In a busy society where demanding careers and after school activities can quickly drain a person’s time and energy, it is always welcome when the opportunity to sit down at the end of the day and relax presents itself. An excellent way to do just that is for one to immerse themselves in a game of Sudoku.

Viewed as confusing to some, this challenging puzzle allows the user to exercise their brain in a fun way by filling each row and column in the nine 3 x3 grids with every digit from one to nine. Nikoli, a puzzle company located in Japan, created this game in 1986, and its Japanese name translates into English as Single Number.The whole story can be found at http://www.i-programmer.info/bookreviews/65-mathematics/4178-taking-sudoku-seriously.html

Since that time, variations of the game have been created. Mini Sudoku, popular in American newspapers, decreased the grid six 3×2 grids, and the object of the game is to use every number between one and six. Other popular alternatives include Killer Sudoku, Cross Sums Sudoku, Hypersudoku, Alphabetical Sudoku and Duidoku.

Once Sudoku was introduced to The Times in Britain, its popularity quickly soared, and now it is a commonly known pastime. Anyone with some time to spare should consider taking a stab at this creative challenge.