Review: Pocket Sudoku
Score:
60%
Version Reviewed: 1.00
Buy Link | Download / Information Link
Every single Palm OS developer seems to have a clock application. It’s a natural fit for that platform, hence there are literally hundreds of clock apps. Series 60, by virtue of shipping with over 50 built in applications doesn’t have any simple missing applications that can be used by new developers (although I’m sure Steve will argue about the lack of a flat file database application… and I’ll probably join him). So what has every developer turned out as his first application? Well it looks like the genre of choice is Sudoku.
There are a huge number of Sudoku applications to choose from, and while I’m not sure if it’s going to set the world alight, Pocket Sudoku, a freeware game from James McLaren is a good example of what Symbian needs to succeed. Lots of little developers, trying out ideas, playing with applications and interfaces and creating a huge software catalogue of apps for the platform.
Two things are important for me in any Sudoku application. The first is the ability to randomly create grids that have solutions (as opposed to throwing some numbers in and hoping for the best). Pocket Sudoku handles this well – there is a bit of a pause while the CPU generates a random grid for you, but in a way this is reassuring. It means something is happening. There’s no tweaking of the generation though. Once generated, you’re told the difficulty level (easy, medium or hard) – it would be nice to have this as a preference. As it is, the only option is to stop the backlight turning off.
The second thing I look for isn’t here – it’s the ability to put in the clues, the very small numbers that help you solve a puzzle. Now strictly speaking these aren’t needed, you should be able to solve a puzzle without this, but we’re not all supermen and the ‘pencil marks’ are always a welcome addition. But then, this is freeware so perhaps I should cut it a bit of slack… perhaps.
There is a hint option, which will flash up one number in one square very briefly, so you might have to choose it a few times to actually be able to see your hint on the screen and enter it. It’s also worth pointing out that there’s no error checking. If you put down a wrong number, then you won’t get a hint or a big flashy light to point it out, you’ll just keep trucking away till you slip up. Which, in a sense, is how it should be.
Pocket Sudoku isn’t an all-singing and dancing app – it’s more a big bit of paper so you can do all your Sudoku puzzles when you’re out and about. If you’re looking for bells and whistles and as much help as CPU cycles can give you, find something else. But if you need something small and convenient, and can live with the limitations, then taking up 50K of your phone's storage memory with this is definitely a worthwhile investment.
Link: Pocket Sudoku
http://www.jamesmclaren.plus.com/
Reviewed by Ewan Spence at