Loved and played by millions around the world, Sudoku is a game in which you can immerse yourself – for hours! Puzzle lovers are getting ready to celebrate because it is time for International Sudoku Day on Saturday, 9 September.

No one can explain exactly why Sudoku has become so popular all around the world, but some people think it has to do with the human's innate desire to find order from chaos. In addition, when a person is able to finish a Sudoku puzzle, it offers a sense of accomplishment and productivity. It makes a person feel like a winner. 

It's quite addictive to play Sudoku but in a good way. The benefits of 'brain training' with any form of puzzle are well-known. It's also possible to play at different levels, from Easy to Moderate to Hard, depending on your experience. 

The game's original concept is understood to have originated in Asia in the late 1700s. Well down the track, an incarnation called Number Place, invented by Howard Garns from Indiana, was published in 1979, only gaining traction in 1984 when it made its way to Japan, where it became supremely popular. Sudoku is pronounced "Soo-doe-koo" and means something along the lines of "the numbers must remain single".

The game became popular in the West after a New Zealander, Wayne Gould, discovered the game whilst on holiday in Japan and became a devotee. He took it further by developing a computer program that automatically created Sudoku puzzles. 

In 2004, the London Times printed a Sudoku puzzle in the newspaper after Gould's wife submitted his work, which grew in popularity. Sudoku games began appearing in puzzle books, and then whole books of Sudoku puzzles started lining store shelves. 

In 2013, International Sudoku Day was founded by the World Puzzle Federation to pay heed to this unique and challenging game. So, get ready to play and enjoy one – or many – of these puzzles in celebration and honour of International Sudoku Day!

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