Beyond classic · 12 variants
Sudoku variants — every way to play
Same digits, new geometry. Start with a playable variant below, or learn the rules of the famous ones.
Mini Sudoku (4×4 & 6×6)
The fastest variant — same logic on a smaller grid. Perfect warm-up and the best first Sudoku for kids.
Open →Kids Sudoku
Gentle 4×4 and 6×6 boards with color-friendly layouts for ages 5–10.
Open →Killer Sudoku
No givens — dashed cages with sum targets replace starting digits. The 45 rule does the heavy lifting.
Open →Jigsaw Sudoku
Irregular regions replace 3×3 boxes. Same digits 1–9, twisted geometry.
Open →Diagonal Sudoku (Sudoku X)
Both main diagonals must also contain 1–9 — two extra units to track.
Open →Samurai Sudoku
Five overlapping 9×9 grids sharing corner boxes. A marathon, not a sprint.
Open →Classic 9×9
The original: rows, columns, boxes. Every variant builds on these three rules.
Open →Hyper Sudoku (Windoku)
Four extra shaded 3×3 regions inside the classic grid, each also holding 1–9.
Open →Wordoku
Letters instead of digits — nine distinct letters spell a hidden word on one row.
Open →16×16 Sudoku
Hexadoku: digits 0–F across a giant grid. Sessions measured in hours.
Open →Even/Odd Sudoku
Shaded cells must contain even digits, unshaded odd — free eliminations from move one.
Open →Thermo Sudoku
Digits strictly increase along thermometer lines. Great for learning constraint logic.
Open →How variants make you stronger
Classic Sudoku rewards pattern memory. Variants break those patterns on purpose — Jigsaw hides your usual box scan, Killer removes your givens, Samurai stretches your working memory across five grids. Rotating variants is the closest thing Sudoku has to cross-training: one week of Jigsaw measurably speeds up box scanning on classic boards.
Recommended path: Mini → Classic Medium → Jigsaw → Killer → Diagonal X → Samurai.
FAQ
- What are the different types of Sudoku?
- The main families are: size variants (Mini 4×4/6×6, 16×16), shape variants (Jigsaw, Hyper), constraint variants (Killer, Thermo, Even/Odd), diagonal variants (Sudoku X), and multi-grid variants (Samurai). All share the core rule — each symbol appears once per unit.
- Which Sudoku variant is the hardest?
- For most players: Samurai by length, Killer by deduction depth, and 16×16 by sheer bookkeeping. 'Hardest' depends on your weakness — Killer punishes weak mental arithmetic, Jigsaw punishes weak spatial tracking.
- Which Sudoku variant is best for beginners?
- Mini Sudoku 4×4. It teaches rows/columns/regions in under five minutes with zero frustration, and every technique transfers directly to classic 9×9.
- Is Killer Sudoku harder than classic Sudoku?
- Usually yes at the same rating — Killer starts with no givens, so early progress depends on cage arithmetic (the 45 rule) before classic techniques even apply. Expert classic and Expert Killer are comparable.
- Do Sudoku variants help you improve at classic Sudoku?
- Yes — variants force you to re-derive eliminations instead of pattern-matching by habit. Players who rotate one variant a week report faster spotting of Hidden Singles and pairs on classic boards.