Sudoku and Mathrax are both grid-based logic puzzles you solve by pure deduction, so solvers naturally wonder how alike they really are. The short answer: Mathrax is moderate 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: n×n Latin
- Closeness to Sudoku: Moderate
What is Mathrax?
A Latin-square grid with arithmetic clues at the inner intersections that must hold for both diagonal pairs of the surrounding four cells. Here are the rules in full:
- Fill an n×n grid so each row and column holds 1–n exactly once.
- A circle at an intersection gives an operation and result that must hold for each diagonal pair of the four cells around it.
- Some circles instead simply mark that all four cells are odd or all even.
See a Mathrax grid
Mathrax is a Latin square with arithmetic clues at the inner intersections; each clue applies to both diagonal pairs of the four cells around it. Below, a solved 3×3 with a "5+" circle at the centre (2+3 = 5 and 4+1... shown for the top-left junction 1+4 and 2+3).
A "5" intersection: each diagonal pair (1+4 and 2+3) sums to 5.
The Latin-square rule is Sudoku's core, and the arithmetic clues echo the cage sums of Killer and XV. Working out which digit pairs satisfy each circle is the same combination reasoning a Killer cage needs, laid over a boxless grid.
What Mathrax shares with Sudoku
- The Latin-square rule — each digit once per row and column — is Sudoku's core.
- The arithmetic clues echo the cage sums of Killer and XV.
- It is a single-solution logic puzzle solved without guessing.
How Mathrax differs from Sudoku
- Clues sit at intersections and bind diagonal pairs, unlike Sudoku's cell values.
- There are no boxes, and grids are usually small.
Do Sudoku skills transfer?
Working out which digit pairs satisfy each circle is the same combination reasoning Killer needs, laid over a Latin square.
Brush up on the technique that carries over: Killer Combinations.
The verdict
Mathrax is a Latin square steered by diagonal arithmetic clues — Killer-flavoured logic on a boxless grid.
Prefer to stay with Sudoku?
If Mathrax appeals, these Sudoku variants scratch the same itch and you can read up on each here: