Rushing on to Killer Sudoku

As soon as I was able to create a few regular sudokus I rushed on ahead to make a Killer Sudoku. I really enjoy the constraint of the cages as it feels a little like a kakuro puzzle. I sped up the creation again by taking the solutions and putting them into a blank grid. From there it was just up to drawing out another blank grid and coming up with cages.

The process felt more similar to creating a kakuro than a sudoku. My design process slipped naturally into contrasting high and low cages for the player to compare. There are still issues surrounding making sure the puzzle has a unique solution. If you don’t have enough clues to point to the configuration of a cage on a horizontal or vertical line then it won’t have a unique solution. So it adds a new dynamic in design for that particular conundrum.

I designed a few more killer sudokus when taking the train up to fencing but it’s been a couple months so I can’t remember some of the specific design process issues I came up with. Next time I’m on the train or creating a puzzle I’ll have to make sure the website editor is staring me in the face at the same time so I can make notes in a draft!