Sudoku electronic handheld game - what to buy?
A little bit about Sudoku
Sudoku is a nice little numbers puzzle game that comes from Japan and reached popularity about 3-4 years ago. It comes in many variants but the most common one is a 9x9 grid divided in a total of 9 3x3 squares. Each element of the grid can contain a number from 1 to 9 and some come already filled with a number while the others must be filled by the player according to a few rules depending on the variant. And for our little Japanese lesson of the day, the word "Sudoku" means "single number".
Pen and paper Sudoku
Handheld Sudoku Games on Amazon
Things to consider before buying electronic Sudoku games
Screen size - You might say the bigger, the better, and that is generally true however in this case remember you will be carrying the handheld sudoku game with you wherever you want to play. Unless you plan on only taking it places where you have a backpack or a purse on you I suggest you try to find a comfortable balance between screen size and device size and weight.
Variable difficulty settings - If you love playing sudoku a lot you're going to use your electronic handheld sudoku game often and the more you play the more your game improves and the better you get at it. That's why it is important for the device to be able to keep up with you and the best way to do that is to have variable difficulty settings that you can select. If you're buying this sudoku handheld as a gift for someone that isn't a big fan, you'll want to have them play on an easier setting to get them hooked but if they're already experienced players they'll appreciate the harder difficulty more!
Touch screen and backlight - The screen and backlight are the most important part of the device and also the object of most of the buyers complaints. You're going to play this game in the day time and probably even in bright sunlight so try to get a handheld that has at least a decent backlight, no backlight is just out of the question! If you're going for a touch screen device than try to make sure it is responsive and more importantly big enough for you to be able to touch the boxes accurately with a stylus.
Angle of view - The angle of view is another common concern as electronic handheld sudoku games are built around LCD screens. If you're reading this from an LCD screen at your computer than you can easily understand what I mean by just moving to the right or left side by a foot and trying to read this hub again. You'll probably notice the screen seeming darker. As long as your computer screen doesn't get darker it means you're in it's angle of view. Well electronic sudoku games have the same problem, only because the screen is smaller it's easier to get out of it's angle of view, and because most games have black writing on a gray screen, the more you're out of it's angle of view the easier it is to mistake the numbers for the background.
Other functions - While not the most important of criteria, some electronic sudoku games can also serve other basic functions by having an alarm, a clock or a calendar. So if you are ever in the position of choosing between two apparently just as good devices you might want to take these other functions into consideration as well.
And of course, price! - Price is, depending on how big of a sudoku fan you are, the first or last concern. Either way though, 50 dollars is a lot to pay for a device that can do only one thing even if it does it very well, while 5 dollars can probably get you something that will let you play sudoku, but don't expect it to offer you the best experience while playing.
