How To Play
Overview
The classic Sudoku puzzle presents you with a 9 x 9 table subdivided into nine 3 x 3 boxes. The table is partially filled with numbers. Your goal is to fill in the blank cells with the missing numbers so that each row, each column, and each of the nine enclosed 3 x 3 boxes contains the numbers 1 through 9 without repeating. While the goal is simple, attaining it can be a challenge (and an awful lot of fun!).
Game Help
Before you start
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Choose a puzzle
From the Home page, you can start the Daily Puzzle by clicking its Play link. The puzzle will open in a pop-up window. If you prefer, you can choose a puzzle selected at random from our vast puzzleworks storehouse. To start the game, just click the button for the puzzle difficulty you want: Easy, Average, Hard, or Random difficulty.
Find a Puzzle
If you know a puzzles ID Number, you can load it with Find a Puzzle. Enter the ID number and click View Puzzle to load it.
Find a Solution
To see the solution of a particular puzzle, click Find a Solution. Enter the puzzles ID number and click View Puzzle to see the solution.
Puzzle Controls
- When you start a puzzle, it opens with some numbers already filled in dark purple.
- Click on a cell you want to solve. The selected cell is highlighted in yellow, and its respective row and column shaded in light purple to help you scan the other numbers quickly. (You can turn this highlighting off or on in Options.)
- To enter a number in the selected cell, click the corresponding number button. (You can also press the corresponding number on your keyboard, depending on your Options setting). To clear a number, click the X button (or the 0 key).
- Your prefilled numbers are dark purple. The numbers you enter are gray. If a number you enter turns red, it means the number is repeated in that scope. (But it might be the other number that's wrong!)
- To make your own "tick mark" for a possible numbers in a cell, just click the cell in the appropriate placeholder area: 1,2,3; 4,5,6; 7,8,9. For example, to mark a cell with a possible 9, click the cell's bottom right corner. Click again to hide it. (You can also press the corresponding number on your keyboard, depending on your Options setting).
- When you complete a row, column, box, or combination thereof, the completed section(s) will flash red. That means it's completed. (It doesn't necessarily mean it's completed correctly.)
Actions
Fill All Tick Marks
Click this button to re-set and auto-fill all possible remaining tick marks for the puzzle at its current state.
Clear All Tick Marks
Click this button to remove all current tick marks. This lets you play with the greater challenge of verifying accurate tick marks yourself.
Options
General Preferences
Select this option to use your keyboard to enter a number in a selected cell. Clear this setting to enter tick marks with the keyboard instead.
Display Preferences
To remove the Current Row or Current Column highlighting for a selected cell, clear the appropriate checkbox. To re-apply it, select it again.
Solving the Puzzle
Solving a sudoku puzzle is a logical process of trying out candidate numbers for each cell in the table.
- Start with a cell in whatever scope (row, column, or 3X3 box) that already has the most pre-filled numbers in it.
- Eliminate from consideration any numbers that already appear elsewhere in that scope. Remember, no repeats. Scan up and down the column, across the row, and around the box to eliminate the number(s) it can't be.
- If a cell has more than one candidate number, use "tick marks" in the cell to note the remaining candidates. Think of the cell as having nine placeholders representing the candidate numbers in three rows: 1,2,3; 4,5,6; 7,8,9. Lunar Logic Sudoku lets you click the appropriate area in the cell to show the tick mark as a number; click it again to hide it. For example, to mark a cell with a possible 9, click the cell's bottom right corner.
- Look for cells with matching pairs. A matching pair occurs when two cells in the same scope have the same two candidates. A matching pair allows you to eliminate their candidates from all other cells in that scope.
- Put down only those numbers you're sure of. Use logic, not guesswork. If you guess, and guess wrong, you may not know it until the last few squares.
- If you need more than a little help, you can open a second browser or browser tab, go to the Lunar Logic Sudoku, and enter the Puzzle ID number in the Find a Solution page. (Dont blame us if it makes you feel dirty, though.)
Mission Completed!
Complete the puzzle, and youll be rewarded with the sweet Super Completion Prize Page. (And keep in mind how much sweeter your accomplishment will be if you can do it without using the automatic tick marks or peeking at the solution!.)
Comming Soon!
- Save game
- Statistics
Additional Resources
(Note: These links lead to third-party websites. Lunar Logic is not responsible for their content.)
Sudoku Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudoku
Sudoku Strategy Guide
http://www.chessandpoker.com/sudoku-strategy-guide.html
Solving Sudoku (PDF file, requires Adobe Reader)
http://www.sudoku.org.uk/PDF/Solving_Sudoku.pdf
Sudoku Puzzles Basic Solving Strategy
http://www.buysudokupuzzles.com/sudoku-strategy.html