Wordoku Game Review

Wordoku Game Background

Wordoku is a logic puzzle game inspired by Sudoku that swaps numbers for letters. Fill in the grid so that every row, column and 3 x 3 square has one instance of every letter. The letters to choose from form a 9-letter word at the bottom of the screen.

This game was developed by CodeThisLab on May 2, 2017.

How to Play Wordoku

To select, left click with your mouse or tap on the touchscreen with your fingers. On the welcome screen, select the play button at the center to open the difficulty screen. Select a difficulty level from the 3 shown to begin.

This game gives you two ways to fill each cell in the grid:

• In Cell First Mode, you select a cell from the grid, then select a letter from the bottom row.
• In Letter First Mode, you select a letter, then select a cell.

If you’re playing on a device with a keyboard, you can type in the letters in Cell First Mode. You can switch between modes by selecting the button on the bottom right corner of the game screen.

Select a game option to use it.

Basic Gameplay Advice

Basic Rules

The goal of this game is identical to that of regular sudoku. You begin with a 9 x 9 grid divided into 9 squares. You must fill each row, column, and square with one of each letter from the word shown at the bottom of the screen. No letter can repeat in any of row, column, or square.

The game is timed. You earn points based on how fast you solve the puzzle. If you finish the game within a specific time threshold (see below), you’ll receive a bonus.

The grid has a few starting letters (givens) that act as hints to solve the puzzle. These are marked in blue, while empty cells are marked in white. The number of starting givens you receive at the beginning is based on the difficulty level. The higher the difficulty level, the fewer givens you start with.

• Easy: 36 to 38 givens. Bonus scoring time at 10 minutes.
• Intermediate: 28 to 32 givens. Bonus scoring time at 20 minutes.
• Advanced: 25 to 26 givens. Bonus scoring time at 30 minutes.

You have the option of putting temporary answers on any cell by jotting them down in Memo Mode. Select the button next to the mode selection button on the bottom left corner to toggle between Memo and Answer modes. Placing a correct answer anywhere on the grid will clear a number any of the memos in its row, column, or cell.

Gear Button Options

Select the gear button to see the following game options:

• Get a hint: Reveals the correct location of any letter
• Fill the board with notes: Automatically fills in the empty cells with memo notes of every possible combination of letters
• Solve the Wordoku: Have the computer finish the puzzle for the times when you just want to give up
• Reset the Wordoku: Clear all the letters on the grid so you can start over
• Play without time: Turn the timer off

Note that using any of the help options will deplete your score.

Advanced Playing Tips & Strategy

The tips and tricks for regular sudoku apply for this game. One of the first things you should remember is that sudoku is about elimination. Your goal is to narrow down the candidates that appear in each cell using the givens as hints.

To start off, look for rows columns, and squares with more givens. The givens will help narrow down your guesses on the nearby rows, columns, and squares. You can also start by looking at letters that appear more often.

Look for naked singles. These are cells with only one possible answer thanks to all the other letters on the grid. Likewise, search for naked pairs, a pair of cells with identical possible numbers. They will help rule out other letters on every other part of the square they appear in.

Don’t spend too much time scanning the whole grid or spend too much time in one place. Scatter your attention toward every other part of the grid.

Finally, build momentum. Solving one part of the grid narrows down the options in another part of the grid. You can often solve the entire puzzle in a cascading manner as you narrow down the possible candidates in more and more cells.

Educational Aspects

This game helps develop a player’s logical thinking skills.

Player Age Recommendations

This game is suited for school-aged players and above. We recommend it for players who like simple logic games similar to conventional Sudoku.