Owen

The final vizualization tool visualizes the current state along with meta analysis of connected cells.

This was a small side project I took on after being thwarted by a sudoku puzzle. One of the principle challenges with sudoku is simply tracking all the available possibilities. As I worked on this puzzle I couldn''t help but imagine a tool that would handle this accounting step for me. Thus was born this little challenge.

Sudoku Viz is for anyone more interested in pattern recognition and the crux of the puzzle than tracking numbers. By visualizing the possible moves, Sudoku Viz enables a new kind of pattern recognition that dramatically simplifies easy puzzles and reduces demonic puzzles to their crux, the point at which multiple interlocking possibilities exist.

While ultimately a poor tool for sudoku lovers, who enjoy the mental focus and dispise aides, Sudoku Viz makes the puzzles more visual and appealing to people who love pattern recognition.

This project also served as a vehicle to advance my skill with Processing and OOP.

If you are interested, please download the app and try it for yourself. Mac only.

An early prototype written in processing.

A more refined prototype that only visualizes the current state and any cells with only one option remaining.

As I prototyped the visualization, I discovered new patterns that could help solve puzzles. Sometimes cells in a row, column, or group become intertwined. For example, two cells might only be able to be the same two values. By highlighting this relationship, the user can more quickly identify the pattern and deduce the solution.