If you've never played a Sudoku in your life, you can be solving one in under ten minutes. The rules are simple: fill the 9×9 grid so that every row, every column, and every 3×3 box contains the digits 1 to 9 exactly once. That's it — there's no arithmetic involved, no special notation to memorise, and no hidden trick rule.
We recommend reading the short How to play page first (it really is five minutes), and then opening today's Easy board. Use the Hint button generously — it explains the next move in plain English, telling you exactly which technique applies and where. After two or three boards with hints, you'll find yourself spotting the same patterns on your own.
The first technique you'll ever use is the Naked Single — a cell that has only one possible digit left. The second is the Hidden Single — a digit that has only one possible cell left within a row, column or 3×3 box. Those two techniques alone are enough to finish almost every Easy puzzle on the site. Don't worry about Naked Pairs, Pointing Pairs, X-Wing or any of the scarier names yet — they come naturally as the difficulty steps up.
Why it works for this audience
No maths
Sudoku uses the digits 1–9 the same way it could use nine different colours or nine different fruits. You never add, subtract, or compare numerical values.
Hints in plain English
When you get stuck, the Hint button names the exact technique you can use (Hidden Single, Naked Pair…) and shows you the cell. You don't have to guess what the app wants from you.
Forgiving difficulty curve
Our Easy boards are tuned so that Hidden Singles alone — no pencil-marks needed — get you to a finished puzzle. Medium adds Naked Pairs; Hard adds Pointing Pairs. Each step is a single new idea.
A suggested routine
A sensible beginner routine: read the How-to-play page; play one Easy board with the Hint button; play one Easy board without it; repeat for a week before stepping up to Medium. By day seven you'll be embarrassed at how slow day one felt.
FAQ
Do I need to be good at maths to play Sudoku?
No. Sudoku is a logic puzzle, not a numeric one. The digits could be replaced by any nine distinct symbols with no change in difficulty.
What's the easiest Sudoku to start with?
Start with the Easy daily board. If even that feels too tough, try our 4×4 or 6×6 Kids Sudoku — the rules are identical, just on a smaller grid.
Is it okay to guess?
Try not to. Every well-formed Sudoku is solvable by logic alone. If you reach a point where you genuinely can't find a next move, pencil-mark every empty cell and look for a Naked Pair or Hidden Single — almost always there.