Sudoku Hero

Today's new game - Sudoku Hero - is another online game based on the hugely popular number arrangement puzzle game that has caught the world by storm. To learn more about Sudoku, you can read up on its history and evolution on its wiki.

Sudoku is deceptively straight-forward, but can be really challenging, with various levels of difficulty requiring different techniques to solve. The objective of the game is to arrange the numbers 1 to 9 on a grid (usually a 9x9 grid). The rules are that the same number cannot appear more than once on the same row, column or 3x3 square. That's basically it!

The level of difficulty depends on which numbers are given to you to start the game. In the picture on the left, the slightly greyed out numbers were provided at the start. You then insert the remaining numbers until the entire board is full and there are no duplicate numbers on any single row, column or 3x3 grid.

This game is pure logic. Guess work is not recommended and will most likely lead to a wrong answer. There are perfectly logical steps to take to identify what number appears in which square. Mastering the various techniques to solve this puzzle will take many tries... but that's what makes the game so addictive!

This version of the game has a cartoony Japanese feel to it, complete with music and sounds as well as a cartoon samurai that gives you hints and advice throughout the game. In addition, you can select the various levels of difficulty and choose whether to play in puzzle mode with no time limit, or a rush mode with a selectable time limit.

Sudoku Hero is a fresh version of the ever-popular Sudoku phenomenon. It is tremendously addictive with heaps of replay value. However, this version of the game does not provide much value over the many other versions of the game (other than the cartoony Japanese feel), hence the average rating.

Rating: 2.5/5.0

Slide Maze

Slide Maze is a puzzle game that is deceptively simple in concept but that may take you hours of hair-pulling frustration to figure out.

The premise is pretty straightforward: using the arrow keys, you control a ball that slides around on an icy surface. (The ball is a bit creepy, with its 2 eyes staring right at you...) Once the ball is pushed in a direction, it won't stop moving until it hits an ice block or the 4 walls of the game space. Your task is to guide the ball into a 'pocket' in as few moves as possible. The fact that you can't control the direction of the ball until it hits a solid surface is the challenge in this puzzle.

The game isn't very big. There are only 20 levels in this release, each level with increasing difficulty and complexity. Avid puzzle gamers won't take very long to complete all 20 levels. However, there are some tricky puzzles that may cause you to stare at the screen for a very long time in frustration.

When you're solving each puzzle level, you will notice that the game records how many moves you are making in each level before you successfully solve the puzzle. It also records your best solution (least number of moves) for each level.

When you have completed the game, you can keep going back to any of the 20 levels and try to finish them in less moves than you did before.

Overall, Slide Maze isn't too complex and it shouldn't take an experienced puzzle gamer more than half an hour to finish all 20 levels. I'm giving it a rating of 2 because while it's enjoyable, it isn't too challenging and there isn't much replayability once you've found the best solutions for each level.

Rating: 2.0/5.0

Huru Humi - Schoolyard Recycling

Huru Humi - Schoolyard Recycling is a fast-paced arcade game based on the growing online social networking and children's toy phenomenon Huru Humi (Pronounced as 'Who are you? Who am I?' You'd never guess it just by looking at the name, hey?)

The game - just like the rest of this franchise - is targeted at the primary and high school audience, though gamers of all ages will find this game interesting and challenging. The game also teaches players about recycling: what things can be recycled; what things can go into the compost; and what things need to be trashed.

The concept of the game itself isn't complicated. At each level, you are meant to sort rubbish into their correct bins: recycling, compost and trash. The rubbish is piped in from above, and will enter whichever bin is directly beneath the pipe. If the rubbish enters the right bin, you score points. If the wrong items enter the recycling bin, the bin becomes polluted and you have to trash all its contents.

Each level requires you to collect a minimum amount of rubbish in the correct bins in order to advance. As you do so, the amount of correct collections required for each subsequent level increases. The speed at which the rubbish arrives increases as well. As you advance through various stages, you get a few bonuses and benefits, such as an increased bin movement speed.

That's about it when it comes to the game mechanics. The main difficulty is recognizing what types of rubbish go into which bins, and reacting fast enough to move the right bins under the chute.

Huru Humi - Schoolyard Recycling is a pretty entertaining game with an enjoyable feel to it, and utilizes the proven mechanic of object recognition and categorization. The fast pace of the game makes it quite callenging as well. In addition, it teaches kids about recycling! That in itself makes this game deserve an above average rating.

Check out more strategy and time management games at Game Tycoon.

Rating: 3.5/5.0