Sudokular – Sudoku on a New Level

Sudoku is a puzzle game in which the player fills out a 9×9 grid with the digits 1 through 9, using each number only once in each row, column, and smaller 3×3 box within the grid. One problem faced by Sudoku lovers who purchase books for their puzzles is that they will eventually run out. Websites such as Sudokular supplement the many puzzle books so players never need to go puzzle-less again.

Sudokular, which prides itself on being “Sudoku on a new level,” offers two modes of play. In QuickGame mode, which is available to anyone, players can choose to play on easy, standard, or hard difficulty. DailyChallenge mode, which is only available to registered members, offers a new puzzle each day. The difficulty of these puzzles changes throughout the week. DailyChallenge puzzles can be completed once and are used to calculate scores for the Hall of Fame. All puzzles from both modes can be played by one of two different methods—simple, which lets the user type in the number, and expert, which inputs all nine numbers in whichever box is clicked on, allowing the player to eliminate numbers as they progress.

Sudokular’s final feature is the Solver, which allows users to input puzzles they’re stuck on and have them solved instantly. Unfortunately, there’s nothing implemented that prevents users from applying Solver on QuickGame puzzles they’re playing on the site, turning what could be a useful aid into a potential cheating tool. In-game help, which is also intended to be an aid for players, checks the game after each input and alerts players if they’ve input the wrong number. As a result, players can just choose random numbers until they input the correct one, making this another potentially exploitable feature.