Easy Sudoku
What makes a Sudoku easy
Every puzzle on this page can be solved with singles only: at each step there is a cell where just one digit fits, or a digit that fits in just one cell of a row, column or box. You never need pairs, pencil-mark patterns or guesswork. Easy grids start with 36 to 45 givens, so there is plenty of information on the board from the first move.
| Easy level | Value |
|---|---|
| Techniques needed | Hidden single, naked single |
| Givens | 36–45 |
| Solutions | Exactly one |
| Notes needed | Rarely |
A new puzzle starts as soon as the page opens. If you leave a game unfinished, it is waiting for you the next time you come back. The New game button picks another grid from the easy collection.
Strategies for easy puzzles
1. Cross-hatch one digit at a time
Pick a digit, say 7, and look at a box that does not have a 7 yet. Draw imaginary lines through every row and column that already contains a 7. If only one cell of the box is left uncovered, the 7 goes there. This is the hidden single, and it solves most of an easy grid.
2. Finish nearly full lines
A row, column or box with one empty cell can be completed at a glance: the missing digit is the only one not yet present. With two empty cells, check which of the two missing digits is blocked by the crossing column or row.
3. Count what a single cell can see
Choose an empty cell and list the digits already in its row, column and box. If eight different digits are visible, the ninth is the answer. This naked single is handy late in the puzzle, when the board is crowded.
4. Follow the chain reaction
Each digit you place removes options from twenty other cells. After a placement, look first at its own row, column and box: the next move is very often right there.
Following the first three moves of one easy grid
We took one grid from the easy collection and let the site's logic engine solve it. It has 45 givens and 36 empty cells. The first three moves all land in the top-middle box (box 2), which has only three empty cells and is missing a 2, a 5 and a 6. Row 2, column 5 (r2c5) can only be a 2, so that is move one. Row 3, column 6 (r3c6) can only be a 5. With the 5 settled there, row 2, column 6 (r2c6) has to be the 6, and a whole box is finished in three moves.
The rest of the grid goes the same way: all 36 steps were singles that place a digit, and the engine never had to erase a candidate. If you wrote every candidate into every empty cell you would have 71 pencil marks, fewer than two per cell, and the first three moves already bring that down to 64. The last digit placed was the 9 in row 7, column 7 (r7c7).
Who should play easy Sudoku
Easy puzzles are made for first-time players, for children learning to reason step by step, and for anyone who wants a relaxing five-minute break. They are also a good warm-up: solving a few quickly trains the scanning habits that every harder level depends on. When easy grids feel automatic, move on to medium, where you will meet your first pairs.
Easy Sudoku questions
- How long does an easy Sudoku take?
- Most players finish in 3 to 10 minutes once they know the rules. Your first few games may take longer, and that is fine: there is no time limit.
- Do I need to use notes on easy puzzles?
- Usually not. Every step is a single, so careful scanning is enough. Notes can still help if you lose track of which digits a cell can take.
- Are easy puzzles just hard puzzles with more clues?
- No. Each grid is graded by the techniques it needs, not only by how many digits it shows. An easy puzzle here never requires anything beyond singles.
- Can children play?
- Yes. Easy Sudoku is a good introduction to logical thinking, and ads are never placed right next to the board or the number pad. The printable page also offers easy grids for the classroom.