Good Sudoku

About Good Sudoku

Good Sudoku was released for iPhone and iPad in July 2020, designed by Zach Gage with programming and audio by Jack Schlesinger. It keeps the normal sudoku rules and changes what surrounds them: optional tools take over the counting and busywork, and a hint system runs a solver while you play, works out what you already know from your digits and notes, and points you to the technique you need next. The app lists which techniques each difficulty level requires and lets you practise them on their own.

The daily side is three puzzles a day with global leaderboards. The developers say they added leaderboards because other sudoku apps had daily modes without them. Players describe the three dailies as a Good puzzle, where using hints costs points, an Arcade puzzle, where misplaced digits count as strikes, and a Classic puzzle, which turns off the helper tools so you solve on your own. The store listing says the dailies get harder through the week, and players report that Monday is the easiest.

Outside the dailies there are three standard modes (Good, Arcade and Eternal), more than 70,000 generated puzzles across five difficulty levels, and a Custom mode for entering a puzzle from a newspaper or a friend and sharing it.

The App Store version is a free download with a one-time in-app purchase that unlocks the full game. A separate version, Good Sudoku+, is part of Apple Arcade and lists six difficulty levels. It suits players who want to learn harder techniques, or who already solve daily and want a ranked result to compare with others.

How to play Good Sudoku

1. Open Good Sudoku and go to the daily puzzles from the main menu.
2. Choose one of the day's three puzzles: Good, Arcade or Classic.
3. Fill the nine-by-nine grid so each row, column and three-by-three box holds one to nine once, using the notes and highlighting tools if the mode allows them.
4. Ask for a hint when stuck; it shows the next logical step, though in the Good daily it lowers your score.
5. Finish the grid to post your result to that puzzle's global leaderboard, then try the other two dailies.

Screenshots

Tips

• Play the Classic daily after the other two; it removes the helper tools, so it is a test of what you have learned.
• In the Arcade daily, only place a digit when you are sure, since misplaced digits count against you.
• Read the technique lessons the hints point to; late-week dailies need techniques such as wings and fish patterns.
• Expect Monday to be the easiest day and leave more time for the dailies toward the weekend.
• Use Custom mode to bring in a puzzle you got stuck on elsewhere and let the hint system walk you through it.

Questions