Japanese Versions of Sudoku Puzzle games

By now, we have mainly focus on Americanized versions of Sudoku Puzzle Games. Instead of that, this time we will take a look at the Japanese versions of Sudoku. Japanese versions of Sudoku are especially interesting ones.

That is probably the main reason they were published in the magazines and newspapers all over the world. Each version has its own special challenges that are very appealing to various different individuals.

With that said, here is the list of the versions of Sudoku that were developed in Japan:

Sequential Sudoku Puzzles:

Puzzles that are sequentially connected: Sequential puzzles have you solving several 9 x 9 grid Sudoku puzzles at one time. The first puzzle has enough “givens” in it so that it can be solved on its own.

After you have solved the first puzzle some of the numbers are moved from the first solved grid to the grid of the second 9 x 9 puzzle. You will have to work back and forth from one puzzle to the other to successfully solve these sequential Sudoku puzzles.

Overlapping Sudoku Puzzles

A very popular version of Japanese Sudoku are so called multiple overlapping large puzzles, which are generally made up of 9 x 9 grids. These grids deviate from the standard ones (find one and you will see what I am talking about).

It is not uncommon to have one puzzle made up of 20 to 50 standard 9 x 9 grids. Regions of each puzzle will overlap with one another. For instance, two 9 x 9 grids may have 9, 18, or 36 cells that are in common with each other.

You will also find situations where there will be no overlapping areas at all to associate with each other.

Multiple Cells Sudoku Puzzles

There is one thing about these Sudoku Puzzles: They appear quite simple, when you first look at them. Each cell in a 9 x 9 standard puzzle is part of 4 other puzzles instead of just the standard 3 parts - rows, columns, and regions.

In this case numbers that are situated within their region area can not match. You will commonly find these kinds of puzzles printed in color, which makes the identification of the grid area that you are working on more simple and easy.

"Digital Number Place" Puzzles

In 2005 the World Puzzle Championships included this kind of Puzzle called “Digital Number Place”.

Rather than being provided with a “given” most of the cells contained only a partial given. A partial given is a segment of a number where some portions have been drawn as if they are part of a liquid crystal display.

As you can see, the Japanese have developed a vide variety of different Sudoku versions. Try just one of them and you will have an opportunity to spend hours and hours confronting the challenge of solving it.

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Try solving alphabetical Wordokus instead of Sudokus

In my previous post, I was writting about different versions of Sudoku Puzzles available. This time I will tell you about even more versions of Sudoku Puzzles.

Lets first mention couple of more popular Sudoku puzzles, before discussing a Wordoku versions.

There was one especially popular version of Sudoku Puzzle in year 2005. This was a 3 x 3 dimensional grid puzzle invented by Dion Church and then first brought to public by Daily Telegraph. This grid variation rapidly became a hit among those who wanted an ultimate puzzle challenge.

Besides Sudoku puzzle, which are played by using numbers, there also exist alphabetical versions of Sudoku. Instead of numbers, you use letters. You will find these named as "Godoku" or "Wordoku".

It is generally known that these alphabetical versions are especially difficult to solve if you have only a few "givens" to start with.

You will usually find the letters needed for the puzzle beneath the puzzle. The solution of Wordoku is an interesting things by itself as well: The word is spelled out, lined up between the top left bottom and left corners of the grid.

As you can see, this little twist put the puzzle to completely different level. Oftentimes you will be able to guess the word before even solving the puzzle completely.

The Wordoku puzzles are my favourite type of puzzles in general. Try it sometimes and you will find out why! Until next time, have fun and take care!

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