I’m going to show you how sudoku works in the simplest way possible, and some basic strategies to help you along. Sudoku might look complicated at first, but I’m going to show you step-by-step how you can get started solving these puzzles within minutes.
The first thing you need to know about sudoku is that there is no math involved. The numbers that are used can easily be replaced with any other 9 pictures instead, and would still be the same puzzle.
A sudoku filled with fruit is the same as a puzzle with numbers. And we would solve both of them in the same way.
But before we get to solving this puzzle, let’s take a closer look at what sudoku is all about.
The Goal of Sudoku
A standard sudoku puzzle is made from a 9×9 grid. There are 9 blocks in each grid and 9 cells in each block. This grid also has rows and columns. There are 9 rows and 9 columns.
When you look at a new sudoku puzzle, you’ll see that some cells that are filled in with numbers and some are empty. The more numbers that are filled in – the easier a puzzle will be. The goal of sudoku is to fill each cell with the numbers 1-9 but without repeating them in any block, row and column.
Example 1: One Missing Number
Let’s take a look at a puzzle that’s almost complete. If we look at this sudoku puzzle, we can see that there is only one cell that has not been filled in yet. In every other block, you’ll see the numbers 1-9 have been filled.
Now, let’s find the missing number. If we count all the numbers we can see in this block – there is 1,2.,3,4,5,6,7, and 9. We are missing the number 8. With the knowledge that every block, row and column MUST have the numbers 1-9 in them, we know that the missing number is an 8.
So, once we’ve filled it in, we have now solved this puzzle.
Example 2: Multiple Missing Numbers
In this example, we have 2 numbers missing from this block. We will be trying to find the find the solution for the cell right at the bottom. Let’s mark off the numbers that we can see in that block. We have a 1,2,4,5,6,8 and 9. So, the only numbers left are 3 and 7. So, we know that it has to be one of these numbers.
And from the rules we’ve already learned, we know that we must have the numbers 1-9 in every block, row and column and that they can never be repeated.
So, we can exclude even more numbers if we look at the row and column of the cell. We’re going to look for either a 3 or a 7 in the column above the empty cell. In this case, we can see that a 3 visible. And that means that the empty space cannot be a 3 because it has already been used in this column. And that means that the only number that this cell can be is a 7.
And that means the remaining cell must be a 3. And that’s it, we’ve solved this puzzle.
How To Play Sudoku
We hope that this simple guide has helped you to get started with sudoku. If you want to see us fill out a full sudoku puzzle for you – simply check out this video where we complete one from beginning to end.
As for getting ahold of sudoku puzzles. There are lots of places online that have sudoku puzzles for you to try out. If you head over to visculture.com, you can play sudoku online for free.
If you prefer using a physical book, they also have a wide range of sudoku books for adults and kids. There are also some with a mixture of easy, medium, and hard puzzles – so you can keep challenging yourself as you progress. And if you have trouble with small text, they’ve got you covered as well, with a range of large print puzzle books.
Find the best sudoku books here
