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...
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.
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.
Posted by: Johnny C. | Monday, 19 September 2005 at 09:33 PM
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.
Posted by: Kevin | Tuesday, 20 September 2005 at 08:56 AM
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.
Posted by: Olivier Verdin | Tuesday, 20 September 2005 at 03:16 PM
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.
Posted by: Kevin | Wednesday, 21 September 2005 at 03:30 PM
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.
Posted by: Jenny | Thursday, 22 September 2005 at 07:23 AM
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.
Posted by: Kevin | Thursday, 22 September 2005 at 11:16 AM
I thank you for your comment.
Posted by: Rosie | Monday, 05 March 2007 at 02:35 PM