Idle Time

A sudoku generator. The game should not cap me at x-hundred or x-thousand puzzles. Give me all the sudoku the iPhone OS’ PRNG can create for me.

Proper sudoku puzzles, not Number Place puzzles. The difference is that a sudoku puzzle is rotationally symmetric: if you turn the puzzle 180°, it still looks the same.

→ 180° →

Many sudoku generators actually generate Number Place puzzles, which don’t have this constraint. (In particular, all the Will Shortz puzzles are like this.)

Obvious input method. A row of numbers at the bottom doesn’t work because I can’t tell whether the game is prefix (tap number first, then cell) or postfix (tap cell first, then number). I could get used to either way, but a good interface doesn’t make me guess.

• Ambrosia’s Mr. Sudoku uses handwriting recognition.

• Platinum Sudoku is clearly postfix, because its input method is a ring of numbers around whatever cell you tap on.

The ability to set pencilmarks, to keep track of what numbers are viable for a cell (helping to avoid wrong numbers, especially at higher difficulty levels).

Simple, usable interface. This means two things:

• No excessive artwork like Big Bang Sudoku has. I only have 16 GB of flash memory—don’t waste it!

• No garish colors. If your sudoku game is in CGA, then I don’t want to look at it, which means I don’t want to play it, which means I don’t want to buy it.