Ancient civilization is known for its creativity and intelligence. They also have different forms of entertainment. Unlike today, people are dependent on the benefit of modern technology. In every corner you will see inventions such as radios and televisions. This is how people today make use of their spare time.

Sometimes, people also get bored with modern technology and turn to their mind and formulate their own brain twister in a form of riddles. This is how people explore their way of thinking and also their creativity. People naturally love activities that could twist their mind and form new ideas.

History speaks that some of the recent games that mankind have today are based on the ideas of early people, although with some innovations applied. Sudoku is one of the games that have existed since the ancient times. Perhaps this is the first time that you heard about the term. You might ask yourself what Sudoku is all about and where it originated.

The other name for Sudoku is number place. As you might think, it was derived from the Japanese language. This refers to a logic based placement. In other words, this is a type of puzzle game. It was published first in one of the magazines in United States in the year 1979 then followed in Japan until it gained its popularity.

If you are going to translate the name Sudoku into English phrase, it mans that “the digits must remain single”. It gathered various manners of pronunciation in different countries. Nevertheless, whatever the articulation is, the standards set on the games are never altered.

According to the people who discovered Sudoku, the puzzle enhances your critical thinking. It makes you utilize arithmetic relationship between numbers that are not relevant with each other. There are also basic rules that are set for you to play Sudoku puzzle.

You are probably getting interested with Sudoku as you read this article. Well, to cut your interest first, you should first know the story behind the game. When was it introduced?

During his late 70’s, Howard Garns anonymously designed the puzzle Sudoku. He was known to be a retired architect and indeed a freelance puzzle constructor. Obviously, he has ideas on how to create the tricks of a puzzle because it has been a profession for him for quite long time.

He deduced his idea from that of the Latin Square designed by Euler. Thus, he just placed some additional alteration to the game which he called the third dimension. He also provides the player with a partially-completed grid that will require the solver to complete the rest of the blank grids.

However, after Garns was able to develop it and introduce it in the US magazine, it was captured again in Japan by a person name Nikoli. That was the time that Maiki, President of Nikoli Sudoku was named because during the time of Garns he also has his own English translation.

Before, the game is played manually when it started to get published in the newspaper of Japan and United States. It was in the year 1989 when a computer version of Sudoku was made available for the users under the Loadstar Publishing followed by the Apple Macintosh. In the year 2005, it totally came at its peak of popularity.

Behind the popularity of the Sudoku puzzle is the acknowledgment to Rubik’s cube. This is another puzzle game that was popular during the year 1980. In fact, some of the attributes of Sudoku was also patterned from Rubik’s puzzle.

In the year 1997, the popularity of Sudoku in the media was overwhelming. Even the Hong Kong judge named Wayne Gould also became inclined to the game up to the point that he also developed his own version of the computerized version of Sudoku.

Nationwide, there was a press release that was published regularly in Japan that took the newspaper to sell the prints very quickly. It even reached the world media and was acknowledged as the “fastest growing puzzle in the world”.

There is no doubt that until now, the history of Sudoku remains in the thoughts of people. They owe much gratitude to the development and discovery of Sudoku puzzle because without the people behind Sudoku they are not able to enjoy the pleasure that have been brought to them by the puzzle.

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Here are 10 gift ideas you can use or add to for the hard-to-buy person or come up with other creative ways to customize your gift to reflect the personality of your recipients. Utilize baskets, bowls, canvas bags or other types of containers to fill the goodies in.

1. Movie Lover – You can use an ice-cream bucket and decorate it to make it look like a popcorn bucket and add a box of popcorn or other snacks, favourite movie, movie gift certificate, or a book about movies or movie trivia.

2. Brain Teaser – For the person who loves to do puzzles add sudoku, crossword puzzles, mensa, Rubik’s cube, etc. Include pens or pencils, a box of their favourite tea or coffee and a mug.

3. Sports Lover – Do you have a golf enthusiast? Include golf balls, tees, small towel, sunscreen, and a subscription for a golf magazine or a book on golf tips and techniques.

4. Kitchen Chef – If you have a person on your list that loves being in the kitchen get an apron, kitchen utensils, or gather an assortment of exotic spices. Start a collection of recipes that ask for exotic spices, print them out on index cards to put in a recipe box or make and bound a recipe book.

5. Tea or Coffee Lover – Add a variety of flavoured teas and or coffee blends, two mugs, jams, jellies, cookies, shortbread or chocolates.

6. Gardener – Include different packets of seeds, garden gloves, plant markers and a hand garden tool or a knee mat.

7. Spa Treatment – Include a loofah, homemade bath salts, scented candles, aromatherapy oils, cooling eye mask and relaxing music CD.

8. Crafter – It will all depend on what the craft is. You can include glue sticks, a craft knife, beads, acrylic paints, stencils, brushes, etc.

9. Winter Theme – Include moisturizing lip balm, slippers, hand lotion, gloves or mittens, ear muffs, scarf, hot chocolate and a pass for skating, snowshoeing or skiing.

10. Couch Potato – Include a TV guide subscription, snacks, movies, popcorn and a cushion.

There are many more gift ideas and it’s up to you to use your creativity. There will be quite a bit of work involved, but in the end you will have a special gift that will be greatly appreciated because it was unique, fun and personal.

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KenKen is the hottest puzzle craze since Sudoku. It combines the logic of a Sudoku puzzle with arithmetic. You have to add, subtract, multiply and divide to arrive at the numbers given in KenKen puzzle. 

In KenKen, like Sudoku, there is a grid of 4×4, 6×6, 8×8, or 9×9 cells. That means the grid has 16, 36, 64 or 81 cells. The puzzle can actually be even larger, but those are for really advanced solvers. In both kinds of puzzles, you must have all the digits in one row. In other words, if a row has 4 cells, like in a 16-grid puzzle, you must use the numbers 1-4 in each row, and in each column. No digit may be left out of row or column, nor may there be duplicates in a row or a column. 

So far, that’s totally easy to understand. If you look at a puzzle, you can see what I mean in a second. 

The diabolical cleverness of KenKen, which sets it apart from Sudoku, is that:

• some adjacent groups of cells have a thick border around them. Those groups are called “cages.” Each cage has a number printed in it, along with an operation sign. 

• The cells within that cage must be filled with the digits that will amount to the number given. Let’s say the cage has two cells surrounded by a thick border, the number in it is 6, and the operation sign is multiplication (x). That tells you that you must find two numbers that multiply to 6.

 You may be tempted to say, “That’s easy. The answer is 2 x 3!” But don’t jump to conclusions! The answer could just as well be 6 x 1. Furthermore, you don’t immediately know which of the two cells the 2, 3, 6 or 1 belong in. You have to find that out from looking at the other cages and narrowing down your possibilities. 

It takes about two minutes to learn how to do KenKen, but it can take years to master. There’s something for all levels of solvers. 

Good math teachers will look into this puzzle and learn some strategy, then introduce the puzzles to their students. There are very inexpensive books of KenKen, as well as online sites where you can download free puzzles. One of them is http://kenken.com

Once you understand how KenKen really works, you will start learning all about factoring, exponents, and mathematical logic. You won’t need a workbook, and there are no grades (if the teacher is smart). The only stress is the gentle strain on your brain, and you’ll be developing that brain with every KenKen puzzle you solve. 

It’s easy to get good at KenKen with some practice. The nice thing about the practice is that you won’t be able to stop. KenKen is the most addictive puzzle around!

Imagine a student being able to hone his or her basic math skills without worksheets, flash cards, charts, rote-memorization, or quizzes. Imagine that student loving math like never before!

KenKen was invented by Tetsuya Miyamoto, a Japanese math teacher who says, “I believe that if you give children good learning materials, they will think and learn and grow on their own.” If you teach yourself, your child or your students basic math with KenKen, they will develop a lifelong love of mathematics, and you will have done them a wonderful favor. 

For free KenKen video lessons, all the way to the very advanced level, check out http://mathmojo.com/kenken

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Sudoku is one of the most addictive number puzzle games to hit the puzzle world.  Millions of people from all walks of like have caught up with the Sudoku puzzle game in every form and version that exists today.  People can play this by themselves, or against another person in a timed game.

So you have to ask… what is this Sudoku game anyway?

Sudoku was invented in 1979 by a 74-year old retired architect named Howard Garnes, who was also a freelance puzzle maker.  It was a puzzle that had a grid that was partially filled with numbers.  The solver had to fill in the rest of the squares with the right combination of numbers.  The game first appeared on the New York publication Dell Pencil Puzzles and Word Games under the name Number Place.

Number Place was introduced in Japan in April 1984 by the Nikoli company in its paper, the Monthly Nikolist.  Kaji Maki, Nikoli’s president, named the game “Suuji wa dokushin ni kagiru”, meaning the number must be single, or the number must occur only once.  Later, the name was abbreviated to Sudoku.  In 1986, two innovations to the game were introduced by Nikoli:

a) a maximum of 32 numbers will be given in each puzzle; and

b) the numbers were distributed in rotationally balanced squares.

These innovations made Sudoku very popular with puzzle solvers.  Though Sudoku is currently published in almost all mainstream publications in Japan, like the Asahi Shimbun, Nikoli has the copyright to the name Sudoku.

Due to the similarity of the logic behind Sudoku and the legendary Rubik’s Cube, Sudoku was dubbed as “The 21st Century Rubik’s Cube”.

The first computer version of Sudoku was Digit Hunt, created by Loadstar/Softdisk Publishing and released on the Commodore 64 console platform in 1989.

Another running version that still exists is Single Number, which was created by Yoshimitsu Kanai.  Single Number is a computerized puzzle generator that first appeared in 1995 for the Apple Macintosh PC platform.  A PDA version appeared in 1996, and the most recent version for the Mac OS-X appeared just last 2005.

Dell Magazines still publishes Number Place.  But it has added two new Sudoku magazines, Original Sudoku, which highlights the original version of Number Place, and Extreme Sudoku, which is a more difficult version of the original game.  Kappa publications prints the Nikoli Sudoku as Squared Away in GAMES Magazine.  Various American newspapers like The Boston Globe, The Examiner, The New York Post, and USA Today also print daily puzzles of Squared Away.

Though Sudoku was very popular in Japan and the USA before, Europe virtually had no idea that the game existed.  But thanks to a retired Hong Kong judge, Wayne Gould, Europe would also catch the Sudoku fever.

Gould saw a partially completed Sudoku puzzle in a Japanese bookstore in 1997.  He bought the book, and created a computer program that could generate puzzles quickly and easily, developing it over 6 years in Pappocom, his software company.  Then, he promoted Sudoku to the British newspaper, The Times, with knowledge regarding its history of publishing puzzles.  On November 12, 2004, the first Su Doku puzzle was introduced to the Britons.  Pappocom’s puzzles are being printed daily by The Times since that day.

Various British versions of Sudoku then started popping up.  There was Codenumber, The Daily Mail’s version, which was derived from Michael Mepham’s puzzles, and first printed on January 19, 2005.  5 Sudoku puzzles were first printed by The Daily Telegraph of Sydney last May 20, 2005.  And when the British Telegraph introduced Sudoku daily on its front pages, starting last February 23, 2005, other British newspapers started to take real interest in the game.  Due to the popularity of the game, The Times published the first Sudoku book to gain its edge over competitors.  Due to its popularity, Sudoku was dubbed as 2005’s “fastest growing puzzle in the world”.

Sudoku conquered not only the print media, but also broadcast and electronic media!  Channel 4 introduced the first TV Sudoku game last July 2005 when it included daily Sudoku puzzles in its Teletext service.  The Radio Times, BBC’s program guide, started featuring Super Sudoku, a weekly puzzle game last August 2, 2005.  Dutch mobile phone company Mobile Excellence International also released the first mobile phone version of Sudoku last September 2005 in Europe.

Sky One also produced the first Sudoku TV show, Sudoku Live, which started airing last July 1, 2005.  Hosted by Carol Vorderman, Sudoku Live featured 9 teams composed of 9 players per team, representing different geographical regions, that had to solve the show’s puzzle.  Each team had a celebrity member and 8 ordinary citizens.  While the studio version was being played, home viewers had their own interactive version to play with.

CBS started the broadcasting stories regarding Sudoku, including on the Early Show last summer 2005, and on the CBS Evening News last October 26, 2005.

The US TV series HOUSE M.D. also showed Dr. House solving a Sudoku puzzle during the December 13, 2005 episode.  Due to its addictive nature, Sudoku was banned on the set due to the cast constantly playing it.

Now, the Internet is teeming with millions of Sudoku versions, both online and offline, free and purchasable.  With the billions of unique puzzles generated by computer programs, 2 to 4 websites will not bore a Sudoku addict for a quite a long time.

Who could’ve thought that a simple number puzzle on paper in 1979 would conquer the world like the common cold?

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Kakuro Puzzles are one of the newest craze to hit the international community that has always been enticed by brainteasers and other mind-boggling activities like the Crossword puzzle. In its early day, what used to be known as the Cross Sums, was subsequently renamed Kakuro Puzzles. The history of Cross Sums is very similar to that of the Sudoku Puzzle.

During the 1980s, what was Cross Sums then was taken into Japan by renowned puzzle enthusiast Maki Kaji, who was then the president of the popular Nikoli puzzles. The game was then renamed with its modern day title Kakuro Puzzles. The new name was actually derived from the Japanese word “kasan,” which literally means “addition.” It was combined with the incorrect pronunciation by the Japanese of the english word “cross,” which was “kurosu.” Hence, it was first renamed Kasan Kurosu. However, since it was fairly common in Japanese culture to abbreviate words, it was shortened to the name that it possesses today.

What is now known as Kakuro Puzzles, which was still under its original English name mentioned earlier, was originally published by Dell Magazines in 1966. This, much like the Sudoku Puzzle, became a regular item in math publications and other game magazine publishers. It’s popularity stems from the fact that brain exercises received much attention and advocation. This phenomena occurred after studies supported claims that these kinds of activities actually stimulate various mental faculties.

The objective of Kakuro Puzzles is very simple. The task is to fill in the blank squares with any number between one through nine. Players have to make sure, however, that the total sum of all the numbers in a row or a column, would add up to the number printed or displayed on the left and/or upper part of the row or column. The difficulty arises as players have to take note of the rule that no number should be repeated in any row or column.

Kakuro Puzzles seem to require a very easy task from its players. However, it has been proven that in trying to solve a particular puzzle completely, players are required to use much of their cognitive resources. Of course, this is something favored by fans of problem sets and puzzles.

There’s a lot of published books that include a wide range of Kakuro Puzzles. This would include puzzles for those who want to try it for the first time. Of course, these puzzles cater to those young enthusiasts who want to practice their arithmetic and problem-solving abilities. This would come in as small as a 6×6 puzzle square. For the more addicted fans of this brainteaser, 30×30 puzzle sets are mostly available in all the books that have been published. In case a player is frustratingly faced with a dead-end to the puzzle, most books have a solution to all the different puzzles printed at the back pages of the book.

In Japan, it is estimated that Kakuro Puzzles rank second in terms of popularity. It follows the most popular game puzzle in that region, the Sudoku Puzzle. But with continued support from western publishers following its advent in 2005, Kakuro Puzzles will surely remain to be one of the favored intellectually stimulating game of the milieu.

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Hailed as the Rubik’s Cube of the 21st century, Sudoku is the current rage among number puzzles. It may sound surreal but at an age where bubblegum pop music has successfully reinvented itself as punk rock through the likes of Avril Lavigne and Simple Plan, a puzzle and a number puzzle at that is able to establish itself as a global phenomenon. Sudoku, which is sometimes spelled as Su Doku, is pronounced as soo-doe-koo. It is an abbreviation of the Japanese phrase suuji wa dokushin ni kagiru which means the digits must remain single. Most people are under the wrong impression that sudoku is of Japanese origin when the only thing Japanese about sudoku is the word sudoku.

Nikoli Publishing House Nikoli is the publisher of the leading Japanese puzzle publication Monthly Nikolist. The think tanks of Nikoli noticed an interesting number puzzle called The Number Place published by their American counterparts, Dell Puzzle Magazines. Sudoku made its debut on the pages of Monthly Nikolist in April of the year 1984. It was initially christened Suuji wa dokushin ni kagiru by Kaji Maki, Nikoli’s incumbent president at that time. The maiden issue of Sudoku enjoyed modest success. Its success is due in large part to the fact that the Japanese people are inherently puzzle-crazy.

It was not until two significant developments occurred that the puzzle began to really catch fire. First, the name suuji wa dokushin ni kagiru was shortened to sudoku which was easier to remember and to market. Second, Nikoli modified the game by introducing two new rules in 1986: the digits of are to be arranged symmetrically; and the given numbers are not to exceed 30 digits. As of today, there are at least five publishing companies that print monthly magazines solely devoted to the game in Japan. Sudoku is, for all intents and purposes, a brand name; it is not the generic name of the game. It is a lawfully registered mark of the Nikoli Company in Japan. This means that the other publishers of the game in Japan are legally obligated to provide their own brand names for their versions of the popular number puzzle.

Made in Manhattan According to urban legends, sudoku was created by a team of puzzle creators from New York. Another version of the story credits a certain Howard Gerns, a retired architect and puzzle enthusiast, as the true father of the modern sudoku. Although the legends conflict and give credit to different inventors, they coincide on two important details:

Sudoku was first published in 1979 by Dell Puzzle Magazines under the title The Number Place; and

Gerns and the team of puzzle creators were both inspired by the Latin Square of Leonhard Euler. Sudoku: The Old Testament Leonhard Euler, a Swiss mathematician, presented a paper entitled De Quadratis Magicis before the St. Petersburg Academy in 1776. Euler demonstrated that a magic square can be created through the use of 9, 16, 25 or 36 cells. He imposed conditions on the value of his number variables to bring about the creation of his magic square. His magic square evolved into the Latin square in his later papers.

The versions of Gerns and the team of puzzlers differ from Euler in two ways: First, Euler’s Latin square does not have a regional restriction; and Second, Euler neither created nor did he intend to create a puzzle. On the other hand, Gerns and the team saw the potential of a hit puzzle in Euler’s works and proceeded to create the grandfather of modern day sudoki with this specific frame of mind. No Fool’s Gould Wayne Gould, a retired judge based in Hong Kong, chanced upon a sudoku puzzle in a Tokyo bookstore in 1997; Gould could not help but gravitate towards the blank squares of the puzzle. He felt compelled to create a digital version of the puzzle and worked on the sudoku computer program from 1997 to 2003.

In 2004, he found himself pitching an unknown puzzle called Su Doku to The Times of Britain. The results were overwhelming; within a few days, other newspapers began printing their own versions of the game. The popularity of the game snowballed and spilled over to Australia and New Zealand. By 2005, it had earned the moniker the fastest growing puzzle in the world. What Goes Around, Comes Around American newspapers caught wind of the sensation created by sudoku in Britain and the rest of the world, and found themselves jumping on the sudoku bandwagon. The New York Post published its own version of sudoku in April of 2005; this marked the homecoming and belated public acceptance of a New York native who went unnoticed in its own backyard since its birth for more than 20 years.

Within a few days sudoku made its presence felt throughout the country when major dailies such as USA Today and The Daily News began replacing their usual crosswords with the number game. The appeal of modern sudoku appears to be infinite and without boundaries. As a number puzzle, it does not make use of letters from any particular language; thus easily dispensing with the language barrier factor. Publications numbering in hundreds of thousands, from magazines to newspapers and digests, solely devoted to the game are testaments to the puzzle’s popularity and profitability. The numerous websites that offer digital versions of the game, for free or for fee, guarantees the game’s continuous development and improvement; it also provides a platform most accessible to the younger population.

Sudoku has even gone mobile as companies race to create sudoku games specifically for mobile phone users. Sudoku is a game of logic that challenges the young and old alike. In fact, studies on the mental benefits of regularly playing sudoku have been conducted; and the results have been positive so far. From the fastest growing puzzle in the world, sudoku has evolved into the most contagious puzzle virus the world has seen in years. Go and play sudoku.

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A gift is a nice way by which a woman can express her feelings for the only man in her life. A gift cements the relationship between two individuals. A woman may be sharing different relationships with a man, like a friend, husband, father, brother or boss etc. Each man should be given a gift that would befit the the relationship a lady holds with him.

A personalised gift will ensure that every time a man looks at it, he will remember the person who gifted it to him. Personalisation of a gift makes it unique and a man will cherish it for long. One should make special efforts to personalise a gift before giving it to a man. Embroidered clothing, an engraved item or a personalised poem are some of the popular gift ideas for him. One may also offer her man a T-shirt with a treasured photo of herself and her man printed on its front. It would still be better if one writes a loving and inspirational message for her man on the backside of the T-shirt.

If one’s man is a beer lover, she should present him with a set of beer glasses that have different romantic messages engraved on them. This will make the man remember her whenever he would pick up the beer glasses for drinking. In this way, one can keep her memories refreshed in the mind of her only man. One can also offer a music CD that contains a song which has been especially sung for her man only. There are many online music companies in the UK that will create customised songs for their customers on being requested to do so.

These songs contain personal details of the individuals like their names and birth dates etc. The lyrics of such songs contain words like to (him) from (her) etc. These companies have professional singers who will sing the song in a professional manner for their customers. A professionally recorded CD of the song is also given to the consumer. Alternatively, one may also gift her man a chess board which is made up of black onyx and white marbles. One can also personalise the chess board by engraving the name of his beloved man on the board. A dinner set or a silver bracelet will also make an excellent gift for him.

Some other personalised gifts for him may include a pen holder with the name of the man engraved on it, a letter opener and cross cufflinks. A re-recordable stuffed toy with a sound unit would make a good executive toy that can be gifted to a young man. Some of the gift ideas for him may include Musical boxes, paintings, customised plaque inscriptions and scented candles. A man would be happy to get any of these gifts. Some gift stores in the UK are also selling mushroom logs that will produce mushrooms for years.

Cologne is also a nice gift for him. A cologne that has a great mystifying fragrance would certainly be appreciated by any man. But one should take special care in selecting the right variety and brand of cologne for her man. If one’s man is a book lover, he may be gifted some book titles of his choice. A Sudoku puzzle book or a book on drinking games would also be likened by any man. Several retailers in the UK are selling attractive gift baskets to their customers these days. These gift baskets are becoming popular as they contain a number of small items that would interest an individual. Some retailers are selling Design-It-Yourself Gift Baskets, while others are selling truly delicious food and book baskets.

A bottle opener, a key ring or a knife are some of the nice gifts that can be given to any man. It is not necessary that a man should be given gifts on special occasions only. If one has a perfect gift idea for him, one should not wait for some occasion to share it with the only man in her life. There would be nothing more embarrassing for a woman than to wait for her man to unwrap her gift, only to find that the same gift had already been given to him by someone else.

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When you print greeting cards, it really pays well to have an interesting and memorable design. Most off the shelf and even custom greeting cards nowadays really carry only a little impact to most people. This is because we are bombarded already by so many different digital and print media that we get oversaturated by them. We all think that we have seen all the print greeting cards that the world has to offer. To make an interesting and memorable design these days, you really need to think out of the box when it comes to custom greeting cards. One of the greatest and unique ideas today is interactive greeting cards.

Interactive custom greeting cards are color greeting cards that aim to engage the receiver of the card by offering some interactivity to its nature. This means that the card requires an action from the receiver in order to deliver its message. Below are a few of these interactive features that you can apply to greeting cards:

Puzzle Greeting cards:

A good interactive greeting card design is the puzzle greeting card. These are the cards with a puzzle or similar “mind exercise” on the cover. The puzzle can be an image puzzle, such as those “3d image puzzles” where you try to find the image in what seems like abstract art. It can also be something like a crossword puzzle where the greeting card message will appear as you solve it. It can be as mind bending as a game of “Sudoku” as well. Whatever the puzzle choice however, the receiver of the greeting cards will be engaged with the card and they will definitely pay attention to the message.

Pop-up greeting cards:

For kids and kids at heart, pop-up greeting cards are another good idea as interactive greeting cards. Pop-ups basically produce a whole “3D” message for the receiver as you open them. You can integrate interactive elements, such as moving hands, people and objects into the greeting card that makes them more interactive. This doubles the use of the greeting card as a toy as well. People will engage in the greeting card more and they will keep them for a longer time since it is really useful.

Musical button cards:

Another great interactive greeting card design is the musical button card. These are the cards where you push a button and music starts playing from the card. Music gives the greeting card that extra emotional effect, especially if the music has a special meaning for the receiver. People will constantly push the musical button as they read that special message from you.

Cards with Embossed or special letters:

Finally, we have cards with embossed or special letters. Though it is low on the interactivity side since people will only touch the embossed letters or designs, it still counts since people are engaged and tempted to touch the embossed parts. People like texture, so embossing your greeting card designs engages people’s sense of touch, giving another sensory level of stimulation. This kind of card will be memorable because people will “feel” the card instead of just remembering how it looks.

Those are the great ideas for interactive greeting cards. They are unique, memorable and very engaging with people. With the drive of multimedia products nowadays, greeting cards have to be interactive so that it can change for the future. So go ahead and print greeting cards that are interactive. You will not be disappointed.

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Sudoku is an abbreviation of the Japanese phrase “Suuji wa dokushin ni kagiru”, which means “the digits must remain single”.  Sudoku was designed by Howard Garnes, a 74-year old architect and freelance puzzle maker, and was first published in 1979 in a New York puzzle magazine, Dell Pencil Puzzles and Word Games.  It was first entitled as Number Place.

Japanese paper Monthly Nikolist first printed Number Place on April 1984 as “Suuji wa dokushin ni kagiru”, as named by Kaji Maki, the president of the Nikoli company.  To this day, Nikoli holds the copyright to the name Sudoku.  Other publications use other names for Sudoku.

Sudoku is played on a 9X9 grid, with 3×3 subgrids referred to as regions, boxes, blocks, or even quadrants.  In each box, some cells already have numbers, called given, or clues.  A player has to place a number in each of the empty squares of the box in such a way that the box contains the numbers 1 to 9 exactly once.  

Take note that each puzzle has only one valid solution.

Sudoku has successfully invaded publications all over the world, from newspapers to puzzle books.  Now, you can play Sudoku even on your computer or mobile phone! Online versions of Sudoku can be found almost everywhere on the Internet, complete with random puzzles, solving tips, and even different downloadable versions of the game itself!  The following are just some of the websites that offer you a chance to play the addictive number puzzle game, Sudoku.

1) www.websudoku dot com

This site lets you play Sudoku on 4 different levels of difficulty: Easy, Medium, Hard, and Evil (obviously the VERY DIFFICULT level).  A randomly generated puzzle from billions of puzzles will be presented to players every time the site is first accessed.  You can choose your level of play and have the site generate a different puzzle.  A clicking a button allows you to see how well you have solved the current puzzle. Each row or column that has wrong inputted numbers will be highlighted red.  You can even download PC and mobile phone versions of the game here!  Plus lots of other helpful Sudoku stuff can be found here.

2) http://www.dkmsoftware dot com/sudoku/

You can play Sudoku online here.  Choose from 4 difficulty levels: Easy, Medium, Hard, and Supreme. You can save or load a specific puzzle that you have played here.  For those who love to create puzzles, or want to try making one, this site allows you to do that.  You can download the Pocket PC free trial version, or the full version for $11.95.  The site also has a desktop PC version of Sudoku, which has a free trial version, and the $14.95 full version.

This site has a variation of Sudoku, named Sudoku Sniper.  This version allows you to play against another human as both of you try to solve a puzzle simultaneously.  You can download the trial version for free, or the Pocket PC full version for $11.95.

3) www.miniclip dot com

Even the most popular website of mini-games offers its patrons and other players it’s own version of Sudoku.  This online version has cute, smooth graphics.  You can place the numbers on the empty squares using the mouse, or the numberpad on your keyboard.  You can even discuss anything about the game on miniclip dot com’s forums page.  You can even print a simple black and white copy of the puzzle you are playing!  Miniclip offers help on the game, and lets you post your score on the online scoreboard to see how you well you did compared to other gamers.

4) www.fingertime dot com

This website also offers a simple graphical version of Sudoku that you should play online.  Click and hold the mouse button on an empty square, select the number you want to place, and release the button.  If the number is wrong, the square will be red.  If the number you’ve selected should be placed on nearby squares, the game will automatically load them.  The keyboard can also be used to play this game.  Playing tips are offered here.  A new puzzle is generated daily, and the solution to the previous day’s puzzle can be seen the next day.  You can see your score on the online leaderboard.

5) http://www.sudokufun dot com/

This site is a SPEED SITE! A random puzzle is generated everyday.  Players, registered or not, can try and solve the puzzle at the fastest time possible.  Solve the puzzle using your mouse and keyboard, enter any name, and submit your solution.  The site will tell you if your solution is wrong.  The puzzle will be changed once 7 players were able to solve the current puzzle.  Results as to the fastest times will not be posted until the puzzle has been solved by 7 people so the excitement and tension here is high!  Tons of Sudoku stuff are also available here, particularly for registered users.  Registration is free so check this out.

There are tons of sites that will let you play Sudoku online.  Feel free to browse the web.  For now, these 5 sites will give your HOURS of Sudoku playing time and LOTS of SUDOKU resources.  Enjoy yourself and good luck!

Career Expert