What makes Easy Sudoku easy?
It's the givens. An Easy puzzle starts with 36 of the 81 cells already filled — a little under half the grid. With that much to go on, there is always an obvious next move somewhere; you just have to find it. You'll never sit staring at a board with no way forward.
That makes Easy the perfect place to start, or to come back to when you just want to unwind. Progress is steady and satisfying: place one number, and it often unlocks the next, and the next.
The only two techniques you need
You can solve every Easy grid with two beginner techniques — no advanced patterns required:
- Naked Single — A cell where only one candidate remains — the digit must go there.
- Hidden Single in Sudoku — A digit that can legally go in only one cell of a unit, even if that cell shows other candidates.
The trick that ties them together is scanning: pick a number, and look across each row, column and box to see where it can and can't go. On an Easy grid, a careful scan almost always turns up a cell where only one number fits. Full guides with pictures are in the Sudoku School.
Tips for your first grids
- Start where it's crowded. The rows, columns and boxes with the most numbers already in them are where the next placement is easiest to spot.
- One number at a time. Rather than jumping around, pick a digit — say every 7 — and see where it has to go across the whole board before moving on.
- You don't need pencil marks yet. On Easy there's always a cell you can fill for certain, so you can leave the note-taking for harder levels.
Comfortable with Easy? Medium Sudoku is the natural next step — a few more blanks, and the first puzzles that ask you to think a move ahead.