Play the game, everybody play the game...

I am crazy for a game called Sudoku.

And this is not just some minor obsession.

Logic-based puzzles such as this have been something I've loved.  Especially when I can just sit down and think through them without much in the way of interruption. 

I know these puzzles have been around for some time now and I have seen them before, but I just never bothered to try them out.  This past weekend, while Katie and I were working the gym, I found one in the Daily Herald and tried it.  Katie was knitting so I played my little game and now I'm hooked.  I've played through about three or four of them since Saturday and have even downloaded a shareware version on my Palm Pilot.

Here's the basic layout for a Sudoku gameboard...

Miscsudoku

The goal is to fill in the board (several numbers are pre-entered) so that each row, column, and 3x3 square contains the numbers 1-9.  The numbers 1-9 may not be repeated within a single row, column, or 3x3 square (yes, this should be obvious; but who knows if you, dear reader, feel like thinking today; it is, after all, Monday).

And to have discovered this joy just before I go on a plane trip on Thursday is like uncovering my own little buried treasure.

I'm in OCD Heaven right now.

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Comments

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Johnny C.

Looks like a cool game. I'll have to check it out after I get some sleep tonight. Remember Minndsweeper or Mindsweep? My Dad used to play that for hours. I sucked at it and still don't get it to this day. Maybe I should read the directions. Solitaire does it for me when I can't play online poker though.

Kevin

I remember Minesweeper very well. I loved that game and still play it from time to time. A friend of my family was able to play that game on the hardest level and finish it in less than a minute. That was pretty incredible. He would just rip through it. He had an incredibly analytical mind that could reason through any situation at lightning speed. He would have been great a speed chess.

I'm also a big Freecell and Spider Solitaire fan on my PC at work. On my Mac, I love Pac the Man (great freeware PacMan rip) and Solitaire Antics. There was also a freeware Light Cycle game I downloaded at one point that was supposed to emulate racing the bikes that were used in the movie Tron. Fun. Dunno what happened to it.

Olivier Verdin

Check out http://www.sudokuprime.com where you can learn how to play sudoku. You can also play sudoku alone or play sudoku with your friends in a multi-user session. Give it a try, that's really fun! There is also a solver to help you solve a sudoku found in a newspaper or in a book.

Kevin

Olivier, damn you. I went to your site and wound up spending over an hour there playing the solo games. Once I completely figure out a method to my madness, I might dare the two-person games.

Jenny

NO! I just lost two friends to Su Doku! Literally - I don't see them anymore. They just sit around all weekend trying to figure out the latest puzzle in the newspaper.

Be afraid.

Kevin

You won't lose me, Jenny. We just met! Don't want to bail out on someone who just added me to their linklist/blogroll.

I'll become addicted to the game on my time away from the blog and pray one doesn't leak into the other.

Rosie

I thank you for your comment.

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