Variant Sudoku Guides

How the variants work and how to solve them. Each guide covers the rule, the techniques that crack it, and the questions newcomers ask most.

Cages with target sums turn classic sudoku into an arithmetic puzzle. Includes a full cage combinations chart for every 2–5 cell sum.

Digits climb from bulb to tip. Includes a range table giving the highest possible bulb and lowest possible tip for every thermometer length.

A circle holds the sum of the digits along its arrow. Includes a shaft-length table showing which arrows are even possible.

Kropki is Polish for “dots”. White marks consecutive digits, black a 1:2 ratio — small marks, big chains of logic.

Add two diagonals to a classic grid and the whole solve tightens. The friendliest entry point into variants.

A renban line holds consecutive digits in any order. Includes a run table listing every set each line length can hold.

Digits on the line fall strictly between the two circled ends. Includes an endpoint table showing how many cells each gap can carry.

No digit may repeat a chess knight's move away. Includes the eight-offset move map and the eliminations it creates.

The line reads the same both ways, mirroring digits across its centre. Includes a pairing table for every line length.

Neighbouring digits on the line differ by at least 5. Includes a partner table — and the reason 5 can never appear.

X marks a pair summing to 10, V marks a pair summing to 5. Includes the full pair table and the negative-constraint rule.

Solve Variant Sudoku Guides on your iPhone

VariantDoku has a logic-checked catalog of Variant Sudoku Guides and dozens of other variants, with a fresh puzzle every day. No ads, no trackers.