Russia is approaching the peak of “sudokumaniya”: more and more people are abandoning the usual crossword puzzles and crossword puzzles in favor of a logic game that resembles a mathematical problem in form. What is the secret of the irresistible appeal of Sudoku?
Now also online
The site www.puzzlle.ru has a section dedicated to this game. Several difficulty levels will allow each player to gradually improve their skills, and the constantly updated rating of players brings an element of sports excitement to the process.
“Sudoku is like a drug for me,” says Mikhail, 45. “On the way to work, I solve at least two games and get very upset if any of them do not converge.” 36-year-old Marina also speaks about her “sudokudependence”: “For me, sudoku is an analogue of seeds: it’s impossible to break away. At the same time, this game is very useful for me: I work hard, and it can be difficult to switch off even at home – I still continue to have an internal dialogue with colleagues, plan meetings, draw up documents in my mind … This is where Sudoku comes to my rescue: the game helps to forget about all problems, because it requires concentration and automatically “turns off” extraneous thoughts. When I play Sudoku, I get a break: I just do nothing, and that’s great.” But is it really that simple?
История вопроса
The 9-square number puzzle was invented in 1979 by American puzzle publisher Howard Games. In 1980, this game experienced a rebirth in Japan and acquired the name that we use today (su means number, doku means one). It returned to the West thanks to the New Zealander Wayne Gould, who improved it with the help of computer technology. The first Sudoku game in Europe was published in the Times newspaper at the end of 2004. Sudoku collections are being published in Russia today, and recently a new service is gaining popularity: downloading Sudoku to a mobile phone.
“Sudoku, like any other game, makes sense,” says a French clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst. Michelle Stora. – By playing it, a person actually gets the opportunity to prove himself, to confirm his own significance and viability. The rules of the game are quite simple, and anyone can master them. However, the outward resemblance to mathematical problems, the solution of which is traditionally considered complex and intellectual, increases the value of Sudoku in our eyes, allowing us to experience a sense of legitimate pride and satisfaction in case of winning, and thereby increasing our self-esteem. In addition, filling the cells with numbers, we realize our need to put everything in order and harmonize the surrounding reality. By straining the brain in order to avoid repetitions, and by ordering a seemingly incoherent set of numbers, we channel our negative emotions and find inner peace. In other words, to say that when playing Sudoku we do nothing is at least inaccurate: even if unconsciously, holding a plate with numbers in our hands, we solve several important problems at once.
For those who don’t know yet:
Given 9 squares, each of which in turn is divided into 9 more cells. The meaning of the game is to arrange the numbers from 1 to 9 in these cells in such a way that their sequence does not repeat in each row and column of the large square, as well as inside each of the small ones. Some of the cells are filled initially, and you need to enter the rest of the numbers yourself.