Get in on the Sudoku Craze

What the Heck’s Sudoku?

Sudoku is a game that seems to be all the rage lately. But just because the popularity of Sudoku is recent, don’t think the game is new. The modern version of Sudoku was first published in 1979, but the concept of the Sudoku game has been around for literally thousands of years.

Usually the puzzle of Sudoku is played in a grid 9 wide across and 9 squares long. This larger grid is then broken up into smaller grids consisting of 3 squares across and 3 squares down. These smaller grids are referred to as regions, boxes or blocks.

Some of the cells in the Sudoku grid contain numbers. These numbers are referred to as givens. The goal of the Sudoku puzzle is to fill each of the cells in the grid with numbers so that each block, row and column of the grid contains the numbers one through nine exactly one time each.

Mastering Sudoku

Sudoku puzzles are usually published with a number that signifies the puzzle’s difficulty ranking. The better you get at the game of Sudoku, the higher you will want the difficulty ratings to be on the Sudoku puzzles you play. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that just because a Sudoku puzzle has a small number of givens, the game is easier to play. The number of givens in a Sudoku puzzle have no effect on the game’s difficulty.

When you get really good at Sudoku, you may want to test your skills against other Sudoku players by entering into one of the Sudoku games or tournaments that have been taking place around the globe. If playing in an actual tournament doesn’t appeal to you, there are online Sudoku games that allow you to play against other Sudoku players from the comfort of your own home.