Sudoku 9×9
Ever played a Sudoku 9×9?
Even if you have never attempted to solve a Sudoku 9×9 puzzle, surely you have seen them online on websites and in the newspaper’s entertainment sections. Invented in 1793, Sudoku has gained so much popularity that it would not be uncommon to find people solving this puzzle even while commuting to and from work. Ever since the Rubik’s Cube, Sudoku is the only game to have become an addiction for puzzle lovers who feel an immense sense of pride when they move from easy to hard levels one by one.
In its original form, Sudoku is played on a 9 by 9 grid, which is further divided into 9 sub grids and 81 small squares. While the puzzle maker designs these grids, he fills in some squares to provide you with some leads to move ahead with the solutions. The various levels of Sudoku are determined by the number of squares that are filled by the maker.
The smallest and the biggest Sudoku grids
Since Sudoku puzzles work with grids, the smallest puzzle that can be created and solved is a 1×1. Even though such a puzzle only exists in theory, a 1×1 then has only one region with one column and one row. On the opposite end, there is no limit to the biggest Sudoku grid. 16×16 or 16×19 will be the ones that you have mostly heard, however, according to experts a number of large grid sizes can be created depending on the complexity that the solver is ready to face.
The various grids available apart from Sudoku 9×9
One look online or in a book of Sudoku puzzles and you will realize that the original Sudoku 9×9 grid is just the beginning of this amazing game. There are a number of different size grids available, each of which defines a specific difficulty level. For instance, the 4×4 grid of a Sudoku puzzle is a relatively easier version of the original and is usually played by children of ages 6 to 8. Even though there is no thorough restriction on who can play which puzzle, grid sizes are used as a distinguishing factor when a puzzle solver decides to start a new game.
Other grid sizes available are 6×6, 12×12 or even 16×16, which is one of the harder puzzles found in the later stages that are played by Sudoku experts. It is important to note that even though Sudoku was created as ‘square’, in which the number of grids in the length and the breath of the square are the same, to increase the expertise of this game, rectangular Sudoku grids have also been designed such as 2×3, 2×4 and 3×5. These grids are excessively hard for amateurs and medium level players, but a mind bending challenge for experts of the game.
In light of these examples, it is clear that there is theoretically no limit to the number of sub grids that can be created for playing Sudoku. Developers have designed puzzles with such high difficulty levels, having more than a 16×16 size that their solutions remain a mystery to us. Nonetheless, starting from the most basic Sudoku 9×9 is the best strategy to make your way up to higher levels.