Move over crossword puzzles. More and more students are starting to discover a quirky number game called Sudoku to keep themselves busy during class.
[Sudoku] is an entertaining way to pass the time,\ UW-Madison junior Marshall Stringfield said. ""It's especially useful when professors don't feel like saying anything interesting.""
Before diving deeper into the background of Sudoku, it may help to know how to play the game. To complete a Sudoku puzzle, players must try to place the numbers one through nine in a 9-by-9 grid, where each column, row and individual 3-by-3 box must be filled with the digits. Numbers are strategically placed inside of the grid to help start players out.
Sudoku's name comes from how it is played. ""Su"" means ""numbers"" in Japanese, while ""Doku"" refers to the individual boxes on a Sudoku grid where numbers are placed. The name also relates to someone who is single, alluding to the game being, as Sudoku Daily's website puts it, ""Solitaire with numbers.""
While its name is Japanese, Sudoku did not originate in Japan. Gil Galanti, writing for Conceptis Logic Puzzles, a logic puzzle supplier, said it is perhaps nearly impossible to pinpoint the exact time and place of Sudoku's origin. Sudoku may be linked to the game Magic Squares, which traveled from China through India to finally be used in Islamic literature, according to Galanti. Magic Squares involved placing the numbers one through nine in a grid with the number five in the center. Each column, row and diagonal would have to add up to the number 15. Galanti dates Magic Squares as far back as the ninth century in his article.
Magic Squares evolved in Arabic manuscripts in the 13th century, according to Galanti. These were similar to Magic Squares, except there could be no repeating digit or symbol in a row or column. Later on in the 1770s, Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler further developed the concept of these puzzles known as Latin Squares.
In the 1970s, Galanti explained that the game evolved into Number Place. Number Place was first published in Math Puzzles and Logic Problems magazine by Dell Magazines. This puzzle added the present day Sudoku feature of having to fill 3-by-3 boxes within a 9-by-9 grid.
In the 1980s, the game made it to Japan, where it became a huge hit. The puzzle picked up its current name and became a fixture in newspapers and magazines, according to Sudoku Daily. Finally, in 2004 Sudoku puzzles started appearing in British newspapers after computer programs were developed to generate them. By September 2005, U.S. newspapers like the New York Post and USA Today began running the puzzle.
Universities have not been immune to Sudoku fever. A variety of students on campus enjoy Sudoku. UW-Madison senior Carmen Chow discovered the game over spring break and she thinks of it as an addictive game.
""I like that I know I can solve the puzzle as long as I think harder,"" Chow said. ""This game gives me such hope, but at the same time it's very challenging.""
Stringfield said he does the puzzle as often as time allows to test his skills.
""I enjoy a good challenge every now and then,"" he said.
The varying degrees of difficulty offered in Sudoku give students a sense of accomplishment. Chow has worked up to being able to complete the medium or moderately difficult puzzles, but still strives to beat the harder ones.
""It gives me a strong sense of achievement when I really get it solved,"" Chow said.
Sudoku usually has different types of difficulty levels ranging from painstakingly easy to mind-bogglingly hard puzzles that can take hours, depending on where numbers are already placed at the start of the puzzle.
Chow, an international student from Hong Kong, also said Sudoku can appeal to a more universal audience with the language of numbers, something that crossword puzzles and other word games lack.
While Sudoku has reached major newspapers in the United States, some people around the state have yet to discover the puzzle. UW-Platteville junior Justin Koopmans was unaware of the puzzle, but had a close assumption.
""I've never heard it,"" Koopmans said. ""Is it Japanese?""
This may be because he said he has not seen any type of game like it in his local paper. As Sudoku catches on, more publications might run it. Robert Ireland, editor in chief of the UW-Oshkosh Advance-Titan, is looking into introducing the game.
""I plan on looking over what it would cost to run the game in our paper. Depending on the cost, we may start running it in fall 2006,"" Ireland said. ""The more popular this becomes, the more inclined I would be to running it.""
Sudoku's outreach seems to know no bound, covering more than just newspapers. The craze has reached bookstores as well.
Sarah Gehlhoff, department manager at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 1 East Towne Mall, said the store devotes at least three areas to Sudoku books. When visiting the store, one might marvel at the whole section of an aisle devoted to the game. Islands of Suduko books are present, and there are Sudoku handbooks at the check-out counter. Gehlhoff said she does not know when the Sudoku craze will end.
""I have no idea,"" she said. ""[Customers] really like it.""
Paul Zumhagen-Krause, inventory supervisor at Borders, 3750 University Ave., said his store has one bookcase that is an entire Sudoku display consisting of five shelves worth of books. Borders' puzzle section also houses Sudoku books. Zumhagen-Krause witnesses Sudoku's popularity as he works.
""I see a lot of people in the register line with sudoku books,"" he said. ""They are always asking where they can find sudoku books too."" Zumhagen-Krause said sudoku books sell very well.
UW-Madison students who are more media savvy can take a trip to EB Games, 640 State St., which sells electronic versions of Sudoku. Sudoku PC games are offered and gamers can play Sudoku on the go with Game Boy and Playstation Portable versions. Puzzles can also be found at newspaper websites.
Still need to give Sudoku a try? Check out a paper, book or run to play one of these video games. Tread carefully; with so much sudoku out there, addiction proves easy.
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