12 Games Like Sudoku You'll Love

If you love sudoku and want similar logic puzzles, the best alternatives are KenKen, Kakuro, Nonograms, Futoshiki, Killer Sudoku, Hitori, Nurikabe, Sudoku Royale (competitive multiplayer sudoku), and several more. Each of these puzzles shares sudoku's core appeal — filling a grid using logic and elimination — while adding unique twists that test different aspects of your reasoning. Here are 12 games that every sudoku fan should try, ranked by how closely they match the sudoku experience.

What Sudoku Fans Actually Love

Before recommending alternatives, it helps to understand what makes sudoku so satisfying. Sudoku appeals to people who enjoy:

• Logical deduction: Every cell can be solved through pure reasoning — no guessing required.
• Progressive revelation: Each solved cell gives you more information to solve the next one.
• Clean rules: The rules fit in one sentence, but the depth is enormous.
• Definite solutions: There is exactly one right answer, and finding it feels earned.
• Scalable difficulty: The same basic puzzle can range from relaxing to brutally hard.

Every game on this list shares at least three of these qualities. We have organized them from closest to sudoku to most different, so you can decide how far you want to venture from your comfort zone.

1. KenKen — Sudoku Meets Arithmetic

KenKen is the closest relative to sudoku that adds genuinely new gameplay. Like sudoku, you fill a grid so that each row and column contains each number exactly once. The difference is that instead of 3x3 boxes, KenKen has irregularly shaped cages with a target number and an arithmetic operation (addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division). The numbers in each cage must produce the target using that operation.

For example, a two-cell cage marked "12x" in a 6x6 grid means the two numbers must multiply to 12. That could be 2 and 6, 3 and 4, or their reverses. You use the row and column constraints to determine which combination works.

KenKen was invented by Japanese math teacher Tetsuya Miyamoto as a classroom exercise. Grid sizes range from 3x3 (trivial) to 9x9 (very challenging). The smaller grid sizes make KenKen more accessible to beginners than sudoku, while the arithmetic component adds a layer that experienced sudoku solvers find refreshing. The New York Times publishes a daily KenKen puzzle, and there are several good mobile apps available.

2. Killer Sudoku — The Hybrid

Killer Sudoku combines standard sudoku rules with KenKen-style cages. You still have the 9x9 grid with 3x3 boxes, rows, and columns, but instead of given numbers, you get dotted cages with sum clues. The numbers in each cage must add up to the given total, and no number can repeat within a cage.

This is the ideal game for sudoku players who want more challenge without learning entirely new rules. All your advanced sudoku strategies still apply — naked pairs, hidden singles, X-wings — but you also need to reason about number combinations and cage intersections. The difficulty ceiling is significantly higher than standard sudoku.

If you are already comfortable with hard sudoku puzzles, Killer Sudoku is the natural next step. Several apps offer it, and the Daily Telegraph publishes one in print.

3. Kakuro — Number Crosswords

Kakuro is essentially a crossword puzzle with numbers instead of words. A grid of white and black cells contains clue cells with diagonal splits showing a sum for the cells to the right and below. You fill in digits 1 through 9 so that each run of white cells adds up to its clue, with no digit repeating within a run.

The solving experience feels surprisingly similar to sudoku. You identify cells where only one number is possible by cross-referencing the horizontal and vertical sum constraints, then use those solved cells to crack open adjacent runs. The combination tables become second nature after a few puzzles — for instance, a three-cell run summing to 6 must be 1+2+3 in some order, while a two-cell run summing to 17 must be 8+9.

Kakuro puzzles vary from small (8x8 with easy sums) to large (16x16 newspaper-size grids). The larger puzzles can take 30 minutes or more, making them a satisfying deep-focus activity. Several free apps offer daily Kakuro puzzles of varying difficulty.

4. Nonograms (Picross) — Visual Logic Puzzles

Nonograms use the same logical deduction as sudoku but produce a picture instead of a number grid. Each row and column has a sequence of numbers indicating groups of consecutive filled cells. For instance, "3 1 2" means there is a group of 3 filled cells, then at least one empty cell, then 1 filled cell, then at least one empty, then 2 filled.

The solving techniques overlap heavily with sudoku. You look for rows where the constraints force certain cells to be filled regardless of the exact arrangement, then use those known cells to solve intersecting columns. The progressive revelation is even more satisfying than sudoku because you can see an image forming as you solve.

Nonograms come in all sizes, from 5x5 (quick and easy) to 40x40 (multi-hour projects). Color nonograms add another layer of complexity. Picross Luna and Nonogram.com are good mobile apps. If you enjoy puzzle games on iPhone, nonograms are a must-try.

5. Futoshiki — Inequality Sudoku

Futoshiki uses a square grid (typically 5x5 to 9x9) where each row and column must contain each number exactly once — just like sudoku. The twist is that some adjacent cells are connected by greater-than or less-than signs that constrain which numbers can go where.

The inequality constraints create a different solving experience than sudoku's box constraints. You chain inequalities together to deduce ranges: if A > B > C in a 5x5 grid, then A must be at least 3, C must be at most 3, and so on. Combined with the row and column uniqueness rules, these chains often crack the puzzle wide open.

Futoshiki is less well-known than KenKen or Kakuro, which means it feels genuinely fresh if you have been solving sudoku for years. The solving techniques are similar enough that you will feel comfortable immediately, but different enough that your brain has to work in new ways. Several free apps and websites offer daily Futoshiki puzzles.

6. Hitori — The Elimination Puzzle

Hitori starts with a grid completely filled with numbers. Your job is to shade certain cells so that no number appears more than once in any row or column. The catch: shaded cells cannot be adjacent horizontally or vertically, and all unshaded cells must form a single connected group.

Hitori inverts the sudoku experience — instead of filling in numbers, you are removing duplicates. The connectivity constraint is what makes it interesting: you cannot just shade every duplicate because that might disconnect the remaining cells. This creates a satisfying tension between two competing objectives.

Difficulty scales with grid size. 5x5 Hitori puzzles are relaxing warm-ups; 12x12 and larger grids require careful planning and can take 15 to 20 minutes. The puzzle type is popular in Japan and appears regularly in puzzle magazines worldwide.

7. Nurikabe — Island Building

Nurikabe presents a grid with some numbered cells. The numbers represent islands — a cell marked 3 must be part of a connected group of exactly 3 white cells. All other cells are sea (shaded). The sea must form a single connected group, and no 2x2 area can be entirely sea.

The logic is elegant. You start by identifying cells that obviously must be sea (too far from any island) or obviously must be part of an island (adjacent to a 1-cell island). Then you work inward, using the 2x2 constraint and connectivity requirements to deduce the rest. The visual nature of the puzzle — seeing islands and sea form — makes it surprisingly intuitive despite the abstract-sounding rules.

Nurikabe is less mainstream than the puzzles above, but it has a devoted following among logic puzzle enthusiasts. Puzzle publishers like Nikoli (the company that popularized sudoku) release regular Nurikabe collections.

8. Sudoku Royale — Competitive Multiplayer Sudoku

If what you love about sudoku is the puzzle itself but you wish it had a competitive edge, Sudoku Royale transforms the solitary experience into a real-time battle. Up to 10 players solve the same board simultaneously. You score points for correct placements, lose points for mistakes, and the lowest scorers are eliminated between rounds.

This is not a different puzzle — it is sudoku itself, played under competitive pressure that fundamentally changes how you approach the board. You develop a strategic layer on top of your solving skills: which cells to target first, when to take risks on uncertain placements, and how to maintain speed without sacrificing accuracy. The ranking system ensures you always face opponents near your skill level.

For solvers who have plateaued on standard sudoku difficulty, competitive play is the best way to push your skills further. The time pressure forces you to internalize techniques like naked pairs and hidden singles until they become automatic.

9. Logic Grid Puzzles (Einstein Puzzles)

Logic grid puzzles, sometimes called Einstein puzzles or zebra puzzles, give you a set of clues about categories (names, colors, pets, drinks, etc.) and ask you to figure out which attributes belong together. You use a grid to track possibilities, marking cells as confirmed or eliminated based on the clues.

The solving process is remarkably similar to sudoku. You scan clues for direct deductions, use elimination to narrow possibilities, then look for indirect chains of logic. The key difference is that logic grids are language-based — the clues involve relationships like "the person in the red house lives next to the cat owner" — which exercises verbal reasoning alongside logical deduction.

There are several good logic puzzle apps, and websites like logic-puzzles.org offer free daily puzzles in multiple difficulty levels. They are also a staple of puzzle books and magazines.

10. Numberlink (Flow Puzzles)

Numberlink puzzles present a grid with pairs of matching numbers. You draw paths connecting each pair so that every cell in the grid is used and no paths cross. The logic involves reasoning about which routes are forced: if two numbers are adjacent, they must connect directly, and if a cell has only one possible path through it, that path is determined.

Flow Free is the most popular mobile version of Numberlink and offers thousands of free puzzles. The small grids (5x5) are easy, while larger grids (14x14) require significant logical reasoning. The visual nature of the puzzle — drawing colored paths that fill the grid — provides immediate feedback that makes it satisfying to play. See our number puzzle games guide for more options.

11. Slitherlink — Loop Drawing

Slitherlink uses a grid of dots with numbers in some cells. Each number indicates how many of that cell's four edges are part of a single continuous loop. You draw the loop segment by segment, using the number constraints and the requirement that the loop must be continuous and non-intersecting.

The logic is beautiful in its purity. A 3 next to a 0 means three of one cell's edges and none of the adjacent cell's edges are part of the loop, which immediately determines several segments. Corner cells and cells next to the grid boundary provide additional constraints. Expert puzzles require chains of deduction every bit as sophisticated as advanced sudoku.

Slitherlink is another Nikoli original and has a dedicated following in the puzzle community. It appears in the World Puzzle Championship regularly and is available through several mobile apps.

12. Star Battle — Region-Based Elimination

Star Battle gives you a grid divided into irregular regions. You place a certain number of stars (usually one or two) in each row, column, and region. Stars cannot be adjacent to each other, even diagonally. The puzzle is pure elimination: you identify cells that cannot contain a star and narrow down until each star's position is determined.

The no-adjacency constraint creates fascinating logical chains. If a region is narrow enough, placing a star in one position might eliminate so many cells in a neighboring region that the remaining possibilities are forced. Two-star variants are significantly harder than one-star versions and can rival expert sudoku in difficulty.

Star Battle has gained popularity in recent years partly through its inclusion in the NYT Games app as a periodic puzzle. Dedicated apps and puzzle websites offer extensive collections.

Where to Start

If you are a sudoku regular looking to branch out, start with KenKen or Killer Sudoku — they are the most natural extensions of the sudoku skill set. If you want something that feels genuinely different while exercising similar logic muscles, try nonograms or Slitherlink.

And if you have not tried competitive sudoku yet, give Sudoku Royale's battle royale mode a shot. It is still the sudoku you know, but the real-time competition adds an entirely new dimension. Many experienced solvers find that competitive play reinvigorates their interest in a puzzle they thought they had mastered.

For more number-focused recommendations, see our best number puzzle games guide. For the broadest selection of puzzle types, check our 15 best puzzle games for iPhone.