sudoku

Challenging numbers puzzle

JsiSudoku offers challenges for sudoku players of all skill levels. Simple gameplay and even simpler graphics equate to a challenging experience you could spend hours on.

The game's intuitive interface and gameplay was easy for us to learn, though we did need to visit the Help file's instructions to clarify a few of the rules of sudoku. This was the program's first correct step, since we've often tested games without directions on how to actually play. The program functioned just like the paper version of this game, where we had to input numbers into a grid … Read more

Psychologist: Facebook makes you smarter, Twitter makes you dumber

Have you ever written a text message and then failed to correctly multiply 3 by 7 right after you pressed "send"?

Have you ever posted an update on Facebook and instantly reached for your Proust? And have you ever sent a tweet, looked in the mirror, and suddenly believed that you had a twin?

Well, according to the Telegraph, Dr. Tracy Alloway, a psychologist from the University of Stirling in Scotland, can explain all of this.

The good doctor has spent many of her days studying working memory, which allows people to retain and use information. She believes … Read more

Lego robot solves Sudoku puzzles

Lego Mindstorms are futuristic toys for creative kids. But who knew these DIY robots can get creative themselves and solve puzzles?

Swedish programmer Hans Andersson bought a programmable Mindstorms NXT kit for his two daughters and then began tinkering with it himself. The result: a toy that can autonomously solve Sudoku puzzles in what looks like a matter of minutes.

The Sudoku Solver scans the entire puzzle with a light sensor before determining the missing digits in each square. Its computer performs image processing with a thresholding algorithm to make sense of the sensor data. Recognizing the existing numbers in … Read more

Unimpressive Sudoku

Sudoku is a fun game, and thus Pure Sudoku has a lot going for it for that reason alone. The program itself, while serviceable, doesn't do much to impress.

The interface is simple and uncluttered, but is not particularly attractive. A vaguely Asian theme frames a changing background of photos ranging from the Great Wall to Stonehenge. To its credit, the program is very easy to navigate, allowing users to start playing in a matter of moments. Pure Sudoku offers four levels of difficulty, from "very easy" to "difficult." A variety of functions, including the … Read more

Sudoku fans: Try these gnarly KenKen puzzles

Sudoku can get pretty tough. But if you're looking for fresh pastures, KenKen puzzles offer a new challenge.

The only problem for me: The New York Times' online KenKen site offers only 6x6 puzzles.

However, Nextoy, the company that distributes KenKen puzzles outside Japan, has spruced up its official KenKen Web site with considerably larger sizes--7x7, 8x8, and 9x9. The sites use the same Flash-based interface as The New York Times' puzzles, which NextToy supplies.

Nextoy President Robert Fuhrer said the puzzles are updated daily. For now, each is of medium difficulty, though larger puzzles are harder in general. … Read more

My latest puzzle love: KenKen

A correction was made to this story. Read below for details.

My first infatuation was with Sudoku. Then my attentions moved to Kakuro. Now, though, I have a big crush on KenKen.

No, I'm not talking about marital infidelity involving various Japanese women. I'm talking about a series of logic puzzles that have made their way from that country to U.S. newspapers, Web sites, and mobile phones.

Though Sudoku certainly hasn't reached the level of ubiquity of crossword puzzles, it is certainly widespread. The 9-by-9 grids--each of the 81 cells must be populated with the numbers … Read more

WiiWare and Virtual Console releases for this week

This week brings Sudoku to the Wii along with a classic flatulent superhero from the Sega Genesis era. WiiWare Boingz (RealArcade, 1,000 Wii points): Boingz offers 30 levels of mind-bending puzzle solving that has you fling small creatures in order to unwind the secrets of each area. Sudoku Challenge! (Digital Leisure Inc., 500 Wii points): Sudoku Challenge! offers 100 million Sudoku puzzles for you to solve so odds are you'll never need to buy another Sudoku game ever again. Try out three modes of difficulty in addition to Grand Sudoku which asks you to solve simultaneous puzzles at … Read more

Exercise your brain with this freeware game

There's little doubt that this new free Sudoku game sports an atrociously decorated interface, bedecked with smileys and butterflies. However, the game play itself in Free Sudoku 2008 is unimpaired, and the three levels of difficulty and timer actually make this a reasonable experience if you're looking to fret over number patterns for a while.

The game provides the timer, the difficulty level, a solution checker, and an "I-give-up" option on the right-hand side of the panel. The main panel is taken up by the game board, and has an interesting feature: players can enter up … Read more

Freeverse Sudoku (iPhone App)

It's only fitting that one of the great game developers for Mac would dabble in the new iPhone gaming market. Freeverse Sudoku sports a smooth and beautiful interface for playing the addictive Japanese numbers game using the touch screen on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You can even "pencil in" numbers to see how they work as you play.

iPhone link: http://freeverse.com/iphone/sudoku/

Web site link: http://freeverse.com/games/game/?id=7014

Sudoku (iPhone App)

One of the most addictive newspaper number games available comes to the iPhone with this Sudoku app. The nine by nine playing board is just like you would expect, but what makes it cool is how they utilize the touch-screen interface for entering numbers. We would have liked more skill levels, but for a quick Sudoku fix, this app performs quite nicely.

iPhone Link: http://sudoku.myiphone.pl/