So what happens when you mix Sudoku puzzles with modern art?  You get Mondoku, that’s what!  You know how in Sudoku, you must place numbers on a grid so that no two of the same numbers appear on a row or column of squares?  Well what if those squares were different sizes?  That’s what you have to deal with in Mondoku, and when you finish a puzzle, the squares will be colored in and look like those famous modern art paintings by Piet Mondrian (yeah I had to look that up, I’m not THAT cultured).  Anyway, Mondoku is a free-to-play mobile game, but reviewed on iPad here.

So in Mondoku, some of the squares are different sizes, but the rules remain the same.  No two numbers can be on the same row or column, now you just have to keep track of the different sized squares.  So place a number, just tap an empty square and then tap one of the numbers at the top of the screen.  If you can solve a puzzle without making any mistakes, you can earn five whole coins (more on those later), but if you mess up you may not earn as many after finishing the puzzle.

The game has an art museum motif, and you’ll pick your levels from a museum map with rooms and floors.  To unlock later floors, you’ll need to buy them with coins.  You earn those coins by solving puzzles and by daily gifts.  If you don’t want to wait, you can always buy more coins with real money on the in-game shop.  Aside from the main puzzles, there are also daily ones, but most of them are unlocked after viewing an ad.

The only problems I had with the game are very minor.  They didn’t explain the rules very well in the game, but at least it was still pretty easy to figure out.  And I had trouble navigating the museum map at first.  I didn’t realize that you had to select the rooms to tackle the levels.  And even though the game has in-game purchases and ads, they don’t bombard you with it.  You only view ads if you choose to do so, and luckily there’s a lot to do even if you don’t pay anything.  So if you like Sudoku and other mobile puzzle games, I can highly recommend this one.

Kid Factor:

Nothing violent or objectionable here.  Number recognition is needed to play, and parental supervision is recommended for the in-game ads and purchases.

Tags: Game Reviews