Use your Sudoku skills to organise the animals in Ninja Ranch
Swapping katanas for boxes
There was a time when it seemed that pretty much all mobile developers could think about was making games based around Sudoku.
But as the Japanese 'numbers in boxes' game has become a standard element of the daily puzzle scene, there appears to be less interest in making Sudoku with a twist experiences.
Until now.
Farm brainUK developer FinBlade together with collaborative publisher AppyNation has just released Ninja Ranch.
Nothing to do with FarmVille as we first though, or even much to do with ninjas (although there is a loose Asia theme), it's a game that presents you with a grid and some scattered numbers - Sudoku with a twist then.
The numbers correspond to the number of animals that have to be placed in each field. You simply create fields by tapping and dragging out a square or rectangular shapes onto the grid.
Boxing cleverThe trick, however, is each field can only contain one set of animals, hence field can't 'enclose' multiple numbers. And to complete each level, the entire grid must be filled.
As with Sudoku, this two concepts provide the logical basis of working out how you can complete the field layout for each grid.
A free-to-play game, Ninja Ranch rewards you coins for completing puzzles within a time limit and you get a daily spin reward. These are used to unlock new themes and customise the animals you're herding. Of course, you can also buy coins via in-app purchases if you wish.
Ninja Ranch is now available for iPhone and there's a separate HD version for iPad.