzzle (way better than Sudoku), and this app is our favorite way to solve them. We exclusively play 9×9 expert level puzzles so Im getting our moneys worth. However, we have some suggestions that would earn the app a fifth star from us. 1. Fix the undo button – sometimes it will only go back a few moves and become unresponsive, or wont undo any moves at all. 2. Add a save and revert function – if we get stuck on a puzzle and want to try what-if logic, we could save the puzzle in its current state and try something, then revert back to where we saved it as needed. For now we can use screenshots for what-if logic, but it would be nice if the app had it built in. 3. Add no-op puzzles to the app for paying users; Ive always wanted to try them! 4. Add a dark mode for play at night and/or to save battery.
but the app isnt the greatest. Was close to finishing one game when the battery died on our phone. When we went back to the game after connecting to power, the game that we had almost finished was only about a quarter complete. Also, dont expect the undo to work all the time. If you switch to a different screen while playing, there will be no undoing when you come back to your game.
Even after purchasing additional puzzles, the puzzle list does not update. We recommend not buying additional puzzles.
KenKen is great but this app has it automatically close out when you entered the correct number which leads to guessing. It should require the manual press of enter (or at least as an option). Than it should state accepted or rejected – this would add to the higher stakes of the game.
When we hit the notes icon, our current cell gets reset, so we end up typing a value into the wrong cell. They should take design lessons from Killer Sudoku by Beetles Games.
Very addictive, no glitches, no ads, and always new puzzles! 5/5.
We love playing KENKEN while Im listening to music or watching news and sports on TV in the background. We used to play the most challenging Sudoku puzzles daily. KENKEN is a great alternative with games ranging from easy to hard. We have improved a lot and prefer to play the 9×9 games. For beginners, we recommend starting with 4×4 to get the hang of it, then progress to 6×6 and on up.
We've been playing this for years and love it. We just bought our third 1000 game expansion pack. Theres a known bug when you buy that is cured by deleting and reinstalling the game and then recovering your purchases. Seems like, if they know about it, why not fix it. We play only 9×9 expert games. Having devised several numeric relationships rules, the others are too easy. Still, after all these years and games, the game still has some new twist every few plays. Star rating is greyed out. Would be a five star.
Fun puzzle game but needs a modern UI and updates for newer iOS devices.
This is a great game, very stable and easy to use. The fees for additional puzzles go to support mathematics education initiatives, so we dont mind paying them. We would rate the app 5 stars, but it does not support Landscape mode on the iPad. Please add the capability for those of us who are iPad users.
And we paid for the subscription bc we love this game but now Im at the 8×8 and its not really unlimited it doesnt have a lot. We dont know if it will unlock more as it goes but we want real unlimited.
Love the game but its time to update the graphics to modern iPhones.
If we could, Ive give it a zero stars rating. We paid first the $7.99 for no ads and more puzzles and still there were junky ads. Then we paid for the 1 year subscriptions to get rid of the ads and still its spitting junk ads on there when our son is trying to use it. Total scam that it charges us over $24 and yet we still am bombarded with junky ads. 8 we finally undid the subscription and erased it. Worthless application.
Great game. We really enjoy puzzles that require math and logic. Kakuro was a favorite for years, but KENKEN may be the new winner.
A beautiful game of logic and intuition. Verb (used with object), kenned or kent, kenning. Chiefly Scot. To know, have knowledge of or about, or be acquainted with (a person or thing). To understand or perceive (an idea or situation). From large and lengthy 9×9 to quick 5×5 games its a great brain duster. KenKen service is #1.
Switching between locking a number in a box and adding or removing a possible number is confusing. Plus the active box changes in non-useful way when switching between entry modes. We find the puzzles them selves, very challenging.
The game itself is pretty fun but the UI is just terrible. This is obviously an instance where the engineer decided to design the interface themselves and, sadly, it was a major failure. We played about a dozen boards but got too annoyed with the interface to continue playing. Usually we would mention the issues in detail but the list is so long that its not worth it for us to spend the time listing it all out.
Few ads so addicting and fun. Helps focusing and clear your mind. Thank you for the wonderful game.
We love killing time on a plane or bus or anywhere with a few games in this app. Its smooth and reliable.
This game is super good and fun for kids and adults.we really love it.
Other apps and games come and go. But Ive had this app longer than any other. The user interface is simple, intuitive, and works well. The upgrades are reasonably priced for the experience. We consider it a steal because the days of buying a dell puzzle book for a few KENKEN puzzles amongst the dozen other kinds are long gone. Theyre years and years and years ago. We love this app.
We play a game a day. It's a great, relaxing way to exercise your mind.
Keeps your brain young while playing away.
Im here because of DoomPants.Ninja. A true legend.
We love this game and that we can make it ad free with a puzzle purchase. The only thing we would change It wont let you click on a square and then select how you will enter the number. Rather you have to select how to enter and then click on the square.
Love the ability to play different levels. No intrusive ads and everything works.
Enjoyable game to play. Sum of us find it difficult.
Love math. With the pandemic eliminating so many activities, this app is a life preserver. Medium and Hard 9x9s. Very challenging and when you have an epiphany in regard to deducing you get a very satisfying feeling.
Game is great, controls are horrendous. Click once and it does nothing, click twice and it puts in a menu and wont let you out. ADD a back out or undo button so you can get back to the game.
This app is way better than the others because it allows us to pick puzzles not just by number of squares and operations but also different difficulty levels for each combination of the two. Very much dislike how the cursor jumps around between boxes when toggling between notes and entering in numbers which leads to lots of errors, many of which we dont notice. If we didnt like how it handles choosing difficulty levels so well, Id never use this app again. We tried looking at others. They all have better UIs, but no where near as awesome difficulty settings. We really wish youd add a setting that let us keep the cursor in the same place.
We fell in love with this game years ago online but our laptop couldnt upgrade enough to continue playing. We were so happy to find it in the App Store. Now we just have to get used to the minute differences in playing.
User feedback from Apple App Store
App Details
- Version: 3.87
- Size: 40.27 MB
- iOS: 12.1 or later
- Languages: EN
- Content Advisory:
- Developer: KenKen Puzzle, LLC
Last updated: 3rd December 2023 | Genre: Education, Puzzle | Developer: KenKen Puzzle, LLC