I first learnt about Sudoku when I visited my sister in London in October 2005. Londoners were crazed about Sudoku that time; I could always see people (lots of people) playing Sudoku when they were on the train.
Not too long after I was back from UK, the Sudoku fever hit Malaysia as well. Everybody seemed addicted to game, and newspapers and magazines were publishing daily dose of Sudoku for their readers… even my 67-year-old mum joined in the fun as well.
The Sudoku fever in Malaysia came fast, and disappeared pretty fast too. There are probably still a group of people addicted to Sudoku in Malaysia, like my sister for example… but not as crazy as of becoming a nationwide sport. Not sure if the Londoners and other international players are still as addictive though.
History of Sudoku
Although the name Sudoku is derived from Japanese words (数独); the game was actually invented by an American, Howard Garnes, a freelance puzzle constructor, in 1979. The game was first published in New York by the specialist puzzle publisher Dell Magazines in its magazine Dell Pencil Puzzles and Word Games, under the title Number Place. [Reference]
The game became popular in Japan in 1986, after it was published by Nikoli and given the name Suuji wa dokushin ni kagiru, which could be translated as ‘the digits must be single’. It was later shorten to Sudoku as an abbreviation (Suuji wa dokushin ni kagiru) from its original name, meaning single number.
In 2004, Wayne Gould, a retired Hong Kong judge and New Zealander managed to developed a computer program known as Pappocom Sudoku that could mass produce puzzles. He managed to promote his program to The Times in UK, which launched the puzzle in November 2004 as Su Doku.
Sudoku gained rapid popularity as British newspapers and magazines began to publish daily games; the TV stations later joined in the fun and produced some Sudoku related game show.
It didn’t take long for Sudoku fever to spread across the globe, thanks to the power of internet. Wayne Gould’s Sudoku.com and other free online Sudoku resources have managed to introduce the game to the world.
Nowadays we can see lots of books, PC and video games published just for Sudoku; and the game itself has evolved into other form like Killer Sudoku, Samurai Sudoku etc.
