Sudoku with friends: same puzzle, two clocks

The classic number puzzle, now a duel

Sudoku is usually a quiet game for one. On BeatMe it becomes a race: you and a friend solve the very same puzzle, each on your own clock, and the faster solver wins. Play first and send your time as a target, or send the link right away and solve it at the same moment.

Every puzzle has exactly one solution and is rated by how a person solves it, not just by how many numbers are given. Easy and medium puzzles need only careful looking; hard ones need notes, pairs and a bit of patience, but never guessing.

How to play Sudoku

• The grid: 81 cells in nine rows, nine columns and nine 3×3 boxes. Some numbers are given at the start.
• The rule: every row, every column and every box must contain each number from 1 to 9 exactly once.
• Solving: look for a cell where only one number fits, or a number that fits in only one cell of a row, column or box. Every number you place opens up the next one.

Tips for solving faster

• Start with the busiest numbers. If a number is already given six or seven times, the last places for it are easy to find.
• Scan the boxes. For each box, ask which numbers are still missing and where each one can go.
• Use notes when you get stuck. Pencil in the candidates of a few cells; pairs that can only go in two cells rule those numbers out everywhere else in the unit.
• Don’t guess. Every puzzle here can be solved by logic alone, and a wrong guess costs more time than a careful look.

Three levels

Easy puzzles give you 36 to 40 numbers and can be solved by looking for the one cell where a number fits. Medium puzzles give 29 to 33 and need more scanning. Hard puzzles give 24 to 28 and need notes and techniques like pairs and pointing numbers.

Fair for both players

Both of you get the same puzzle, and its clock runs on our server from the moment you start until the last correct number. Your friend can see how many cells you have filled, but never which numbers, until they have finished too.