SudoPix

There's always an awkward moment in a relationship when, a few months in, you have to start sharing your life, your hobbies and your interests with your partner. You can be the most perfectly matched couple on earth, but there will always be things about your other half that you don't quite 'get', and, it's fair to say, the same is true of the reverse.

If there's one defining moment in all of this, it's a football-loving individual trying to explain the offside rule to his sports-sapped partner. It's impossible to do simply and no easier accomplished using complicated language; some kind of diagram or physical demonstration is what's called for.

SudoPix is that demonstration, albeit for the puzzling world rather than the footballing one. Though related to sudoku in name more than any other capacity, SudoPix is In-Fusio's attempt at explaining the complicated appeal of puzzlers to the masses in plain and simple language.

In terms of a pure explanation, it's certainly successful. Five minutes in and SudoPix's language will have become your second tongue. Where the question arises, however, is whether it's actually a language worth learning, because in trying to make its appeal universally understood the development team has inadvertently stripped away the fun in turn.

This is largely down to the fact that SudoPix is just too simple in practice. Taking the form of a grid, the game's goal is to decipher which blocks in the grid should be shaded. You're given two clues along the way: one comes in the form of numbers at the top and side of every row in the grid, informing you of just how many blocks in that row are shaded. SudoPix also lets you know in what order they fall. For example, if the numbers read '1, 2', then you know that the shaded blocks in that row fall in a group of one and two respectively.

Sound too complicated? Well, SudoPix also offers a more visual clue, in the fact that all of the puzzles form pictures that fall into five set categories – animals, sport, space, music, nature and the slightly elusive 'various'. Spot what the picture is half way, and there's a fair chance you'll be able to predict just what blocks are going to be shaded in without even paying attention to the numbers at the side of the grid.

That said, even when some of the pictures are revealed, fathoming just how the image relates to the object in question can be a task in itself. The animals, for instance, have much in common with the kind of pixellated pets coined by Tamagotchis of old. Their relation to the real beings is often a question of handing In-Fusio a touch of artistic licence.

In fairness, the developer's creative talent doesn't really hamper proceedings; on a practical level, SudoPix works. It's no mean feat that just minutes into play no explanations are needed. Any player, experienced or not, will be able to throw themselves into SudoPix and have some success and, if common appeal was In-Fusio's target, then there is no denying that it has achieved its goals, albeit with little gusto.

It's this lack of passion for its subject matter that really hampers any long-term enjoyment because, quite frankly, the game isn't much fun. Though the difficulty is stepped up as play progresses, with grids doubling in size in fairly quick time, the route to solving the puzzles never changes. Unlike its almost-namesake sudoku, in which various tactics can be used by players to solve the problem and suit their individual style, SudoPix treads the same old path.

That's not necessarily a fair stick to beat the game with – chances are that SudoPix will have an audience for which its straightforward play and just gradient will provide the perfect home – but there is a sense here that we've seen this all before in years gone by (both on mobile and other older formats). If you're expecting SudoPix to offer a way forward for the genre of even a fresh take on an old flavour, you need to look elsewhere.