The story behind Sudoku
Mathematics is the basis of the vast majority of games, both those that are physical and those that are in digital format. And there are numbers everywhere, but few are as popular as Sudoku. This math puzzle was invented a long time ago, but it wasn’t until relatively recently that it began to gain much more fame.
The consequence of that explosion of popularity? Well, everyone knew him and many were trapped by his high addictiveness. Although the premise was really simple, but not easy to solve. Of course before, a bit of the history behind Sudoku, the person who invented it and who helped make it known.
Leonhard euler, a Swiss mathematician born in 1707 and died in 1783, is considered by many to be the true father of Sudoku. Of course, at that time it was not known by that name but by “Number Place”, although the essence was exactly the same.
However, it wasn’t until the late 1970s that Sudoku could be said to have actually been invented. At least it was at that moment when he received the name by which he would later be known worldwide and it was thanks to Maki kaji, who is considered as the godfather of Sudoku and who has recently passed away.
Maki Kaji was president of Nikoli, a Japanese company specializing in logic and puzzle games. It rescued the game invented by Euler and called “Number Place”, which was called differently in the country, although Kaji was not convinced and wanted to make it shorter and easier to remember. This is how the word Sudoku was born, which in Japanese if separated into Su and Dolu mean: number and only.
Therefore, Sudoku does not mean anything other than just number. A name that comes in handy for that idea of place only numbers from 1 to 9 with the intention that each row and column of a 9 x 9 matrix always add up to 45.
Sudoku success
Sudokus seem to have been with us forever, right? Well, in part this is so, although many have only known them since 2004, the year in which he began to gain popularity and arouse the interest of millions of users around the world.
In those years, it was the UK newspapers and magazines that incorporated it into their leisure pages. The results were very attracted to them and the challenges they proposed. So in a matter of a year there were already Sudoku in all parts of the world and it became an entertainment at the level of Tetris and other classics.
Now in 2021 Maki Kaji passed away. He is considered by many to be the godfather of Sudoku, but not before having left us a game that will always be with us and that can be played not only on paper, but also on a multitude of platforms.
How to play Sudoku
How to play Sudoku is very simple. This mathematical puzzle consists of fill a 9 x 9 grid or matrix. That is, in total there are 81 boxes where there must always be a number from 1 to 9. Of course, an important detail must be added: in the same row, column or sub-grid no number can be repeated.
That means all the rows and columns at the end should add up to 45 each. And there more the numbers that serve as an anchor or initial guide are those that mark the difficulty of each of the Sudoku puzzles. The more numbers you have, the easier it will be to square them so that all the rows and columns add up to the same amount.
The best Sudoku games in digital format
The game of Sudoku has crossed borders and not only between countries, but also between the physical and digital world. If it has always been played on paper, for years there have been video games for all the platforms you can imagine or have at home.
So, you just have to decide where you want to play it. Once done and to make the subject a little easier, here are the ones that for us are the best proposals according to the current leisure platforms that you can find I have at home.
Sudokus for Android
If you have an Android terminal, in the Google Play Store there are countless Sudoku games that you can download. Some of them, although the puzzle itself does not have much mystery, have a less careful interface. So our suggestions would be:
Sudokus for iOS
In the case of playing on iPhone or iPad, you will also have different options to enjoy the wonderful world of Sudoku, both in the simple versions and the Multi versions made up of several 9 x 9 matrices.
Sudokus for PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch consoles
While playing Sudoku on consoles is possible, it must be admitted that having the paper versions and those available on mobile devices is somewhat strange to want to do it on a console such as Sony’s PlayStation or Microsoft’s Xbox. Still on the Nintendo Switch it might make more sense, not because of their mobility capabilities, because you might want to enjoy them at home, but because of their on-screen touch capabilities.
Anyway, if you want to play on these platforms, these are the Sudoku games that you should know:
- Nikoli no Puzzle for PS4
- Word Sudoku by POWGI for PS4 and Xbox
- Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training for Nintendo Switch
- Hitori Logic for Nintendo Switch
Finally, we have not yet talked about Sudoku for Windows PCs. Here are also multiple options:
Are there more Sudoku games? Yes, many more and some take the opportunity to even make interpretations of what the game itself is like. For example, Hexdoku is one of them. Although it is not the classic version, so only for the brave or those looking for something alternative.
