Nintendo Sodoku Gridmaster User manual

INSTRUCTION BOOKLET
Nintendo of America Inc.
P.O. Box 957, Redmond, WA 98073-0957 U.S.A.
www.nintendo.com
PRINTED IN USA
60684A

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  4. Play in a well-lit room.
  5. Take a 10 to 15 minute break every hour.

CONTENTS
© 2006 HUDSON SOFT © 2006 nikoli, PUBLISHED BY NINTENDO.
TM, ® AND THE NINTENDO DS LOGO ARE TRADEMARKS OF NINTENDO. © 2006 NINTENDO.
The typefaces contained herein are respectively developed by DynaComware Corporation.
THIS GAME CARD WILL WORK
ONLY WITH THE NINTENDO DSTM
VIDEO GAME SYSTEM.
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Getting Started 6
Beginning a Game 7
How to Play 8
Play Screen Controls 10
Options and Save & Exit 12
About Rank Tests 14
Sudoku Rules and Strategies 16
A Puzzle Sensation Around the World!
The logic puzzle that gets deeper the more you get into it!

SUDOKU
SUDOKU
6 7
GETTING STARTED BEGINNING A GAME
You can use the stylus to control all game functions except when you
toggle the Guideline feature on and off.
The diagram below shows the functions of various buttons should you
choose to use them.
Make sure that your Nintendo DS is turned
off, then insert the Sudoku Gridmaster Game
Card into the Game Card slot. Turn the power
on and tap the Touch Screen to advance
through the warning screen.
After a short time, you will see the DS
Main Menu.
Touch the Sudoku Gridmaster panel.
The game will start and take you to the
title sreen.
Touch [Start] to display the puzzle level-
selection screen (‘p8). You can also touch
[Tutorial] to see various control information.
If you saved an unsolved puzzle, the
[Resume] button will appear. Touch it to
continue playing the saved puzzle.
+Control Pad
Move cursor
L/R Button
Toggle Guidelines
On/Off
SELECT
Controls
START
Open options
window
X Button
Move cursor up
A Button
Move cursor right
B Button
Move cursor down
Y Button
Move cursor left Title Screen
DS Main Menu
DS MAIN MENU
TITLE SCREEN

SUDOKU
SUDOKU
8 9
HOW TO PLAY
On the level-selection screen, the Touch Screen shows several panels that
represent the different difficulty levels. There are four levels of difficulty:
Practice, Easy, Normal, and Hard. There is also a separate panel for timed
challenges known as Rank Tests.
Tap a panel to select a difficulty level. The top screen will then display
puzzles in that difficulty setting. Unsolved puzzles will appear in gray. If you
tap a difficulty level button again after selecting a level, the list of
numbered puzzles will move to the Touch Screen. You can then choose a
puzzle to solve.
PUZZLE LEVEL-SELECTION SCREEN
PRACTICE
PUZZLE LEVEL-SELECTION PANEL
Puzzle level-selection screen
PUZZLE LIST SELECTED PUZZLE
PUZZLE SELECTION PANEL
Puzzle Selection screen Puzzle play screen
A list of numbered puzzles appear on the puzzle selection screen. When
you touch a number, an image of this puzzle will be displayed on the top
screen. Touch the number again to advance to the play screen, where
you can try the puzzle. Touch [Back] to return to the puzzle level-
selection screen. If a puzzle is marked with a "?", it can’t be played yet.
Once you collect enough stars by completing puzzles, you will be able to
play such puzzles.
PUZZLE SELECTION SCREEN
If a wrong answer is entered into a cell in Practice mode, the cell will alert
STAR COLLECTION SYSTEM
After you have solved a puzzle, you may receive some stars. The number
received depends on the level of the puzzle and the completion time. The
higher the difficulty and the faster you solve it, the more stars you can get.
If you collect a certain number of stars, you will unlock bonus puzzles!
you of the mistake by turning red. This function will make it easier to learn
the rules of Sudoku. When solving puzzles in modes other than Practice
mode, however, the cell will not change color—even if the number entered
is incorrect.

SUDOKU
SUDOKU
1 0 1 1
PLAY SCREEN CONTROLS
Rules and Basic Controls The rules are exactly the same as
traditional Sudoku. These rules are outlined on pages 16 and 17. (Please
refer to them as needed.) According to the rules, one must deduce a
number to be placed in an empty cell. To enter a number, touch the
desired cell, then touch the number you want to input.
Using Options While solving a puzzle, you may have several possible
numbers for a single cell. You can input up to four small numbers inside a
cell as a note to yourself. These are called options, and you can enter
them into the four corners of a cell using the options panel.
Options and Quick Save In addition to solving puzzles, you can also
change settings and save your progress in a puzzle that you want to
continue later. For more information, please see the information on pages
12 and 13.
Touch the left square to enter regular
numbers. Touch one of the four corners
of the right square to enter an option
into the selected corner.
Save your progress on the current
puzzle and return to the title screen.
GUIDELINES
TIME ELAPSED
OPTIONS PANEL
OPTIONS
SAVE & EXIT
Touch the number you want to enter.
You can change the entry method in
the options menu.
Erase the number in the selected cell.
Display the options menu.
Touch [Undo] to go back a step. Touch
[Redo] to repeat a step.
Guidelines are areas highlighted in orange. They are always centered around the cursor.
The column, row, and 3x3 block around the cursor will be highlighted.
You can toggle the Guidelines on and off by using the L or R Buttons.
If you touch a number within a puzzle twice, all other cells with the same
number will be highlighted. This is a useful tool for solving puzzles!
! USING THE GUIDELINES
TIP
CURRENTLY SELECTED CELL
NUMBER INPUT PANEL
ERASE
STEP

SUDOKU
SUDOKU
1 2 1 3
OPTIONS AND SAVE & EXIT
Touch [Options] on the play screen, or press
START on the console, to display the options
menu. The functions and controls for this window
are explained here.
Change the background music. Tap one of the numbers to change the
music. When you find a track you like, touch [Resume].
Option menu
ERASE DATA
GO TO PUZZLE SELECTION
This will erase all data, including all accumulated
solution data (which is used to meet conditions
for rank tests). Touch [Yes] to delete this data, or
[No] to return to the previous screen.
Return to the puzzle-selection screen without
saving your progress. If you want to save your
progress, use [Save & Exit] (‘P13) on the play
screen.
CHANGE MUSIC
Close the options menu and return to the
play screen.
RESUME
RETRY
Touch [Yes] to restart
the puzzle from its original state. If you want to undo only
a single step, use the undo button.
SAVE & EXIT
On the play screen,
touch [Save & Exit], then touch [Yes] to save your
progress on the current puzzle and return to the title
screen. Touch [No] to return to the game.
Change the background color of the game. When you touch one of the
colors, the current background will change. When you find one you like,
touch [Resume].
BACKGROUND
ENTRY METHOD
The default setting is [Touch]. Tap [Write] to switch the number panel into a
handwriting area where you write numbers with the stylus.

SUDOKU
SUDOKU
1 4 1 5
ABOUT RANK TESTS
On the puzzle level-selection screen,
touch [Rank Test] twice to advance to
the Rank Test puzzle-selection screen.
Any Rank Test levels that you have
earned the right to try will be
highlighted in pink.
Touch a pink panel to select it, then
touch it again to see the requirements
for passing. A window will appear
asking if you want to attempt this
puzzle.
Touch [Yes] to start the challenge.
Touch [No] to go back.
You must pass Rank Test puzzles in order to progress from Bronze to
Platinum rankings. Rank Test puzzles are different from normal puzzles in
that they have time limits, and must be solved in the given time. Look at
the conditions carefully before taking on the challenge!
Puzzle level-selection screen
RANK TEST PUZZLES
RANK TEST PUZZLES VS. NORMAL PUZZLES
Puzzle level-selection screen
If you fail a Rank Test, you can take it
again. You can retry as many times as
you like, but the puzzle will be
different every time.
Challenge rights are unlocked by
solving normal puzzles. However,
ranks must be acquired in order. For
example, if you have acquired Silver
Rank challenge rights, but not yet
acquired the Bronze Ranking, you
cannot attempt the Silver Rank Test
puzzle.
After completing various puzzles, a message
like the one shown to the left may appear.
When challenge rights are obtained, you can
select and attempt the corresponding Rank
Test.

SUDOKU
SUDOKU
1 6 1 7
SUDOKU RULES AND STRATEGIES DEDUCING THE SOLUTION
RULES OF SUDOKU
Sudoku Gridmaster is based on the Japanese game Sudoku. The rules
here are the same as those used in the traditional game. There are some
special rules available, but we’ll cover the basic ones here.
There are only three rules:
1You can only use the
numbers 1 through 9.
2Each columns (∂) and
rows (∑) can contain no
more that one of each
number from 1 to 9.
3Each 3x3 Blocks outlined
in bold (∏) can contain no
more than one of each
number from 1 to 9.
By following these rules
and looking at numbers
that have been placed
already, you can figure out
what numbers to put in the
empty spaces.
Look at the picture on the right and try to figure out
which number should go in the highlighted box. It’s
simple, isn’t it? The only number not placed in the
Guidelines is a 1. Therefore, the answer is 1. In the
same way, you can determine that the number that
goes in the box on the top left of this block should
be a 9.
Search for missing numbers
within the Guidelines.
Now look at the box on the bottom right side of this
block. You can’t narrow down the answer to a single
number here, so you should enter the two possibili-
ties, 5 and 3, as options in the same box. Your
options appear as small red numbers inside the box.
In situations like this, options come in very handy!
Use options when you can’t decide.
Now look at the bottom left box in this block.
Because you solved the upper left box with a 9, you
can see that a 3 must go here. Therefore, the box
you listed with the temp numbers 3 and 5 must be
a 5! The last box in the middle must therefore be a
7, and the block is done!
Solving one cell can lead to another.
∂
∑
∏

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