Father of Sudoku says Slitherlink is the next big thing
by John Bardinelli 
{ Jun 14th 2007 at 6:56PM }
When asked by the BBC what the next big Sudoku-like craze will be, puzzle guru Maki Kaji (whose business card reads "Father of Sudoku") points to Slitherlink. The grid-based logic puzzle has all the ingredients of another hit -- easy to learn, straightforward gameplay, and simple rules. Even though it doesn't have the broad appeal of Sudoku, Kaji says it could easily earn the title "son of Sudoku".In Slitherlink you stare at a grid made up of dots and the numbers 0, 1, 2, and 3 scattered about. Your goal is to join the dots around the numbers using the same number of lines as the number they are next to. The line snakes around the grid like ... a snake. Hudson published Puzzle Series Vol. 5: Slitherlink in Japan earlier this year and the game has received high marks from reviewers, including a 10/10 from Eurogamer.
It isn't known if Slitherlink DS will make its way out of Japan, but thanks to the world wide web and the humans that populate it, a Slitherlink-inspired game has been crafted in Flash, cleverly titled Slither Link.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Rubang B @ Jun 14th 2007 7:19PM
Oh crap there goes my entire shift.
kinshadow @ Jun 14th 2007 7:33PM
My boss hates you
Ken @ Jun 14th 2007 8:06PM
Looks like a more complicated Mine Sweeper, and I suck at Mine Sweeper :(
junon @ Jun 14th 2007 8:16PM
not really a more complicated minesweeper, more like an inverted minesweeper?
Derrick Schneider @ Jun 14th 2007 8:31PM
Maybe the "father of sudoku" should read up on his history a bit.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1484328,00.html
Individual@Home @ Aug 8th 2007 2:58AM
You are so very right Derrick. Kaji-san should have our respect for inventing the NAME Sudoku but the first modern version of the puzzle was invented in USA and published by Dell.
Shinobiwan @ Jun 14th 2007 8:41PM
If whoever posted this update thinks that it's about Slitherlink, they need to be dragged out back and shot. It's about Masyu. Way to show effort, guys. -_-
Oneiromancer @ Jun 14th 2007 9:06PM
I highly suggest that fans of logic puzzles like these give the games of Everett Kaser or Kris Pixton a try. They can be found, respectively, at http://www.kaser.com/ and http://krispixton.com/PathPix/index.htm .
Sonicandtails @ Jun 14th 2007 9:27PM
I actually have this on my DS flash cart, it's an AMAZING game. My teacher doesn't even mind that I play it during class because she even knows it is better then SuDoKu.
samfish @ Jun 14th 2007 10:04PM
Oh, is THAT what Slitherlink is...
That was on the WonderSwan!
Sean @ Jun 14th 2007 10:41PM
Yeah, this isn't new, but it's freaking fun. I have a book with them.
I'm also a big fan of Link-a-pix. which is like picross.
Etheo @ Jun 15th 2007 1:27AM
umm is level 5 on Easy ridiculously hard or what? I still haven't solved it but all the other levels are cakeish.
Etheo @ Jun 15th 2007 1:37AM
umm is level 5 on Easy ridiculously hard or what? I still haven't solved it but all the other levels are cakeish.
siro @ Jun 15th 2007 7:49AM
Do people really use the crosses to mark unusable paths? I just do the line.
armando @ Jun 16th 2007 9:34PM
For everybody who wants to try out something new in sudoku, try shendoku, using the sudoku rules but playing two people, one against the other, like battleshipps. They have a free version to download at http://www.shendoku.com/sample.pdf . Anything else they are bringing out or they are working on you can find at www.shendoku.com or at they´r blog www.shendoku.blogspot.com . Have fun, I am. I specially like one slogan I heard about Shendoku: SUDOKU is like masturbation (one person)…. SHENDOKU is like sex (it takes two).
Individual@Home @ Aug 8th 2007 2:52AM
http://www.conceptispuzzles.com/online/tutorials/index.htm
Here is a nice Slitherlink 68 step movie tutorial made in Flash showing a Classic Slitherlink 6x6 puzzle being solved from beginning to end, one-step at a time. You can play the movie continuously or step-by-step, skip steps, jump forward or backwards or even freeze the solution's progress at any point in the movie.