Sudoku and Dominosa are both grid-based logic puzzles you solve by pure deduction, so solvers naturally wonder how alike they really are. The short answer: Dominosa is distant to Sudoku. Below we lay out what the two share, where they part ways, and whether the skills you have built on Sudoku will carry over.
- Grid: Grid of pips
- Closeness to Sudoku: Distant
- Also called: Domino Solitaire
What is Dominosa?
Divide a grid of numbers into a full set of dominoes so that every domino combination appears exactly once. Here are the rules in full:
- The grid holds one number in every cell.
- Partition it into dominoes, each covering two cells.
- Every possible domino (0-0, 0-1, … up to the set's maximum) appears exactly once.
See a Dominosa grid
Dominosa splits a grid of numbers into a full set of dominoes, each combination used exactly once. Below, a 0-1 domino sits above a 2-2 domino — every pair appears just once in a complete puzzle.
Two dominoes: 0-1 (purple) and 2-2 (green) — each combination used exactly once.
The "each combination used exactly once" rule echoes Sudoku's each-digit-once discipline, and it is solved by elimination with a single solution. But you lay dominoes over fixed numbers rather than filling blanks, and there are no rows, columns or regions — only the complete domino set. A distant cousin.
What Dominosa shares with Sudoku
- The "each combination used exactly once" rule echoes Sudoku's each-digit-once discipline.
- It is solved by elimination and a single solution, never guessing.
How Dominosa differs from Sudoku
- You lay down dominoes over fixed numbers rather than filling blanks.
- There are no rows, columns or regions to satisfy — only the complete domino set.
Do Sudoku skills transfer?
No technique transfers directly, but "this domino can only go here, so cross the others off" is the same candidate-elimination reasoning as Sudoku.
The verdict
Dominosa turns Sudoku's use-each-once idea into a domino-matching puzzle over a fixed grid of pips.