Perhaps the most engaging number game online, Sudoku is trending in the online gaming space. While some like solving the sudoku puzzles in newspapers and others love the challenge of online sudoku, everyone needs a few tips and tricks to improve their sudoku score. Whether you are a beginner or an intermediate level player, there will be times when you get stuck while solving the puzzle. That’s when you either start over or give up and lose the game.
At times like these, all you need are a few strategies that will help you improve your sudoku score and defeat your opponent. After all, sudoku is based on logic and strategy rather than guesswork. With the right strategies, you can easily cut through the visual clutter of the puzzle and find valuable clues to arrive at the correct solution. So, the next time you solve sudoku puzzles on MPL, you can use these tips and tricks to win big.
Tips to improve your sudoku score
- Scan Rows and Columns
The first and foremost step to start solving the sudoku puzzle is to scan the rows and columns within the grid. The objective is to eliminate numbers and squares to find situations where only one candidate can fit into a blank square. The scanning technique is the most efficient way to solve the puzzle quickly and comes in handy for beginners who aren’t sure where to start. When you scan the rows, columns, and 3×3 sections, you can spot several squares that are easy to solve. If you can fill the blank squares quickly, your score will rack up, and it will get easier to defeat your opponent. This is the most basic strategy that is the best for beginners to solve easy puzzles.
Also Read: 5 ways sudoku helps promote brain health
- Use Pencil Marking
If you have solved a sudoku puzzle in a newspaper, you would know how convenient it is to use a pencil to write possible solutions and erase them when you find the correct answer. Pencil marking is an excellent take at solving the sudoku puzzle, where you can use a pencil to write possible candidates inside a blank square before arriving at the unique solution for that square. Sudoku on MPL features a ‘Pencil Mode’ that allows you to write three digits in a particular blank and erase them later. In this way, you can fill in temporary numbers in the square instead of entering an incorrect number and losing lives. Entering temporary numbers doesn’t reduce your score or finish your lives. Therefore, if you are looking to improve your score, whether online or offline, using pencil marking is the best way to go about it.
- Avoid Guesswork
When you are playing sudoku, guesswork can easily break your game. In fact, one of the basic rules of sudoku is to avoid guesswork as the puzzles are based on logic. Each blank square in the 9×9 grid has only one correct answer. Therefore, entering numbers through guesswork won’t take you anywhere, and you will ultimately get stuck. Moreover, if you play online sudoku on MPL, entering the incorrect number in a blank square, the player loses a life. On losing five lives, the player also loses the game. However, each time you fill the correct number in a particular blank cell, you will earn a bonus score. Just use logic over guesswork to arrive at the correct answers.
Also Read: 5 greatest players of 8 ball pool game
- Practice With a Timer
Online sudoku is a timer-based puzzle game where each game lasts for 4 minutes. To win the game, you need a higher score than your opponent. Therefore, another strategy to improve your sudoku score is by playing practice games with a timer. You can play the free practice games on MPL or even solve other sudoku puzzles in newspapers or online with a timer. The timer will help you increase your speed of scanning the grid and identifying the easier targets first.
- Fill the Highlighted Boxes
The sudoku game on MPL also features highlighted boxes or green prompts within the game. You will find random blank squares being highlighted, one at a time, and you can make the most of these green prompts. If you enter the correct number in the highlighted box, you are given a bonus multiplier. Be mindful of the fact that a box remains highlighted only for a few seconds. Therefore, you have to be really quick in finding the correct solution to get the bonus points.
The Bottom Line
Increasing your sudoku score requires you to make quick decisions rather than over-analyzing the sudoku grid. If you start over-thinking before placing a number in the blank cell, you will find it difficult to progress and eventually lose. Use the above strategies along with sufficient practice while playing Sudoku on MPL, and you will see how smoothly you solve the puzzles. These strategies will also help you increase your score rapidly and beat your opponent in the game.
