7 Excellent Benefits of Sudoku

The Benefits Of Solving A Sudoku Puzzle Every Day

The main headline for this article may have you thinking “Why should I spend any time at all playing Sudoku?”

The truth is we all have busy lives.  There’s the daily work grind to deal with for sure.  But, also, there are many other things in life that demand our time and effort.  It seems that there is barely time enough in any day or week to cram in all of the things we need to do.

Adding new activities must be well considered before we make the leap.  Not only should the new activity simply be fun or entertaining, it’s an added bonus when it serves a noble purpose.

In this article about the benefits of sudoku, I will discuss several excellent reasons why you should make it a point to get in at least one sudoku puzzle every day.

Benefits Of Sudoku #1 – Solving A Sudoku Puzzle Is Satisfying And Fun

Personally, I get tired of watching television.  I read a lot books.  But, I also get a bit tired of reading.  Just about every day, I spend a little time, at different times throughout the day, working on a puzzle of some kind.  One of my favorites is, you guessed it, sudoku.

Benefits Of Sudoku #2 – Sudoku Is Relaxing

Maybe I’m weird.  I have struggled with sleep apnea for years.  I also struggle with insomnia.  That deadly combination means that on some mornings, I really struggle with dragging my tired butt out of bed in the morning!

Sometimes, I can lay down and be asleep in two seconds flat.  Other nights, I feel like my brain has been struck by lightening, filled with energy and filled with random thoughts.  My brain is ready to RACE!

All.

Night.

Long.

If I feel that way at bed time, I grab a sudoku book or some other puzzle book, get comfortable in my bed or at least sitting on the edge of my bed, and spend thirty minutes or an hour burning brain fuel.  It helps my mind relax.  It sends a signal to the brain control station “Stop thinking about all of “that stuff’, unwind and get ready for blessed sleep.”

It’s just about winding down before bed. No matter how busy your life is, Sudoku provides a relaxing way to take a break from the world around you.

Incorporating Sudoku into your daily routine can help refresh your mind and allow you to approach other commitments with renewed energy and vigor. By focusing your attention on the game, you can temporarily escape the stressors of the daily grind.

Furthermore, playing Sudoku also provides a sense of mastery and accomplishment, which can boost your confidence and self-esteem. The game’s simple rules and clear objectives allow players to master at least the easier difficulty levels pretty quickly.  We may not be able to control what goes on around us in the world but striving to master this small thing can help us gain a sense of control and empowerment at least in one small part of the day.

The combination of relaxation and mastery-inducing qualities makes Sudoku an excellent way to unwind and sharpen your mind. By providing a mental challenge and a sense of achievement, Sudoku can help you feel more focused, more confident, and more in control of your life.

Benefits Of Sudoku #3 – Sudoku Is Flexible

Perhaps this is more of a feature than a benefit.  You be the judge.

Sudoku is one of those games that gives you the opportunity to choose just how simple of sophisticated the game will be for any particular session.  Players can tailor their gameplay experience based on their mood, time availability, and skill level.

Whether you’re looking for a stimulating challenge or a relaxing diversion, Sudoku’s flexibility provides you with a variety of puzzle difficulty levels to choose from. If you’re up for a challenge, you can choose a hard or expert level puzzle, but if you’re looking for a simple puzzle to pass the time, you can opt for an easy one.

This flexibility gives Sudoku players the freedom to customize their gameplay experience and make it as easy or as challenging as they want. Furthermore, the ability to switch between difficulty levels helps keep the game fresh and exciting, preventing it from becoming monotonous or boring.

To me this qualifies as a benefit because it gives me choices.  Am I looking for a stimulating time or relaxing time?  I can have both, depending on the choices I make.

Benefits Of Sudoku #4 – Fun for Kids from 9 to 99

Playing Sudoku can also be a fun way for parents to bond with their children and help them develop logical problem-solving skills. By working together to fill in the grid, parents can teach their children how to approach complex problems in a structured and systematic way, while also fostering a sense of achievement and accomplishment with each puzzle solved.

Whether you prefer simple or complex puzzles, Sudoku offers a variety of options to choose from.  The classic 9×9 grid is just one of the options to choose from.  For parents and children to play sudoku together (or for those who are new to the game), there are special Sudoku games with simpler rules and smaller grids that use fewer numbers, such a 2×2 or 3×3 grids.

For older or more advanced players, there are more complex puzzles with larger grids, such as 10×10 or 12 x 12 grids or even much larger.  Beyond merely larger grid sizes, there are sudoku variations such as Samurai Sudoku, Killer Sudoku and Jigsaw Sudoku which offer different types of challenges.

My point here is that no matter what your age or skill level,  there is a sudoku puzzle which is matched to your situation.

Benefits Of Sudoku #5 – Sudoku Can be Played Anywhere, Any Time

Sudoku is a game that can be played virtually anywhere, making it an ideal way to pass the time in those moments when you’re on the go. With Sudoku, all you need is a book of puzzles or a mobile app, and you’re ready to play.

You can enjoy Sudoku while you’re waiting for an appointment, commuting on public transportation, or taking a road trip.

Just be sure to use good judgment and not play Sudoku when you should be paying attention to something else, like doing work or being a juror. In 2008, jurors in Australia were reprimanded for playing Sudoku during a trial, which had to be aborted due to their inattention.

Benefits Of Sudoku #6 – Sudoku Can Be Social

While sudoku certainly can be played alone, it isn’t necessarily only a solo activity. 

For one thing, many people will work on puzzles together  or separately and then compare results.  Still others will find satisfaction with sharing their enjoyment of sudoku via social media by joining in groups and posting their results and participating in conversations with the community. 

Another way that sudoku can be social is by means of getting involved in sudoku competitions. Sudoku competitions are events where Sudoku enthusiasts can test their skills against others who share their passion for the puzzle game. These competitions can take many forms, ranging from local, regional events to international championships

Benefits Of Sudoku #7 – Your Brain Is A Muscle And It Needs Exercise

Let’s talk about your brain, shall we?  I’m no neuroscientist so, don’t expect this article to contain a bunch of statistics from some vaunted medical journals.  I have never read one of those.  It’s mainly just good old common sense.  (The idea of me writing about common sense would would surprise my father and delight my grandfather!)

Your brain is a part of your body.  Now you may be thinking, “Thank you, Captain Obvious!”  Everyone will agree that the human body needs exercise.  Why would it be a stretch to say that our brains also need exercise as much as our muscles do?. Your muscles need regular stimulation and exercise to stay in peak condition.  Your bones also need regular exercise to stay strong, yet not brittle and prone to fracturing. Your brain is no different.

Now you may be thinking, “I use my brain everyday!  I don’t need to tax it any more than I already do!”

It’s true, you use your brain at work and when engaging with people in many different ways.  You use your brain to taking and process entertainment such as books and movies.  If you’re reading this article, it stands to reason that you probably read other articles, too.

But beyond simply taking in information and mentally digesting it, your brain is wired for problem solving.  Unless you regularly spend time in your professional life solving intricate puzzle-like problems (perhaps, you really are a rocket scientist), you probably don’t spend enough time feeding your brain intricate problems to solve.

A Sudoku A Day Refines Your Logical Abilities

In essence, sudoku is a logic puzzle.  While mathematics can be used to study sudoku (or even sudoku can be used to study mathematics) sudoku is not inherently a mathematic puzzle.  Sudoku is logical in nature.

Paradoxically, the logical nature of sudoku makes it not only simple and easy to learn, it simultaneously makes it challenging for your brain to deal with in finding a solution.

The questions your brain is forced to consider are of the type: “If X, then Y” and even “If X, then Y; consequently, if Y then also P, N and R must be true.”  Which is my muddy way of saying that sudoku calls on your brain’s ability to use deductive reasoning.  Additionally, pattern recognition is necessary for solving sudoku, especially the more difficult sudoku puzzles.

A Sudoku a Day Hones Your Memory

In order to solve a sudoku puzzle, the mind is asked to hold several things in memory while, at the same time, working out the logical ramifications of the puzzle.  I believe that doing this sort of mental juggling helps to improve and maintain memory and cognitive ability over time and that it should be done regularly.

Sudoku Energizes Your Mind

Maybe it’s my age (52).  Perhaps it’s some male hormone imbalance or deficiency.  It could be the tryptophan in that turkey sandwich I ate for lunch.  All I know for sure is that almost every day, around 2:00, I get sleepy.  I feel like my brain is in a fog and can’t find my way out.  I have found that, for me at least, two things help me out of the fog.

First, I get up and go for a short walk around the office and even out in the parking lot.  Ten minutes of physical movement can be invigorating.

Second, when I get back to my desk, I spend about 10 minutes working on a sudoku puzzle.  I find that by diverting my mental focus onto something that I like and something that makes me think hard, gives me an extra bit of mental stimulation and, for me, that results in renewed mental energy which can get me through to the end of the day.

(Psst!  Don’t tell my boss! Tee-hee-hee!)

Solving Sudoku is Mentally Satisfying

Let’s wrap up all of this brain talk, shall we?  Solving sudoku is satisfying at a bedrock level because it gives our brains a workout in the same way out muscles and bones need regular workouts.

Sudoku is a puzzle which requires logic.  It stimulates and energizes the mind.  It gives us an outlet to use our memory, pattern recognition and deductive reasoning  capabilities.

When I lift weight, afterward there is this “burn” and this pumped feeling that makes me feel almost euphoric.  When I mentally pump iron by solving a challenging sudoku I get a similar sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

Finally, as I mentioned above, I’m no brain doctor but, I would be remiss if I did not mention that solving puzzles (not just sudoku) on a regular basis is thought to help people stay mentally sharp, continue learning, enhance mental agility, and improve brain function.  It may even help people decrease their risks of developing dementia as they enter their twilight years.