[quote]A review copy was provided by the developer.[/quote]
[quote]Follow my Curator page, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41363546-Fruit-N-Doggie-Reviews/]Fruit N Doggie Reviews,[/url] so you can be updated whenever I post a new review.[/quote]
[h1]Overall Rating - High Quality ★★★★☆[/h1]
[h1]First Impressions[/h1]
My demand for an online version of sudoku hasn't been that high, since I can always generate them on a free website if desired. However, I've also had the mindset that if a quality one became available, I'd be happy to pick it up. So when I looked into a review key for Sudoku Classic (SC), I thought it might satisfy my interest in having a copy on Steam.
[h1]Gameplay[/h1]
I won't explain how sudokus work or tips for solving them, as the game has a how to section available. Additionally, this version follows all the basic rules, so as long as you understand them, you don't have to worry about more complicated forms and patterns. SC is rather straightforward, as you simply choose what difficulty you want to tackle, and select from one of the available puzzles. There's three difficulties, easy, medium, and hard, with each having 100 sudokus to solve. It might have been nice to include more of the less difficult versions, since they take less time to complete, but I don't think the amount is unreasonable for the asking price of $6. Checking some of my clear times, each easy puzzle takes around 2-3 minutes, while medium ones last 6 minutes or more. Hard sudokus can take quite a bit longer, with the greatest variation in my results, but I'd estimate 20 minutes per puzzle. Doing the math, if I finished every puzzle, it'd take me around 48 hours.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3370722671
[h1]Controls[/h1]
Since this is a PC version of sudoku, I was surprised that it was compatible with a controller. Initially, I tried the game with the mouse and keyboard, finding that it works quite well. Moving through what number to choose with the scroll wheel makes sense, but when changing from one side to the opposite, clicking directly on the number I want with the mouse cursor is a hair faster. After trying it with a controller, it isn't as fast as scrolling with a mouse, but it still works great. Choosing whatever box I want, and switching to the right number, is very easy, and comes naturally.
[h1]Story[/h1]
This is solely a compilation of sudokus, so there's no plot available.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3370723733
[h1]Visuals[/h1]
In my own imagination, I envision many people working through sudokus while either enjoying the morning newspaper with coffee, or perhaps while relaxing in a quiet, cozy cafe. For that reason, when choosing between the different styles for the number wheel and background, the use of warm, neutral colors makes sense to me. Rich leather and wooden tones fit the vibe of a coffeehouse, which seems the fitting backdrop for a puzzle like this. Since they wouldn't have taken a ton of time to develop, it might have been nice to increase the range of options, but most of your time is spent looking at a grid of numbers, so why make things too flashy? If anything, I'd reorient the user interface so it's better organized and streamlined, as I always have to think for a moment in order to properly navigate through the system.
[h1]Sound Design[/h1]
There's three songs in the game, two of which I like. Even though all three are instrumentals, with a faster tempo than I'd expect, I find the notes from the last one too sharp for my enjoyment. Thankfully, it's easy enough to pick a particular song, so I can just alternate between the ones I enjoy, instead of picking random. For whatever reason though, when you advance to the next level, the start of the song produces a lot of unpleasant racket. The sound effects from filling the grid isn't too distracting, but I did lower the volume, as they aren't better than merely letting the music play uninterrupted.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3370723244
[h1]Pros[/h1]
🌟 Since I don't often make careless mistakes on the easier difficulties, I plan on waiting until the end to check all of them. However, because I don't want to waste so much time restarting on hard ones, I can have it notify me if I make any mistakes. The options let me tweak things as needed.
🌟 You'll occasionally unlock new visual options, so you can change things up every so often.
🌟 The controls are satisfying, which was one of my bigger concerns for this game.
[h1]Cons[/h1]
❌ Despite having options to customize the experience, there isn't a setting for how large the screen is. You have to manually toggle full screen each time you start up the game.
❌ You can only have one temporary save, so if you start another puzzle, it'll delete the progress made in another.
[h1]Tips[/h1]
🔍 I found myself preferring the print numerals more than the handwritten. It was difficult distinguishing between the 1 and 7 otherwise, so you might want to tweak the options.
🔍 Look at the how to section, not so much to find out how sudokus work, but to find out more about how SC's options and system works.
🔍 Use Alt+Enter to activate full screen mode. It's much easier to navigate the menus this way.
[h1]Final Thoughts[/h1]
SC isn't the sort of game I'll play for exhaustive amounts of time, feeling a desperate urge to solve sudokus, and spending hours out of the blue tackling several of them. However, if I have some spare time, and the thought crosses my mind, I might do one or two intermittently. It's nice to give the mind a bit of occasional exercise, and something about working with numbers suits my brain better than crosswords. Despite not being a game I'll play in large bursts, my reason for appreciating this title so much is because it tackles a basic puzzle compilation so well. All the ways you can customize the appearance and how it plays shows that serious thought was given so players could make it fit their personal tastes. Although it doesn't renovate anything, the developers presented sudoku on Steam well, and that's all I've wanted from a compilation like this. For fellow sudoku fans, SC is a good version to get for this platform.
[quote][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]Follow our curator page: [b]IndieGems[/b] if you like and want to see more reviews like this one.[/url][/quote]
[table]
[tr]
[th]PC Specs[/th]
[th]Performance[/th]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Ryzen 2700
RTX 2070
16GB RAM
ADATA SSD
1920x1080
[/td]
[td]The game ran without incident on default settings.
💖 - SC is healthy
[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]
