The Basics of Sudoku
Who would have thought that a simple number placement puzzle would cause so much stir in the world? From the unknown parts of Japanese gaming industry, Sudoku came to become a sensation in the United States and in Europe.
Newspapers and the Internet
Not only will you find so many sites dedicated to Sudoku addicts, giving advice, tips and free downloadable puzzles every day, you can also see Sudoku in your newspapers. In the United Kingdom, newspapers like the Times have already subscribed to this gaming phenomenon.
In The World Wide Web, hundreds to thousands of downloadable puzzles can be found. You even have an option of downloading or purchasing programs that can generate thousands of Sudoku puzzles at different levels of difficulty. There are also forums and sites that are dedicated to Sudoku addicts. Here, new players can find out everything they need to know about the puzzle.
But what is Sudoku and how did it come about?
Sudoku is a numerical puzzle that is composed of 9 rows, 9 columns and 9 regions with 9 cells in each region. Unlike other number puzzles, you do not need to have strong mathematical skills to solve the puzzle. There is no addition or subtraction involved. You just need to figure out the proper placements of each number.
The objective of the puzzle is to place numbers in each cell. The catch however is that the numbers 1-9 should only appear once in each column, row and 3×3 region. And though the rules are not as confusing as some puzzles may be, this little “catch” makes the puzzle all the more maddening!
Sudoku was created by an American puzzle maker named Howard Garns in the 1970s but it was in Japan where it became a sensation in the 1980s. The word Sudoku supposedly means single number placement.
Maddening as hell
Sudoku, as most players will attest, can be really hard, not to mention, addicting since you do not really know where to place a number. What is even more maddening is the fact that there is only one answer to each puzzle and you need to come up with a correct number for each cell in order to arrive at the final answer. Remember that every number is interconnected in a Sudoku puzzle. One wrong turn and you might have to repeat everything that you have done so far.
Of course, you will be given some clues to start with. Every Sudoku puzzle will have some numbers in it already to help you get started. Most online versions of the puzzle also have checking devices to help players find out if their answers are correct. This is especially helpful because one incorrect answer or one number incorrectly placed, and you will not be able to properly solve the puzzle.
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