The rise and rise of Suduko

It is astonishing to know that Suduko, the puzzle game that has cast a spell on Americans, once lurked in unknown corners of Japan. It took almost two centuries for Suduko to conquer the world!

Suduko made its first attempt to lure the Americans in 1979, when it was published under the name of “Number Place”. But, alas, it failed. Although, it was beginning to get popular in Japan, the Americans did not care much about it. However, Suduko would appear in a few magazines of the US once in a while.

The Arrival Of Suduko
Things changed in 1989, when Suduko was introduced on personal computers under the name of “DigitHunt” on Commodore 64. And then, the magic of Sudoko started spreading in the US. In 1995, it was published in Apple Macintosh. The next year, it was seen on Palm PDA. Suduko had finally arrived.

In 1997, a retired Japanese judge, Wayne Gould, sighted a half complete puzzle in a bookshop. He was obsessed by it and produced computer software that would generate Suduko puzzles. Did you know that it took him six years to develop this software? With his efforts, the Times published Suduko puzzle on November 12th, 2004, under the name of “Su Doku”. Till date, each issue of Times carries a Su Doku puzzle!

Other magazines followed suit after Su Doko’s success. Daily Times published Suduko puzzles as “Codenumber”. Daily Telegraph also did not lag behind. In the year 2005, the wave of Sudoku had reached other continents, like Australia, too. Thus, Suduko gained the status of the most popular puzzle game in the world! It had carved a space on the front page of the Telegraph. Each and every British paper carried Suduko puzzles. Not only this, there were books being launched on Suduko. This intriguing game opened a new avenue of stiff competition in the media world.

Suduko On Television
Forget print media, Suduko was adorning the televisions by the mid- 2005; thanks to the satellite channel Sky One. They telecast a live TV Sudoku show, which was the first ever of its kind in the world. As a part of promotional stunt, Sky One constructed a square shaped puzzle on a hillside, located near Chipping Sodbury in Bristol, England. It was 84 meters high. What a Suduko craze!

And if that was not enough, then read this: the first World Suduko Championship was held in Lucca, Italy, from March 10th to March 12th in 2006! Now, that is what you can call the rise and rise of Suduko…

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