Twenty bucks and a migraine are all that separate you from being a Sudoku master.
If you're reading this, you're either a Sudoku fan and want an honest review of this game or you're some sick bastard hoping I'll tear Carol Vorderman a new one for bringing cleavage-exposing blouses and math into videogames.
Sorry to disappoint you, jerks, but this is going to be a pretty positive review because as far as videogames about Sudoku go, Carol Vorderman's Sudoku is tops. This title from Empire Interactive features three PC modes including a career with seven skill levels, tutorial videos, the chance to create your own Sudoku puzzles and the ability to print off puzzles for when you're away from the PC.
With the print version of Sudoku dominating newspapers across the country, I'd like to believe most people have a grasp of how the game works, but after having to explain it to several IGN staffers and watching their heads nearly cave in, I can see that isn't the case.
In Sudoku, a square is broken into nine smaller squares and each smaller square is broken into nine mini-squares. At the onset of a Sudoku game, numbers appear in some of these mini-squares. It's your job to fill in the rest of the numbers. The numbers one through nine must appear in each column and row of mini-squares without doubling up, and the numbers one through nine must appear in each of the original nine smaller squares without doubling up.
On a piece of paper, this process involves a lot of scribbling and erasing as you backtrack to find your mistakes, but on your PC, it's pretty simple - move the mouse to your square of choice, click on it and either press the number you want on your keyboard or click the integer from the list on the right side of the screen. If there are still multiple options for the mini-square, you can press the "Pencil" option from the toolbar and jot down a small number in the square. You can put all the possibilities into the square and continue to work hoping the process of elimination will solve the puzzling piece.
Aside from not having to use an eraser over and over, the electronic version also beats out the newsprint standby in terms of the big picture. Blue row and column highlights focus your attention on the numbers that would affect your current choice, and a grid at the bottom of the screen lets you know how many times you've used each number.
Confused? Vorderman is here to help. Aside from the assists you can turn on and off in "Classic" mode, a plethora of Vorderman vids are ready to give you a leg up on the game from the moment you boot up your system. There's even a history lesson from the peppy Brit -- Sudoku was originally called Latin squares.
However, she never answers the most important question - who the hell is she to be telling me how to play Sudoku?!
Turns out Vorderman - no relation to the guy who iced Harry Potter's folks - is kinda like the Bob Barker of the UK. She co-hosted Countdown, a game show that tested the intellect of contestants, for more than 20 years.
For a game that revolves around the same grid screen after screen, there's a lot to do in Carol Vorderman's Sudoku. You can choose the classic mode and choose puzzles that range from easy to "super-difficult;" select to start your Latin squares career and complete close to 40 puzzles as you rise form a lowly white belt to a Sudoku black belt; or "Challenge Carol" and try to beat more than 20 puzzles in less time than it took Vorderman to do the same.
Closing Comments
Most folks are going to think I’m being too generous with my rating, but it’s important to recognize that this is a Sudoku videogame. Vorderman’s not trying to pump out a Zelda title or something with characters and a story – this game is all about furthering the addiction that is Latin squares. If you’re into number crunching for fun, this is the PC title you’ve been waiting for.
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