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I’d like to thank Alison Barclay of Astraware for providing this great game for the review! Thanks, Alison!

It’s time for another installment of Palm Discovery’s wReview Wednesday! Today we’ll be looking at Astraware’s Sudoku for the iPhone and iPod touch!

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Do you sometimes have extra time on your hands? Say, during breaks, or while on your morning commute to work or after work? Why not enjoy it with something that is fun, entertaining and also gives your brain some work out? Here’s a game that can be somewhat easy and also relatively hard depending on your skill level and brain power : Astraware Sudoku that not only brings the popular Japanese game to your iPhone and iPod Touch but also enhances it with extras that make it much easier to figure out and complete the game.

For those (including myself before I started playing the game) who are not familiar with how Sudoku works, here’s a short explanation. You are given a grid 9×9 of squares/boxes which you fill in the numbers 1-9. But here’s the hard part. Each row, column and 3×3 grid must only contain one of the nine numbers. So, for example, if one row already has a number “1″, you can fit another number “1″ on that same row and each row, column and 3×3 grid contains all nine numbers: 1-9 with no repeats or duplication. Now, it doesn’t seem nearly as easy as you thought? That’s where the fun begins. Also, you can go through their “How To Play” demonstration to get a better idea of how to play the game and utilize some of the features in the game as well.

One of the features of Astraware Sudoku that makes it somewhat easier to play and figure out the number is their “pencil marks”. This allow you to be able to put in the combination of numbers that may go into one spot that you can easily enter and make changes as you go along. I find that this feature really helps greatly in solving the puzzle as you can easily determine and rule out numbers that won’t fit in. In my view, this makes Sudoku much easier compared to writing and scribbling on another sheet of paper. In Astraware Sudoku, you’ve got it right there on the screen, making it very easy to solve.

When you’ve entered a number, one of two things will happen. If you’ve entered the correct number in the field, the number will quickly flash and go “blue” in color. If you’ve entered the wrong number, it will turn “red“. That makes it much easier to quickly determine whether you’re on the right path. Especially in this game, if you’ve entered the wrong number, your game will go in the wrong direction. In this respect, it can be much easier to complete and solve since you know right away whether the number entered is right or not. But, alternatively, you can make it much harder simply by going into the “Options” and changing the Mistakes to “Allow Mistakes”. That way, it can make the game much more challenging since you won’t know if the number you’ve entered is right or wrong.

If you’re stuck, you can also click on the “Hints”. When you’ve made a mistake, you can “Undo”. For those who are really stuck, you can also go into the “Actions” and have it “Fill Pencilmarks” so that you have all the various possible number combinations for each cell/box and can easily determine which number is the right one. As an added feature, you can also watch the game go through and solve the game for you through their “Quick Solve”.

To make the game interesting, you can set it to play sound effects and music (you set your favorite songs to play from the iPod Touch or iPhone).

And if you’re really up for the challenge, Astraware Sudoku also offers their “Puzzle of the Day” where you can connect to Astraware’s servers and get their Puzzle of the Day. Once completed, you can have your time and stats submitted to Astraware and compare your results to others. Think of it as your “bragging rights”, so to speak.

For those who want to skip over all the detailed review and just want a summary, you can jump to the review summary

An award-winning Sudoku game that’s packed with features and easy to use!

* Wide range of assistance including smart hints system, pencilmarks and hold-and-highlight to help beginners
* Puzzle of the Day downloadable over the air
* Dedicated companion website featuring solving techniques and additional puzzle packs at http://www.sudokuoftheday.com
* Built in puzzle generator creates unlimited number of puzzles!
* Play your own music in the background!

Description

Astraware Sudoku has earned a reputation as one of the best Sudoku games available for mobile. It is easy-to-use and packed with unique features that will challenge even the most avid Sudoku players!

Astraware Sudoku includes these essential features:

Puzzle generator - creates an unlimited number of true Sudoku puzzles in the background whilst you play. It automatically creates more puzzles when you need them, so you never have to wait.

Puzzle of the Day - download the puzzle for your chosen difficulty from the Sudoku of the Day webserver each day and once you’ve completed it, submit your time to see how you compare to other players worldwide!

Slideshow of Astraware Sudoku

Video of Astraware Sudoku

Astraware Sudoku video review at YouTube

Here are my observations:

I Liked:

Easy to play

For the beginner (like me) who has no idea on how to play the game, I was able to understand the concept and start playing practically within minutes. It is a lot of fun but obviously takes some time and brain power.

Various levels of game play

I like that the game offers several various levels of game play so that if you find the beginner level too easy that you can choose a harder level for more of a challenge.

Pencil mark feature

One of the best features that I really enjoy with this game is the “pencil mark” feature which allows me to fill in number combinations that may fit a specific cell and use it later to determine the correct one to enter. Unlike playing on a piece of paper where I don’t “see” the choices as clearly, this game allows me to easily and visually figure it out much quicker. It makes for a much more entertaining game.

Flag or Allow Mistakes

By default, the game will flag mistakes by showing the number in RED when it’s incorrect and in BLUE when correct. In this way, you can easily determine whether you’ve entered the correct or incorrect number. Of course, this can be an “easy” way to cheat the game as you can keep pressing the numbers until it turns blue, but then you’re defeating the purpose of the game. However, you can set the game to “allow mistakes” so that it won’t turn red when you’ve entered the wrong number, making for a much more interesting game.

Enable or Disable Sound Effect and Music playback

Depending on your preferences, you can enable or disable sound effects in the game. That way, if sound effects is enabled, you can easily “hear” whether you’ve gotten the number right or wrong and when a full row, column or grid is completed. Plus, you can also select any music on your iPhone or iPod Touch to be played in the background during play.

I Didn’t Like:

No Trophies for collecting

Considering how a lot of Astraware games offer special “trophies” for completion of various games, I am slightly disappointed that Astraware Sudoku doesn’t offer anything similar. However, as something somewhat similar, they do offer their “Puzzle of the Day” where you can submit your game stats to Astraware and compare with others.

Bland looking background and board

I found the background looks very bland and would prefer the option of having different backgrounds and colors so that it looks less bland. Perhaps, even changing the board somewhat to a different style perhaps?

No option to penalize for mistakes

Keep in mind that I only played the Beginner level, I didn’t notice anything in that level that will “penalize” the player for inputting the wrong number. Perhaps, that was available in the higher levels? I think adding extra time or strikes or other similar penalties can make it even more challenging. I would like to have that feature since I think the point of the game is to not only complete it but also complete it without many mistakes and in the shortest amount of time.

Review Summary

Astraware Sudoku is quite an interesting solitaire game that will appeal to beginners who have no idea about the game as well as to advanced players and experts that want the extra challenge. I like the “pencil mark” feature which clearly allows me to visually determine which numbers are available for each cell that I can’t do on a piece of paper. It’s my most loved feature. The game also allows you to play your own music (from your iPhone or iPod Touch) in the background as well as playing sound effects that enhance the game play. You can set the game to flag mistakes or allow mistakes for even more challenging play. What I would like to see in a newer update or release is the ability to change the board color and background so that I can have something different than the bland looking white and blue. Also, I would like to see penalties or “strikes” when you’ve entered the wrong number for even more challenging play. The game appeals to a wide range of players from beginners to experts. It’s no wonder it’s one of Astraware’s popular games for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Check it out Astraware Sudoku for the iPhone and iPod Touch here.

Although this review was done on an iPod Touch, Astraware Sudoku is also available in many other mobile platforms including: Palm, Windows Mobile (touchscreen), Windows Mobile (non-touchscreen), Symbian, Blackberry, Android and of course, iPhone/iPod Touch. Check out the Astraware Sudoku page for more information!

Enjoyed this review? Check out the many other Palm Discovery software reviews here such as palm os software review, windows-mobile software review, symbian os software review, iPhone and ipod touch software review.

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