A Sudoku puzzle consists of a 9×9 grid of cells sectioned into 9 3×3 blocks. When completed, each row, column, and block will contain the digits 1 through 9 once and only once. Many cells are left empty for the solver to find but enough are already filled in so that a unique solution exists. Although using numerical digits to distinguish the cells only logic, and no calculation, is used to solve the puzzle. In fact some Soduko puzzles replace the digits with colors to emphasize this. The solution begins by examining the peers of a vacant cell. This consists of all the other cells in  its row, column, and block. Any digit (or color) not occurring amongst the peers is a candidate for the cell. A good way to begin a puzzle is to select a row, column or block for which many of the peers are given and pencil in the remaining candidates. As the solution progresses penciled candidates will be eliminated until only one remains. 

Sudoku puzzles are rated by difficulty. The names given to difficulty levels vary but the beginning solver will quickly discover that some puzzles are easier to solve than others, and some are so difficult that the solver uses trial and error as a last resort. One might think that the more difficult puzzles start out with fewer cells (the “givens” or “clues”) filled in. Actually the difficulties arise as known “patterns” or techniques fail to match the puzzle. It is often the case that a puzzle is half completed when it becomes difficult to solve. The best way to learn the “patterns” is to discover them yourself through practice. The key to learning is really simple. Begin by tackling puzzles that are rated “easy” or “simple”. Solve enough puzzles until that skill level is no longer challenging to you. Then progress to the next level that might be called “medium” or “moderate”. As you progress, you will learn more and more patterns. Soon you will be ignoring puzzles rated at the easier levels.

There is an iOS (Apple devices) app called Sudoku Takeout. It has four difficulty levels.. easy, meduium, hard and evil. I used this app for most of my learning. I started at the easy level and before playing at the evil level I solved over 200 puzzles. The evil level is a bit of a misnomer. Many of the puzzles are at best of medium or hard difficulty. However I have encountered a few that truly live up to the name to the point where I have entered them into another app with a “newspaper” mode discussed below.

At some point it will help to read a printed guide. You will find an excellent one at www.sudocue.net. Here you will be able to put a name to the patterns that you discovered yourself and to learn a few that you did not. The list of patterns documented here is quite extensive. The content probably goes beyond any video that you might purchase and it is provided at no cost. You might want to print it out for reference. Another site that you will certainly want to visit is www.enjoysudoku.com. At this site not only will you find extensive instructions but you will be able to solve actual puzzles at a difficulty level of your choosing. What I really like about this site is the ability to get hints for the more difficult puzzles. The hints, when I have needed them, taught me a few advanced  techniques. The site developer (Jason Linhart) has also published Sudoku apps for various platforms including Mac OS X, iOS, WebOS, and Android.

Some of the Sudoku apps feature a “newspaper or magazine” mode. This allows you to copy the “givens” from a puzzle published in printed media. Combined with an app by Mr, Linhart that provides hints, you can solve nearly any Sudoku puzzle on the planet. This brings up another challenge. Sudoku apps provide enough options to make solving too easy. The challenge (and fun) lies in your ability to solve the puzzle without them. Most apps have an “autofill” feature that will fill in all the possible candidates for the vacant cells. Personally, I do not use this feature. Correctly resolving the candidates is part of the puzzle. Also, you will find that as the candidates are entered, patterns will be seen, and you will enter the solution to many cells long before all candidates are determined.

Finally, in a really difficult puzzle, if you must resort to trial and error, use an app with an “undo” feature. You will soon know that an error exists when no candidates remain for a cell. Then, hitting the “undo” button back to the point where you made the wring guess will allow the solution to proceed normally.

Scopa is a “fishing” style card game. The objective is to take tricks and collect as many cards as possible. There is a similar Anglo-American game known as Cassino. Cassino is played with a 52 card Bridge deck but it is believed that Cassino is a derivative of the older game of Scopa.

Of course nearly any iPhone app can run on the iPad in 2X mode, but Scopa has come to the iPad in the iPad only form of iScopa. Gosh, how predictable a name is that? As I would expect of a game priced at $2.99 the gameplay and graphics are excellent. Amongst the many options are to select the playing table and card backs. The developer has faithfully reproduced many (perhaps all) of the Modiano designs. There is an option to customize the rules so that the game plays  according to your personal preference. The AI has three levels of difficulty.. Easy, Medium and Hard. I don’t think the game cheats at the harder levels, I believe it simply has a better memory of played cards and implements some strategy in it’s play. If I have any criticism of the game it’s that I had some difficulty in changing the default difficulty of Medium to Hard (I was winning too many games at Medium). The game can played against a local opponent on a LAN. I have no way to report on how well this works as I am the only member of my home network.

As you can tell, I am very pleased with this game and will be playing it often. In fact I played it nearly all afternoon before writing this review. I hope the developer will consider making an iPad only version of Briscola. My suggestion to iPad owners  is to first try a free version in 2X mode. Then if you like the game, invest the $2.99 and really have some fun!

Rules of this game can be found here and many other places as well. Just do a Google search. The game is simple enough to be played by a grade schooler who has learned basic arithmetic. When I introduce this game to a novice they usually say it’s a pleasant pastime but that winning depends simply on the luck of the draw. After I get their attention by winning a few games I start educating them about the properties of dominoes and playing strategies. It is not long before they realize that they have been deceived on the apparent simplicity of this game. A skilled player will normally win the game.

Prove this to yourself by trying Curtis Cameron’s shareware game found here. This game WILL run on a Linux machine with WINE. The game offers four levels of difficulty. At the next to highest difficulty level I can win about half the games, At the highest level I usually lose. This game truly is my training ground. On my iPod Touch I have installed American Dominoes available from the App store. This plays a reasonable game at its highest difficulty level, but it does not compare to Curtis Cameron’s game. It’s good for practice, but I will win a majority of games.

I have a couple of texts on the subject. They’re fine for giving rules but none go into detail on playing strategies.  Save your money and learn on the Internet. Here are a few tips of my own that you may or may not find elsewhere:

(1) Know your dominoes. Some are more likely to score than others. Good scoring dominoes include 0-0, 5-5, 1-6. Repeaters will score on a scoring double just played. The 1-2 plays on and repeats the 1-1. Similarly, the 2-4 repeats the 2-2 and the 3-6 repeats the 3-3. The 4-3 plays and scores on the 4-4 and the 6-2 scores on the 6-6.

(2) In a standard double six set, any given pip will appear 8 times on 7 dominoes. If your hand has five or more of any number you hold the majority. Playing one of these will often send your opponent to drawing from the boneyard.

(3) If you are down to two dominoes try to make a play that will guarantee your going out on your next turn. It might not score but you can look forward to all the points in your opponents hand.

(4) In any play consider what dominoes can be played by an opponent to score. All played dominoes are visible so you will often know if a play is safe or unsafe.  For example, if I am holding both a 4-4 and a 1-1. I don’t hesitate to play the 4-4 and sometimes the 1-1 will score later. If the 1-1 is not in my hand and has not been played, another dominoe might be a better choice.

Do you have some strategies of your own? Why not comment on this article?