The Sudoku Cube or Sudokube is a variation on a
Rubik's Cube
The Rubik's Cube is a Three-dimensional space, 3-D combination puzzle originally invented in 1974 by Hungarians, Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. Originally called the Magic Cube, the puzzle was licensed by Rubik t ...
in which the faces have numbers one to nine on the sides instead of colours. The aim is to solve
Sudoku
Sudoku (; ja, 数独, sūdoku, digit-single; originally called Number Place) is a logic-based, combinatorial number-placement puzzle. In classic Sudoku, the objective is to fill a 9 × 9 grid with digits so that each column, each row ...
puzzles on one or more of the sides. The toy was created in 2006 by Jay Horowitz in
Sebring,
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
.
Production
The Sudoku Cube was invented by veteran toy maker Jay Horowitz after he had the idea to combine Sudoku and a Rubik's Cube. Horowitz already owned molds to produce Rubik's Cubes and was able to use them to produce his new design.
Mass production is completed in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
by American Classic Toy Inc, a company belonging to Horowitz. The product is sold in the United States in retailers such as
Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller. It is a Fortune 1000 company and the bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. As of July 7, 2020, the company operates 614 retail stores across all 50 U. ...
and
FAO Schwarz
FAO Schwarz is an American toy brand and store. The company is known for its high-end toys, life-sized stuffed animals, interactive experiences, brand integrations, and games.
FAO Schwarz claims to be the oldest toy store in the United States, ...
. There are 12 types of Sudoku Cube, which differ in difficulty and are aimed at different age ranges.
Description
In a standard Rubik's Cube, the player must match up colours on each side of the cube. In the Sudoku Cube, the player must place the numbers one to nine on each side with no repetition. This is achieved by rotating the sides of the cube. Variations of the Sudoku Cube are the Sudokube and Roxdoku, as well as cubes with 4×4×4 squares instead of the normal 3×3×3. This cube is very difficult compared to other cubes because as well as requiring basic knowledge of a Rubik's cube, the player must also know basic sudoku concepts. Any wrong move could put the puzzle in jeopardy.
Computer simulations
3-D programming languages such as
VPython
VPython is the Python programming language plus a 3D graphics module called Visual. VPython allows users to create objects such as spheres and cones in 3D space and displays these objects in a window. This makes it easy to create simple visuali ...
can be used to create simulations of a Sudoku Cube.
Scalable Sudokube Simulation – YouTube
/ref> Such simulations can offer features such as scaling the sudokube (to create 4×4×4 or 5×5×5 puzzles), saving, resetting, undoing, and the option to design one's own sudokube patterns.
References
See also
*Combination puzzles
A combination puzzle, also known as a sequential move puzzle, is a puzzle which consists of a set of pieces which can be manipulated into different combinations by a group of operations. Many such puzzles are mechanical puzzles of polyhedral s ...
*Mechanical puzzles
A mechanical puzzle is a puzzle presented as a set of mechanically interlinked pieces in which the solution is to manipulate the whole object or parts of it. While puzzles of this type have been in use by humanity as early as the 3rd century BC ...
Rubik's Cube
Sudoku
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