iPhone App Reviews

Sudoku Grab

Michael (Admin) | Apr 6, 2009 Games

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m too stupid to play Sudoku. Seriously, this game hurts my skull! Crosswords I can handle, but weird Japanese number puzzles I can’t.

However, I decided to try this app because I wanted to be impressed by Sudoku Grab’s main attraction which is the ability to “Grab” other sudoku puzzles via photo capture! And impressed I am, mostly.

Sudoku Grab comes with its own library of 1000+ puzzles and it does all the things a good sudoku app should do… you can play easy, medium, and hard levels, undo, write numbers in “pencil”, solve, yada yada yada… and those are all valid reasons to buy this app, but photo capture is what CMG Research built this app to do.

Just aim your iPhone camera at any sudoku puzzle, and the app will convert it into a playable iPhone-ified puzzle. The only catch is that you need to be in a place that’s fairly well-lit, ‘cuz if you’re not then the app will get all kinds of numbers wrong. When this happens you can make corrections to match the puzzle you’re stealing, but depending on how dark your sudoku photo is that could prove to be kind of a pain in your rear.

When you’ve got enough light, though, Sudoku Grab is awesome. Well-lit sudoku photographs are quickly and accurately converted into playable puzzles, and all of the built-in game features apply. If you’re gearing up for a long ride home after work, you can also use this app to grab puzzles from websites! It’s especially good at this because computer screens almost always have enough light and contrast to make a good Grab. There are tons of sudoku websites, so if you’re not sure where to steal a puzzle online just google it and start Grabbing all the puzzles you can find.

I’ve only played with one other iPhone sudoku app… again, my poor brain isn’t wired for this kind of torture… but I can’t imagine what any other app in this genre could do to top Sudoku Grab. $.99 seems very reasonable for what the developer calls “the only Sudoku Game you are going to need”.

And just in case you’re curious, CMG Research is publishing their Sudoku Grab sales stats! I kind of wish more developers would make this information public. I guess I’m just nosy like that.

Tags: $.99, puzzle