Best Sudoku App

emr25 · Jul 22, 2008

I have seen a few posts that reference Sudoku apps, but have not seen a dedicated thread. I was wondering anyone who HAS PLAYED one of the several Sudoku apps opinion on it. Please give a short description on why you would rate it x/10 (0-10 scale).

Thanks. I don't really care about price, but a few options I would weigh into the decision are the ability to listen to music while playing (though iPhone iPod) and the ability to enter custom games (from your newspaper, etc.).

davpel · Jul 22, 2008

emrsports25 said:
I have seen a few posts that reference Sudoku apps, but have not seen a dedicated thread. I was wondering anyone who HAS PLAYED one of the several Sudoku apps opinion on it. Please give a short description on why you would rate it x/10 (0-10 scale).

Thanks. I don't really care about price, but a few options I would weigh into the decision are the ability to listen to music while playing (though iPhone iPod) and the ability to enter custom games (from your newspaper, etc.).

I would suggest that you wait a day or so until SudokuManiak makes it onto the app store. I've been playing it for months on my jailbroken iPhone (via the Puzzlemaniak suite of games) and have found it to be the best electronic version of Sudoku ever. What makes it so good? The ease of entering numerals, which can be very awkward when not using pen and paper, particularly when you are playing timed games. Also, this version of Sudoku has the capacity to upload your scores to a main server so that you can compete with other players. For me, that makes the game a lot more fun.

David

nutmac · Jul 22, 2008

MacWorld did a shootout between 18 Sudoku apps, ultimately narrowing their recommendations down to 3: Sudoku Vol. 1 ($6, 4 out of 5), Big Bang Sudoku ($5, 3.5 out of 5), and EA's Sudoku ($8, 4 out of 5). I personally prefer EA between the three, but it is also the most expensive.

I am cheap, so I am playing Big Bang Sudoku the web app for free.

emr25 · Jul 22, 2008

Narrowed it down to 2 (I think)

Thanks for the input/advice. I think I have narrowed it down to 2, based upon reviews and recommendations I have read, and the description via iTunes App Store.

EA Sudoku - Looks like the best UI, however, supposedly has slow start time due to intro (?) and does not allow iPod to be played in background (has its own music built in)

Sudoku Unlimited - Simple, cheaper than EA, looks promising with "unlimited" number of puzzles. Only drawbacks are no custom puzzles (entering from newspaper, etc. is out) and the input method isn't great. However, I have heard that a future update will address the input issue, possibly by making the input box transparent.

Still undecided which way I will go. Seems more logical to try SU first since it is only $2.99, so if I don't like it I'm only wasting the $2.99 to get EA, instead of vice-versa.

Feel free to add your two cents on either of these apps or any other Sudoku apps.

DN7335 · Jul 22, 2008

emrsports25 said:
Thanks for the input/advice. I think I have narrowed it down to 2, based upon reviews and recommendations I have read, and the description via iTunes App Store.

EA Sudoku - Looks like the best UI, however, supposedly has slow start time due to intro (?) and does not allow iPod to be played in background (has its own music built in)

Sudoku Unlimited - Simple, cheaper than EA, looks promising with "unlimited" number of puzzles. Only drawbacks are no custom puzzles (entering from newspaper, etc. is out) and the input method isn't great. However, I have heard that a future update will address the input issue, possibly by making the input box transparent.

Still undecided which way I will go. Seems more logical to try SU first since it is only $2.99, so if I don't like it I'm only wasting the $2.99 to get EA, instead of vice-versa.

Feel free to add your two cents on either of these apps or any other Sudoku apps.

I went through the same struggle because I wanted a really good Sudoku game (I played Sensible Sudoku on Windows Mobile). I went with EA Sudoku and I'm quite pleased with it. Number entry is pretty easy and the graphics are very nice.

The one feature that I had to have was auto generation of candidates. Its a mindless and time consuming task and is not why Sudoku is fun. EA Sudoku does this, and it makes playing so much more fun. You can jump right in to the logical problems of solving the puzzle without all the legwork. And for those who say this is cheating (like my daughter), I say bollocks...there is no skill or reasoning in looking at a cell and going "is number 1 in this row?, is number 1 in this column?, is number 1 in this square?" and on and on for each empty cell.

chrisb3 · Jul 22, 2008

I haven't played it, but Sudoku Unlimited gets alot of high praise and it's only $2.99.

Niiro13 · Jul 22, 2008

EA's Sudoku is pretty good.

The intro isn't deathly long like Scrabble and Tetris.

Then again, maybe it's just me. The intro flows into the main screen really nicely (no loading screen like Scrabble or Tetris).

Then again, I guess it'd be nice to be able to skip like Sega's SMB.

Galley · Jul 22, 2008

iLounge did a quick review on 17 of them, and found Platinum Sudoku to be their favorite.

davpel · Jul 22, 2008

SudokuManiak is now live on the AppStore. It's only 99 cents and, as I mentioned before, is a great little game.

emr25 · Jul 23, 2008

Sudoku Unlimited

Decided on Sudoku Unlimited and bought it today, using the logic I stated earlier that I'm only wasting $3 if I don't like it.

So far, I really like the UI, and even the input box that pops up isn't too much of an issue as I know what number I want to put in before I select the blank space and it doesn't cover the row or column associated with the space you selected. Making it transparent could help, but I don't really see it as vital. Also, the ability to listen to the iPod feature of iPhone is a big plus for me.

The only thing I would really like to see in a future update is the ability to enter custom games, but other than that I would recommend this app for any Sudoku fan!

sunfast · Jul 23, 2008

I've got Sudoku Unlimited, love the notes style skin for it

wok · Jul 23, 2008

Also picked up Sudoku Unlimited last night, highly recommended. Feels very responsive but is still really nice looking. The notepad skin might take a min or two to get used to but it really is a beautiful looking interface.

I've heard that they're going to add transparency to the popup, however so far I haven't had any problems with the current setup so I hope its left optional.

noisebleed · Jul 23, 2008

emrsports25 said:
I have seen a few posts that reference Sudoku apps, but have not seen a dedicated thread. I was wondering anyone who HAS PLAYED one of the several Sudoku apps opinion on it. Please give a short description on why you would rate it x/10 (0-10 scale).

Thanks. I don't really care about price, but a few options I would weigh into the decision are the ability to listen to music while playing (though iPhone iPod) and the ability to enter custom games (from your newspaper, etc.).

go with Sudoku Platnium, 20 mil grids! customizable interface.

nutmac · Jul 24, 2008

AppStore now has SudokuFree, which as the name suggests, is completely free. Note feature is rather weak (can only mark the square with 1 number), but hey, it's free.

Rojo · Jul 24, 2008

There's over 20 Sudoku apps now!

Message to developers: PLEASE no more Sudoku (or Flashlights, or Mahjong, or...)

TimothyB · Jul 26, 2008

From the makers of Sudoku Unlimited, their Sudoku Classic is free for a limited time. It's the same as Unlimited, but without the fancy skins and originally was $1. Seems to be free due to a mishap misunderstanding with how the app name had a space, putting it at the top of the lists. I think they also mentioned there will be Sudoku Daily, a free version of Unlimited, but it will only have one new daily web Sudoku.

Sudoku Classic: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=284921434&mt=8

The developers posted a long 1 star update in a review on the reason behind this. I think there may be a newspaper style coming to the unlimited version too.

TimothyB · Jul 26, 2008

Also, because of all the Sudoku apps on this iPhone, I finally googled it to learn what the heck it is.

Seemed simple and fun, and very different, wasn't sure if it would feel like a chore or be fun and rewarding.

I tried Sudoku (Free) first. It gave me a good taste. Though, I think I don't like how at default it shows you when you get it wrong, which I think would make it too easy to cheat with trial and error. You can turn it off I guess. But I don't like to enter a number until I'm 100% sure that it's suppose to be there, no guessing.

Though, horribly, Sudoku Free doesn't have a good note system. You can enter only one number as a note, and it's full size and only italic, so as you fill out the board, it's hard to tell them apart.

For difficulty. The first one I ever did on easy took 5 minutes. Though, a medium one I did, I think I looked at every possible solution, even guessed ahead, but after an hour, it seemed like there was no logical way to solve it without using a cheat or hint, which didn't seem to be logical in itself. This could be due to it being a random generation and some people in reviews claim it can't be solved through logical means.

EA one sounds nice, but I don't want to have to deal with waiting for an animation, especially if it plays loud sounds you can't silence, though, covering the speaker is effective.

noisebleed · Jul 26, 2008

just get sudoku platinum , a lot of websites say its the best, i have it, it is the best one.

20 million grids. nice configs etc.

makers of brain challenge.

TimothyB · Jul 26, 2008

noisebleed said:
just get sudoku platinum , a lot of websites say its the best, i have it, it is the best one.

20 million grids. nice configs etc.

makers of brain challenge.

I was just looking at that. The graphics in the first screen seem a little too vivid and tropical, kind of garish. But another screen has a little more toned down board. Though, just now looking at the vivid screen through the iPhone app store, not as bad as I thought.

Think I'll get it, but time to read the reviews a bit more.

Also of comments mention a horrible launch setup. From opening the app to getting to a board can take as long as a minute.

motulist · Jul 26, 2008

TimothyB said:
I think I looked at every possible solution, even guessed ahead, but after an hour, it seemed like there was no logical way to solve it without using a cheat or hint

Unless the sudoku app was horribly programmed, then there are ways to solve the puzzles that are not at all obvious if you're a beginner. Google for sudoku strategies and you'll see what I mean. Random solvable sudoku boards are easily created be a program that just follows a couple of basic rules about how much of each type of information needs to be left for the board to be solvable using logic.

decaffed · Aug 23, 2010

Sudoku X4 -- new -- best sudoku app

I just d/led lots of Sudoku apps, and Sudoku X4 rocks! It's pretty new, I think, because I haven't seen any reviews.

Here's what I liked -- it's a straightforward Sudoku app, no distracting graphic silliness. It has the regular Sudokus, the X variety where diagonals count, irregular ones where the boxes aren't square but are color-coded groups, and irregular X that combine both those ideas. There is a really cool album (think Photo for Sudokus) that lets you save games in mid-stream and solve them later, or redo them from the beginning. Speaking of redo, there is complete Undo and Redo, and it isn't buggy (unlike some other apps). The game engine seems to run in the background, so there are effectively unlimited games. They range from easy to Really Really Hard, which are -- they've eaten two days at the beach! There is an automatic notes feature than can basically solve the easy ones, but makes solving the hard ones a lot less tedious.

I just think it's a great, professionally done app. Here's the link:
Sudoku X4

Gokunama · Aug 23, 2010

I've tried three Sudoku apps out, and I've stuck with the last cause it's got a nice UI. [app]Sudoku 2 Pro[/app]

MEJHarrison · Aug 23, 2010

My favorite is Enjoy Sudoku. It has an uncluttered interface, many different difficulty levels, you can input your own puzzles (even from the camera if I recall correctly), and so on. It also gets regular updates in the 2 years I've been using it.

sudokuman · Dec 9, 2011

Large sudoku!

I've got sick at all 9x9 puzzles so now Im playing a free app called MultiDoku. It has nice graphics and you can change the puzzle dimension (4x4, 9x9, 16x16 and 25x25)

DSavicious · Dec 30, 2011

Found it!

I really like Sudoku by Brainium. Really easy to use and to make notes. And there is a free version!
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app//id418044512?mt=8

Best Sudoku App

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