Few can have read a newspaper or commuted to work in the last couple of years without coming across Sudoku, the hugely popular Japanese logic puzzle. For those as yet unschooled in the art of writing numbers on grids, Sudoku is really much simpler than it looks. Of course, the best way to find out what all the hype is about is to try Sudoku for yourself.

SuperDoku is a free Sudoku program for Pocket PCs which combines the original simplicity of the basic puzzle with a range of new and handy features. Because it offers you the chance to play with skins (like gems or ancient hieroglyphs) instead of numbers, SuperDoku extends the longevity of each game, and offers a practical way of demystifying the puzzle for those with a fear of numbers.

Along with its pleasing design, SuperDoku is packed with features to make your Sudoku experience more fun. The game boasts 8 levels of difficulty which can only be accessed on completion of the previous level. Along with 2 hint modes (one which shows you a good cell to start from and another which actually fills in a cell for you), SuperDoku has one feature we liked in particular: the ‘reveal mistakes’ tool. For anyone starting out with Sudoku, this feature – which would be impossible in a newspaper – is an excellent way of checking if your first tentative steps toward completing a puzzle are in the right direction.

SuperDoku also offers you the chance to enter the puzzle in today’s newspaper so that you can take that Sudoku with you without having to carry the newspaper. This feature also means that you can use SuperDoku to help you with printed puzzles if you’re having trouble solving them.

On the down side, the game does feature a save and load function but this is limited to just 5 puzzles. We felt that the ability to have as many grids saved as you like would be a better implementation of the save function but 5 is clearly better than none. This small disappointment is certainly not enough to put us off this great little implementation of Sudoku on Pocket PCs. Other standard electronic features (pencil marks, auto pencil marks, bold original puzzle and more) are all included and are often better implemented than in other choices on the market.

SuperDoku is a robust, fun and well designed way of playing Sudoku on the go. The range of features included on this freeware product is truly impressive. Perfect for experts and beginners alike, SuperDoku guarantees hours of fun on your Pocket PC.