Sudoku Puzzle Variants
Spice up your Sudoku life
As fun as classic sudoku is, many interesting sudoku variants have been created that take the puzzle to a new level. There are several sudoku variant styles that change different aspects of the puzzle. All of the twists are simple enough, but they can really spice up the sudoku puzzle experience.
Rule Variants: Sudoku X uses the basic sudoku puzzle layout, but adds the rule that the diagonals need to also contain only the numbers 1-9. Killer sudoku adds an element that the sum of the cells in a cage must equal the total given for the cage.
Grid Size Variants: While the 9x9 grid of 3x3 boxes is the standard layout, many variations of the grid size include 4x4, 5×5, 6×6, 7×7, 8×8, 9×9, 12×12, 16×16, 25×25, 36x36 or other combinations thereof. The most popular size variants are kids sudoku (4x4), super sudoku (16x16) and monster sudoku (25x25).
Grid Shape Variants: There are also some sudoku puzzles with different shaped grids. Samurai sudoku combines 5 overlapping grids. Jigsaw sudoku changes the shapes of the 3x3 boxes found in the traditional sudoku puzzles. Hypersudoku has the same number of boxes as traditional sudoku, but has overlapping 3x3 boxes that also need to be solved.
Overall, traditional sudoku remains the most popular. Most newspapers and magazines publish regular sudoku and finding good sudoku variants can be a little challenging.
Click on the navigation bar to see some sudoku variations in more detail.