I’ve been playing /a lot/ of Good Sudoku ever since it released and it definitely succeeds at giving players the tools to understand sudoku on a mechanical level. However I think the meta game of Good Sudoku misunderstands what’s enjoyable about games that are solitary.

I wish so much I could turn off the scoring systems of the game. It insinuates that the point of playing GS is to get “better” ie solve puzzles that are more difficult then the current ones and do it quickly.

Games like sudoku are, for a lot of people, not about getting better. It’s a meditative game, or something to do to pass time. I don’t want to solve it faster because I’m trying to kill time. GS isn’t interested in this style of play.

There has to be a goal, something to reach for beyond the act of play itself. Which, imo, sucks.

“But Jack why not just ignore the scoring system?” Because it’s apart of the game. Speed is ingrained into the GS. And it sucks. Because the game is so good at teaching the mechanics of Sudoku but it seems to misunderstand the genre of solo games.

Idk. Games don’t need meta games. Play is play. Players who want achievement will often times find ways to do so without ingrained systems. And said systems will alienate players who either can’t achieve such levels or aren’t interested in doing so