← Sudoku

Sudoku: how to play

A cosy, pastel Sudoku with three grid sizes, from a quick 4x4 to the classic 9x9. Every puzzle can be solved by logic alone, so you never need to guess. Play it now or go back to the game page.

The goal

Fill every empty cell of the grid so that each row, each column and each outlined box contains every digit exactly once. In the 4x4 grid the digits are 1 to 4, in 6x6 they are 1 to 6, and in 9x9 they are 1 to 9. The puzzle is solved as soon as the grid is full with no repeats.

New to Sudoku? Start with Easy. The cells already filled in are the clues, and they never change. Look for a cell where only one digit can fit, put it in, and let that new digit help you with the next one.

Controls

1. Pick a digit (or a gem) from the row at the bottom of the screen.
2. Tap or click a cell to place it. Tap a filled cell again to clear it.
3. Tapping a clue does nothing: the game tells you it is a clue.

The game is played with taps or mouse clicks, using the buttons on the screen.

At the top of the screen you see your coins and the time. The home button at the top left takes you back to the menu, and the ? button opens the How to play card again. The round button next to it switches between digits and gems: each digit has its own Nook Pop gem. The small grids show gems at first and 9x9 shows digits, and the game remembers your choice.

When you pick a digit, cells with the same digit are highlighted, which makes scanning the grid much easier.

Levels

Pick a grid from the New puzzle menu. Every puzzle is freshly made, and every one has exactly one solution.

Mistakes, notes and helpers

• Repeats: if a digit appears twice in a row, column or box, the cells turn red at once. Nothing is penalised and nothing is lost: just fix it.
• Notes (free): switch Notes on, then tap digits to pencil in the ones a cell could still hold. Switch it off to write real digits.
• Undo (free): takes back your last move, as many times as you like.
• Hint (15 coins): fills in the next logical step and tells you why, for example that a digit is the only place left in its row, column or box, or that only one digit fits in that cell. The hinted cell is marked so you can find it.
• Restart (free at first, then 5 coins): clears your entries and starts the same puzzle again. It costs 5 coins once you have placed a second digit.

If you do not have enough coins, the game says so and nothing happens.

Coins, time and your record

You start with 30 coins, and you get a gift of 30 coins each day you come back. Solving a puzzle pays the coins in the table above. A timer runs while you play, and when you finish you see your time and a message if it is a new best time.

The Your record list in the menu shows how many puzzles you have solved and your best time for each grid size.

What is saved

The game saves your coins, your record, your digits or gems choice and the puzzle you are working on, with your notes and time. If you leave halfway, a Continue button in the menu takes you back to it.

Settings

The language is picked automatically, English or Italian, from your device or browser. Where the game has its own sound button, it sits at the top right of the screen and turns the sound on and off.

Tips

• Start with the digit that appears most often in the clues, and find where it still fits in each box.
• Look at the row, column or box with the most clues first: fewer empty cells means fewer possibilities.
• If a cell can only hold one digit, because all the others already appear in its row, column or box, place it.
• If a digit has only one possible cell left in a row, column or box, it goes there even if the cell could hold other digits.
• Use Notes on tricky cells, and clean them up as you place digits.
• Never guess. If you are stuck, check your notes again or use a Hint: it explains the step so you learn it.

Questions or problems? Contact us.