Ka Kuro SE Demo

The Japanese game of Sudoku has become a widespread phenomenon, since almost everyone has heard of it and a lot of people know how to solve a simple one. However, there are many other similar games out there, some of which are a tad more complicated, while other just require a lot of work and imagination in order to provide the correct solution.

Ka Kuro SE is a puzzle game that is strikingly similar to Sudoku, but it uses different rules when it comes to the actual gameplay. Hence, instead of providing you with a few numbers already placed in the cells of the overall puzzle, you start from scratch and you have to match certain sums, by manually placing the right digits. Although it sounds a lot more permissive and simple than Sudoku, things get complicated rather quickly.

In essence, the numbers must add up to a certain sum that’s displayed in a greyed-out cell nearby. The tricky part comes when the same digits must add up to a different sum on the vertical axis as well, so the complexity is substantially increased this way. Mind you, it’s not that difficult when you only have to deal with two digits in a row and a sum below twenty, but with three or more, you might need a coffee to cope.

The application itself is not very glamorous, and it only comes with a handful of options, none of which are too complex. Hence, you have the option to save the game at any point and resume it later, or even print it on paper, in case you want to continue it away from your computer. The sounds can be disabled with a simple mouse click, and there is even an automatic solver you can use to find the solution.

Visually, everything is about as basic and simple as it can get, so do not expect more than a few washed out textures and the minimum amount of style. Besides the grid, which, by the way, can vary in size and difficulty, you only get to see the digits themselves, which can be dragged onto the puzzle and placed in the desired position.

Ka Kuro SE may not be a wonder of software engineering, but it can certainly keep you occupied for a while, especially if you enjoy a challenge. Such puzzles can always give your brain a healthy workout, regardless of how cheap the actual application looks.