Astraware Sudoku

Astraware Sudoku Review


Astraware offer an electronic version of the classic Japanese Sudoku game. For addicts there is an infinite supply of games at 6 levels of difficulty with the challenge of a downloadable daily puzzle to compete for the fastest time. For beginners there is a comprehensive tutorial and hints on game play.

Every UK newspaper prints at least one daily Sudoku puzzle. So is it worth buying an electronic version? Read on to find out.

Thanks to Alison Barclay of Astraware for providing a review copy.

Supplier: Astraware
Product: Astraware Sudoku
Cost: $19.95
Supplier Web Site: Astraware Sudoku

Installation
Astraware Sudoku has both a CAB installer for direct use on your Pocket PC and an exe installer to use via Active Sync. I used the exe which worked perfectly.

Trial before purchase
Trial mode is important for a game costing almost $20. The trial version offers 3 built in games at each difficulty level, but all the methods of adding new games are disabled; the built in games are more than enough to decide whether you like Astraware Sudoku.
There is also a nag screen that imposes a longer pause each time it appears. The nag screen is a good way to limit the trial; by the time it becomes a nuisance you will know whether you want to buy, and there’s no time limit so if life gets in the way you can get back to the game later.

Sudoku
Sudoku is a logical puzzle game featuring a 9x9 grid. Within the grid are 9 boxes each featuring 9 cells. The object is to fill in the numbers 1-9 in each row, column and box, but they must only appear in each one once.
For those not familiar with the game Astraware’s companion site Sudoku of the Day offers a comprehensive explanation and advice on strategies.

Getting started
On start up a user name has to be entered. The game tracks users individually so that each user is only offered each game once.



Game play
Use the numbers in the right hand column to enter the solution to the puzzle; use the numbers underneath the grid to enter possible values for a cell, known as pencil marks. The menu contains an undo option for the last step in the current cell; if you can remember which cells you changed more cells can be undone.
The game tracks the time taken and number of hints used to solve the puzzle, displaying these on completion.
The current puzzle is saved on exit and resumes exactly where it was on restart, so it is easy to pause play and stop the clock.

Entry methods
The Astraware game is set up for easy stylus play. Select the cell with the stylus, and then tap on the number to be entered.
Physical keyboards can also be used. The cursor keys or the d-pad move around the square selector. Use the select d-pad button or return to change between an entry in the grid and a pencil mark; numbers are entered using the number keys. One-handed operation is possible with a keyboard.

Game assistance
There is a tutorial for new players with some advice on how to play.

Hints
At bottom left there is a Hints button. Selecting the button puts a green highlight on a row, column or square where a solution can currently be found. In the more difficult levels the highlight is sometimes a combination of a square with a row or column.

Insert pencil marks
The menu contains a selection that instantly inserts all the pencil marks indicating the possible numbers for every cell. While this speeds up play, to me it feels like cheating and takes away some of the satisfaction of completing the puzzle. At the higher levels inserting the pencil marks automatically gives many choices in most of the cells, which is confusing, and I find it easier to solve the puzzle by manual pencil mark entry.

Errors
There are three methods of error handling – allow errors, indicate errors or prevent error entry. Allowing errors is the hardest, turning the electronic game into a replica of pencil and paper. There is an example of error indication in the next screenshot down – see the red number 1 in the top row. For me error indication is one of the biggest advantages of using an electronic version of Sudoku, because I can get into a hopeless mess without it!



Compatibility
Astraware Sudoku is compatible with square, QVGA and VGA screens. For this review it has been tested on Pocket PC 2002, Windows Mobile 2003SE and Windows Mobile 5. It is also available for Smartphone and Palm OS, which were not tested.
The installer detected that one of my devices was set to German, and automatically installed the German language version of Sudoku, using the same installer that put English on the other devices. A very neat trick; other software developers please take note.

Landscape
Landscape mode has a minor bug. If Astraware Sudoku is started while the device is in portrait, and the display is rotated while Sudoku is open, then the portrait version is rotated and squished. The display is so small that the numbers are not readable.
However if the device is in landscape mode before the game is opened then there is a square display in the middle of the screen with cells and numbers the same size as in portrait, as shown in the adjacent screen shot. For now the trick to get round the bug is just to close and re-open the game to get the better landscape display; Astraware are going to look at this in a future revision.
Rotating from landscape to portrait while the game is open keeps the square display.

Display options
The background can be turned off so that the game is displayed on plain white. There are no other background choices and the game is not skinnable.
The blue guidelines indicating the row and column for the currently selected cell can be turned off.
There are three options for displaying the pencil marks indicating possible entries for a cell – a list of numbers, numbers displayed in a grid, or a grid of dots.

Sound
Unusually there is no music in Astraware Sudoku. There are short sounds for selecting a square, adding a pencil mark, entering a number and completing a line or square of numbers. These sounds can be muted, or their volume can be set within the game independent of the device sound settings. I like to have the sounds fairly quiet so that my concentration is not interrupted.




Sources of puzzles
The newly installed game contains only a small number of puzzles. There are three ways to get more puzzles.

Import puzzle packs
Astraware’s companion site, Sudoku of the Day, offers 130 downloadable packs of 100 puzzles to import spread across the 6 difficulty levels.

Download puzzle of the day
Open a connection, select Puzzle of the Day, choose the level and a puzzle is downloaded to your device for immediate play. When the puzzle is successfully completed the time with the Sudoku user name can be uploaded to the website so you can see how fast you are compared to other players, or in my case how slow I am.
There is a small bug in the results process. If the puzzle of the day is started on one day but finished on the next day and then the score is submitted, and then the second day’s puzzle is completed and the score submitted, the scores are messed up

Create a puzzle
The Create puzzle button on the initial screen offers a new puzzle choice that generates different puzzles. The generation takes a little while, especially for the more difficult levels where the build process sometimes needs to rerun. But the great advantage of this method is that the addict can never run out of puzzles.

Enter a puzzle
The Create puzzle button offers puzzle entry. A blank screen is displayed for number entry. Any number that is impossible is indicated immediately, and at the end there is a check that the puzzle is not impossible to do.
When the puzzle has been finished Astraware Sudoku indicates its view of the difficulty level, which can be very different to the level shown by a newspaper.

Summary
Pros
6 difficulty levels
Daily downloadable puzzles
Hints
Optional error indication
Stop and restart game at same place
Three types of pencil mark display
Endless supply of new games
Large supply of game packs

Cons
Puzzle of the day results can be confused around midnight
Poor rotation to landscape while game is open
Some background choices or skinning would be nice


Conclusion

4WinMobile Rating : 90%

Astraware Sudoku is miles better than using pencil and paper. It won’t convert a Sudoku hater into an enthusiast, but has useful features for players at every skill level. If you like Sudoku, give it a try. If you’ve found Sudoku too difficult using pencil and paper, then turn all the helpful features on and try some of the easier levels – but beware, you will quickly get hooked. At just $19.95 for endless puzzles how can you resist?