Sudoku

Sudoku puzzles were first seen in the 1970s under the moniker of Number Place, being credited to an American publisher. Obscurity beckoned until they were picked up by a Japanese puzzle specialist, who developed the concept and gave the puzzle a new name: Sudoku.

The objective of Sudoku seems simple – complete a 9x9 grid (composed of nine, smaller 3x3 grids) with the digits 1-9. However, every row, column and 3x3 grid must contain each number only once, which makes Sudoku a lot more difficult than it first appears!

Sudoku is hugely popular in the UK and various other countries around the world – this popularity has helped spawn a number of variations on the original concept, including Killer Sudoku and Colour Sudoku.

You should try Killer Sudoku, Colour Sudoku or X-Factor if you’re looking for something similar – or, for something slightly different, the logic puzzles Suguru or Kakuro.

Like to play your puzzles online? We have a huge selection you can play right now in your web browser! We even have Easy, Medium and Hard sudoku puzzles to suit your skill level.

Being practically a national obsession in the UK, Sudoku features in many of our magazines – including a number dedicated purely to the popular logic puzzle:

Sudoku features prominently in our puzzle books and printables (is that a surprise?), but if you’re looking for a quick fix, we also have a host of Sudoku printables for you to download, ready for play in seconds!