Sudoku and Tenner Grid are both grid-based logic puzzles you solve by pure deduction, so solvers naturally wonder how alike they really are. The short answer: Tenner Grid 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: Ten columns
- Closeness to Sudoku: Moderate
- Also called: Tenner, Grid Ten, From 1 to 10
What is Tenner Grid?
A ten-column grid where each row holds 0–9 once, column totals are fixed, and touching cells must differ. Here are the rules in full:
- Every row contains the digits 0–9 exactly once.
- The number under each column is the sum of that column.
- Cells that touch — including diagonally — must hold different digits.
See a Tenner Grid row
A Tenner Grid is ten columns wide; each row holds 0–9 once, the number under each column is that column's sum, and touching cells (even diagonally) must differ. Here is one solved row holding all of 0–9.
A Tenner Grid: each row holds 0–9 once, the shaded numbers are the column sums, and any two touching cells (even diagonally) must differ.
The row rule — each digit once — is Sudoku's no-repeat rule on a ten-wide line, and the column-sum clues invite the same combination reasoning as a Killer cage. The diagonal no-touch rule is closer to Anti-King than to Classic Sudoku.
What Tenner Grid shares with Sudoku
- The row rule — each digit once — is Sudoku's no-repeat rule on a ten-wide line.
- The column-sum clues invite the same combination reasoning as Killer.
- It is a logic-only puzzle with a single solution.
How Tenner Grid differs from Sudoku
- It uses 0–9 and has no boxes — only rows, column sums and the touching rule.
- The adjacency constraint, diagonals included, is closer to Anti-King than to Classic Sudoku.
Do Sudoku skills transfer?
Column sums reward the same "which digits total this?" thinking as Killer cages, while the row rule is pure Sudoku no-repeat logic.
Brush up on the technique that carries over: Killer Combinations.
The verdict
Tenner Grid blends Sudoku's no-repeat rows with Killer-style column sums and an anti-king touching rule.
Prefer to stay with Sudoku?
If Tenner Grid appeals, these Sudoku variants scratch the same itch and you can read up on each here: