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Using the Evans spectral sequence and its counter-part for real $K$-theory, we compute both the real and complex $K$-theory of several infinite families of $C^*$-algebras based on higher-rank graphs of rank $3$ and $4$. The higher-rank graphs we consider arise from double-covers of cube complexes. By considering the real and complex $K$-theory together, we are able to carry these computations much further than might be possible considering complex $K$-theory alone. As these algebras are classified by $K$-theory, we are able to characterize the isomorphism classes of the graph algebras in terms of the combinatorial and number-theoretic properties of the construction ingredients.

For each odd integer $n \geq 3$, we construct a rank-3 graph $\Lambda_n$ with involution $\gamma_n$ whose real C*-algebra $C^*_\mathbb{R}(\Lambda_n, \gamma_n)$ is stably isomorphic to the exotic Cuntz algebra $\mathcal E_n^\mathbb{R}$. This construction is optimal, as we prove that a rank-2 graph with involution $(\Lambda,\gamma)$ can never satisfy $C^*_\mathbb{R}(\Lambda, \gamma)\sim_{ME} \mathcal E_n^\mathbb{R}$, and the first author reached the same conclusion in previous work. Our construction relies on a rank-1 graph with involution $(\Lambda, \gamma)$ whose real C*-algebra $C^*_\mathbb{R}(\Lambda, \gamma)$ is stably isomorphic to the suspension $ S \mathbb{R}$. In the Appendix, we show that the i-fold suspension $S^i \mathbb{R}$ is stably isomorphic to a graph algebra iff $-2 \leq i \leq 1$.