How to Make a Sudoku Puzzle

With sudoku puzzles showing up in major magazines and newspapers across the world, there is no shortage of games for you to play. However, many people are discovering the fun of creating a unique sudoku puzzle on their own. In the past, making a sudoku puzzle was hard work involving a great deal of time and complicated thought patterns. Today, however, there are numerous programs that can help you design your own personal game in just a few minutes.

Things You'll Need

• Sudoku computer generator

Instructions

1. Download a free puzzle generator, such as Sudoku-XLS (see Resources below). In addition to helping you make a sudoku puzzle, these generators may also be able to help you find solutions to printed sudoku puzzles.

2. Find a previous puzzle you've enjoyed to use as a template. While it is possible for you to use a printed puzzle by typing in the appropriate numbers, it's easiest to use an online puzzle.

3. Open a creator worksheet and copy your chosen puzzle into the sample grid.

4. Press the "create from sample" button to generate a completely different puzzle for you to solve.

5. Keep the sample puzzle saved in your program. At any time, you can make a new sudoku puzzle from this outline by pressing the "create from sample" button. Each time, the puzzle will be completely different.

6. Register your program for a nominal fee to get access to the difficulty selector. You can then make puzzles from your sample sudoku with difficulty ratings from easy to taxing.

7. Take advantage of your program's compatibility with Microsoft Outlook by emailing your friends and family with the sudoku puzzles you make.

8. Play around with the settings in your program to see whether you can deviate from traditional sudoku. You may be able to make a puzzle with a four-by-four grid, one which uses letters instead of numbers or even one that is almost impossible to solve.

Tips & Warnings

• If you accidentally make a mistake and mess up the formatting of your generator work pad, either re-install it or download the program again. It's easier to fix the generator by overriding it with a new copy rather than trying to undo the mistake.

• Most of the basic sudoku puzzle generators are compatible with Mac operating systems. However, Mac users may find it difficult or impossible to register their programs to access the advanced features.

Resources

• Sudoku-XLS to make puzzles