Sudoku X

Sudoku X is an enjoyable variant of the standard sudoku puzzle, the smash hit logic puzzle that has taken puzzlers by storm over the last decade. The rules are simple: place 1 - 9 once in each row, column and 3 x 3 box: just like normal sudoku. There is one additional rule: the two major diagonals are shaded, usually in grey, and these too must contain 1 - 9 once only. This means there are 29 regions in the standard sudoku X, compared to 27 in the usual sudoku puzzle. Clearly if the puzzle grid is a different size, such as 6x6, then the regions each contain 1 - 6, and so on.

How to solve sudoku X?

Actually, it solves very similarly to normal sudoku, but you need to make use of the information available in the major diagonals, too. This can be a bit tricky to get used to at first when you are used to just looking at the rows, columns and boxes, but the process is exactly the same and once you get used to it then you will enjoy this variant. If you are used to normal sudoku and are looking for a first variant to try, sudoku X is probably the best to start with as it is so similar to sudoku, so makes a good starting point before moving off to something else like killer sudoku, calcudoku or futoshiki.

Playing Sudoku X

If you want to play sudoku X puzzles then there are various options out there. Clearly many newspapers and magazines have a few sudoku X in, but it can be hard to find collections of sudoku X puzzles for you to play without all the other puzzles in them that you might not normally want - such as collections of plain sudoku that have one or two in there for some variety.

But where do you go when you want collections of just Sudoku X? Here are two options for you:

For a magazine in PDF format containing 100 sudoku X that you can download and print and solve at leisure (clearly this requires you to have a printer) then check out the Sudoku X Magazine.

Or for those who prefer a good old-fashioned book with puzzles to solve, then another option would be the Sudoku X Book which contains nothing but 100 fun Sudoku X puzzles for you to solve. In both collections all the puzzles can be solved using logical rules alone and have one solution - guessing is never needed so you can guarantee a logical path exists from the start grid to the solution.