If Sudoku has recently sparked your interest, you probably want to start playing soon. Though it appears to be a complicated mathematics game, it’s a logic game that you can easily understand if you know what to do. Playing Sudoku doesn’t have to give a headache; instead, it should be a rewarding experience that leaves you with a sense of accomplishment and achievement.
Here are some things you need to know about playing Sudoku the right way.
1. Start at the Lowest Level
If you’re a beginner, you can’t just start playing Sudoku from any level. Every Sudoku champion started from the first step before playing higher levels. The advantage of beginning from the lowest level is that it’s usually the easiest in the puzzle. It’s advisable to keep on playing that level and stick to it until you’re well-versed in the process and techniques of puzzle-solving.
Downloading a few online Sudoku puzzles for beginners can help you practice the techniques. To confirm that a puzzle is designed for beginners, check the publication sections before downloading. You don’t want to spend your time and data downloading a challenging puzzle that may discourage you.
2. Know the Rules of the Game
Before attempting to play any game, you need to know its rules, and Sudoku is no different. Though it may seem a silly task to do, reading the rules may help you understand the actual objective of the game. Reading the rules may also help you develop techniques of making the game easy to handle and play.
3. Start With the Easiest Sections First
You can benefit more from playing Sudoku if you start with the easiest play. Within a Sudoku grid, some numbers are given to you as clues, and some grids have more clue numbers than others. It’s best to start playing a puzzle that has many clue numbers. Because this process involves trial and error, you may make a mistake. However, when that happens, you can always start again. Apart from that, you can also start playing by adding numbers where they seem to fit most.
4. Use What you Know to Figure What You Don’t
Once you’ve got a hack of the game, you can use your knowledge to find answers to the questions you don’t know. This process is known as elimination. If a grid has 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8 – that’s what you know. From such a grid, you can quickly tell that 3, 7, and 9 are missing and that those are the numbers you require to complete the grid.
Though knowing missing numbers may give you a clue of the numbers to select, it will not tell you the blocks in the grid to which those missing numbers belong. You, therefore, need to use other strategies to find the right blocks for the numbers.
5. Avoid Guesswork
Unlike some games that can be easily played through guesswork, Sudoku involves organization and logical thinking. Actually, there’s little to no guesswork involved in it. Guessing the cell to place a number can affect the rest of the puzzle and make moving impossible. You should only place a number in a block after taking the time to weigh the evidence and making a logical decision.
6. Be Patient
It takes time to be a Sudoku pro. The process just can’t happen overnight: you need to set aside time to learn the skills and techniques of the game and practice them before starting to play. Among the many qualities, you can acquire playing Sudoku most Sudoku experts build a span of patience, building your stamina. If you’re not patient, you may need to practice patience techniques or meditate before playing. Patience can work wonders for you in this game.
7. Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help
If you still can’t master the hacks of playing Sudoku even after doing some online research, ask for help from experts. Most players easily give up because they fear being branded amateurs. They don’t realize that even most experts at some point consulted other gurus to know the ins and outs of the game.
However, if you’re shy to ask for help from another player, you can look up additional clues and hints provided in most apps for beginner players. Unfortunately, you may not find hints in printed Sudoku puzzles. That’s why you may need to ask for extra clues from gurus, especially if you feel you’re not progressing.
Final Word
Though most people may shy away from playing Sudoku because they think it involves a lot of mathematics, it’s a game based on pure logic. Mastering these few hacks can help you to get around the game and be a pro quickly. So rewarding for you!