The History of Sudoku

While you may be thinking that Sudoku is some ancient Chinese game that is been around for thousands of years, you'd actually be wrong. Sudoku puzzles are in fact much more recently invented, though the roots of the game do stretch back a couple of centuries.

It would be another twenty years before the game was reintroduced to the west still bearing the Sudoku name, that it began to find success there as well. Several British newspapers were the first to introduce the puzzles to their readership, and they saw the sales of their papers skyrocket as a result. Finally, papers around the globe were printing Sudoku puzzles, and the game was becoming popular the world over.

The first modern appearance of these Sudoku puzzles was in 1979, in a journal called Dell Magazines, which was dedicated to various puzzles. The game was called Number Place at the time, and was created by Howard Garns. It wasn't until 1984 and the game's introduction in Japan under the acronym Sudoku, that it began to catch on however (at least in Japan).

Sudoku actually draws some similarities to the Rubik's Cube, another logic based game that was introduced in the late 20th century. Rubik's Cubes require the user to line all of the same coloured squares up on the same side, and require some of the same thought processes that Sudoku does. The largest difference with the Rubik's Cube is that it doesn't require constant logic to solve, unlike Sudoku, and can be solved through simple trial and error and experimentation.

Sudoku is a great success story in an period where the perception exists that they are less interested in using our minds and challenging ourselves intellectually than ever before. It proves that basically is not the case, and that it basically takes the right format to engage us and motivate us to challenge ourselves. With every step forward there is as well as a minor step backwards, in this case the advent of the net sudoku solver as well as electronic variants that you can over around with you.

Capitalizing on this similarity, of the great innovations in Sudoku was the introduction of the Sudoku Cube. This cube looks like a Rubik's Cube, save for the fact that the colours are replaced with numbers. The aim of the Sudoku Cube is the same: correctly line up the numbers so that each column, row, and box (or in this case, side), has instance.

This version is slightly different however, given the unique alignment of the cube. As such, there is both a front as well as a back section which must each be properly aligned with the other vertical and side sections that connect to it. This gives the Sudoku Cube lots of different ways to play, from focusing on section, to trying to finish both sides of the whole cube.

Whether you play online Sudoku or tackle it in the morning paper, or play of the lots of variations that have popped up in recent years, it is a game that offers limitless opportunities for fun and challenging play. It is a great exercise for the mind, and rewards those courageous to conquer its challenges with a sense of satisfaction that is rivalled by few other games.

Dave Shimoda is a programmer and Sudoku addict who created an online Sudoku Solver which lets you get hints for a single cell of a puzzle, or solve the whole thing directly.