Earlier versions: version 1.8, version 1.9 version 2.5-2.7

SuDoku Assistant 3c

This tool can create very funny sudoku puzzles, in different difficulties, and assist you while solving a puzzle. The assistant will only help you with the repetitive but trivial calculations. You will still be the brain!

From the download-page you may download the latest version. The price-tag is $5 US-dollar, but you can try before you buy.

Main purpose of the assistant: The program can create new puzzles but you may also type in a puzzle that you have found in some paper. The program can display the candidates (pencil marks) in every empty sodoku cell to indicate which figures the cell may contain. (It would be trivial to derive the candidates manually, but the assistant will save you that time, leaving the brainwork to you!) The program will then let the user eliminate pencil-marks manually. Moreover, the built in eye catcher will aid your eyes to spot figures on the board so that you can focus on the logic of sudoku.

News in version 3. The algorithm that creates new puzzles has been improved. The new puzzles are more fun and can be selected from 6 different levels of difficulty. The user interface has been improved and the program is more easy to use. Double clicks have been replaced by single clicks and it is now possible to select multiple cells without pressing the shift key.

How to play sudoku

A sudoku matrix is a 9 by 9 grid. Each cell contains a figure between 1 and 9 according to the following restrictions. Each row, each column and every so indicated 3x3-region should contain exactly one figure of each kind (1..9)! When you start to play most cells are covered and the purpose of the game is to figure out the hidden figures.

Very fun sudokus!

We create sudokus in different levels of difficulty. One may think that the difficulty of a puzzle depends on how many figures are uncovered, but this is not really the case.

Let us explain how we rate a sudoku: There are a several well known tips and tricks that most sudoku players use when they try to solve a puzzle. To rate a puzzle, our program will examine what tricks are needed to solve it. The more advanced tricks that are needed the higher rating will the puzzle get. The program does not only rate the difficulty, but also how fun it is to solve the puzzle. If many different tricks are needed then the puzzle is considered to be more fun. When you ask the program to create a new puzzle it will examine several hundreds randomly generated puzzles and pick out the most fun puzzle (which rating does not exceed the rating the asked for). Our unique sudoku generating algorithm produces extremely addictive puzzles!

How to use the program

Create a sudoku puzzle: Select File/New. The dialog box will ask you if you like to type in a new puzzle manually or if you like program to produce a new puzzle. If you prefer to type in your own puzzle the game will enter configuration mode. Select figures by right-clicking and then enter play mode.

Even those puzzles that you type in manually will be rated by the assistant. It is interesting to note that puzzles that are rated as "very hard" by some magazines are rated "Easy" (1 of 7) by the sudoku program. The reason is of course that the magazine use an over simplified (and erroneous) technique when rating sudokus.

If you like to solve a sudoku which is guaranteed to be fun you should let the program generate it. Choose a suitable rating level between 1 and 6 (There is also a level 6+, but that level is not recommended). It takes 10 seconds to create a new sudoku. During that time, the program will create a larger number of puzzles and examine their difficulty and estimate how fun they are. During the creation process, all sudoku cells are covered. After 10 seconds some cells will be uncovered, and you can start playing!

To enter a figure in a cell: Entering a figure is the same as selecting a candidate (pencil mark). That is easy, you only have to click on the candidate. It is also possible to enter the figure from the context menu (the menu that appears when you right-click in a cell or on a candidate).

To eliminate a candidate: If you have found out that some candidate is impossible (for some reason) you may tell that to the Assistant by eliminating the candidate. Right-click on the candidate and select disable!

The assistant displays the disabled candidates by a weaker color and in the lower part of the cell.

It is easy to eliminate the same candidate from multiple squares: Select multiple squares while pressing the SHIFT-key and then disable one of the candidates. It is also possible to select multiple cells by moving the mouse while keeping the left mouse button pressed.

EyeCatcher: If you move the mouse pointer above a figure, for instance the figure 3, then all 3s will become red. This applies also to the candidates. In addition, all 3s in the same row/column /block will be embossed by a yellow backlight. Most sudoku players enjoy this eye catching facility since it makes it easier to spot various figures.

Color bullets: During the process of solving a puzzle one may want to place different color bullets one some squares. The humble assistant will let you do that, but only you will know their meaning...

File

The File/menu has the following commands:

New: create a new puzzle.

Save/Open: Save a puzzle or open an old one.

Export: Save the puzzle as an html-file.

Import: Import a puzzle from a different file format.

Print: Print the puzzle.

Edit

The Edit-menu has the following commands:

Undo/Redo: Undo a move (or undo the undo).

Clear Solution: Remove the solution (red figures).

Clear All: Remove all figures.

View

Here is the View-menu:

Candidates: Show/hide pencil marks displayed in every empty cell. It would be trivial to derive those figures manually, but the assistant will save you that time.

Toolbar: Show/hide the toolbar.

Game

The Game-menu:

Play: Put the assistant in Play-mode.

Auto: Sometimes, the help text indicates that exactly one figure is allowed in some squares. And when that figure has been filled in, new such squares may appear. Issue the auto command to automate the sequence of trivial mouse clicks!

Prefer Symmetric: A manually constructed sudoku is often symmetric. This means that if the cell (r,k) is uncovered then so is cell (8+1-r, 8+1-c). For example, (1,1) and(8,8) or (1,2) and (8,7). The symmetry makes it somewhat easier to construct the puzzle manually, but for a computer the symmetric constraint is unnecessary.

Help

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