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Hyper Sudoku (PuzzleMadness)

Sudoku with four extra shaded 3x3 regions that must also hold 1 to 9.

Every day: A new dated Hyper Sudoku puzzle every day, the same for every player, one for each difficulty (Easy, Medium, Hard, Tough and Mixed); completed puzzles score on monthly and all-time leaderboards and past days stay in the archive. New puzzle: Once a day (the site does not state the time).

Play Hyper Sudoku (PuzzleMadness) on puzzlemadness.co.uk
An example Hyper Sudoku from PuzzleMadness's rules with four shaded extra regions

PuzzleMadness posts a new Hyper Sudoku puzzle every day, the same grid for every player, at several difficulty levels. Normal sudoku rules, plus four shaded 3x3 areas inside the grid must each hold 1 to 9 once. Finished puzzles score points on the site's monthly and all-time leaderboards.

About Hyper Sudoku (PuzzleMadness)

Hyper Sudoku, also known as Windoku, is a 9x9 sudoku with four extra 3x3 regions shaded inside the grid, one in each quarter. Those regions overlap the normal boxes, and each must contain 1 to 9 once as well. The extra regions give more ways to pin down a digit.

The daily page opens today's puzzle on its own, and its title carries the date (on 3 October 2026 it read "Daily Medium Hyper Sudoku Puzzle for Saturday 3rd October 2026 (Medium)"). There is a separate dated puzzle for each difficulty: Easy, Medium, Hard, Tough and Mixed. Past days stay in the archive, so a missed puzzle can be played later, and there is a print version and an image download of the grid. PuzzleMadness does not publish solutions: the site tells you when you have finished a grid correctly or made a mistake. Each completed puzzle adds to your total on the Hyper Sudoku monthly and all-time leaderboards, where only your best score on any one puzzle counts.

The trick the site's rules show is to look at a shaded region and the normal boxes it overlaps: if those boxes already hold a digit, the shaded region's copy of it is pushed into the few squares left. Use the extra regions early; they make the opening faster than in a classic grid.

PuzzleMadness is a British puzzle site with dozens of daily puzzle types in the browser, from many sudoku variants to logic grids such as Nurikabe, Hashi and Slitherlink. It is free to play and carries ads. A free account keeps track of the puzzles you have finished and puts your name on the leaderboards, and the badges next to usernames mark how many puzzles a player has completed.

How to play Hyper Sudoku (PuzzleMadness)

  1. Open the day's Hyper Sudoku page and choose Easy, Medium, Hard, Tough or Mixed.
  2. Fill digits so every row, column and 3x3 box holds 1 to 9 once.
  3. Make each of the four shaded 3x3 regions hold 1 to 9 once too.
  4. Complete the grid and the site records your score.

Tips

  • Scan each shaded region for missing digits as if it were a fifth kind of box.
  • Squares where a shaded region overlaps a normal box are the most constrained.
  • The parts of the grid between shaded regions also behave like hidden extra regions.

Questions

What are the shaded areas in Hyper Sudoku?

Four extra 3x3 regions; each must hold the digits 1 to 9 once, along with the normal rows, columns and boxes.

When does the PuzzleMadness Hyper Sudoku change?

Once a day: each puzzle is dated, and the daily page opens the current day's grid. The site does not say at what time the new one appears.

Is PuzzleMadness Hyper Sudoku free?

Yes. You can play without an account; the site shows ads. A free account records which puzzles you have finished and enters your scores on the leaderboards.

Where can I find the answers?

PuzzleMadness does not publish solutions. It tells you when your grid is complete and correct, and when you have made a mistake.

Can I play earlier Hyper Sudoku puzzles?

Yes, older puzzles are in the archive, and puzzles completed on any day count toward that month's leaderboard.

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