I'm not a math person. Never have been. I remember all through school feeling intimidated in classes because I didn't understand it. A lot of it just didn't make sense in elementary- and high-school. Lately though I have been playing an electronic version of Sudoku. I have played this game before but always in a non-e format. You know the games in the back of the Southwest and other airline magazines? Even then, the numbers gave me some grief. I would never have a pencil so I ended up using a pen. . . with much scribbling out of errors and so forth (apologies to all those who flew after I did and tried to play the game.)
Then I found the potty game Sudoku. First, no pens are involved. Second, the game makes me feel "OK" with numbers for maybe the first time. . . The e-version of Sudoku is cleverly designed with little hints and guides to help newcomers quickly solve the easier levels of the game.
I am sure all of you know how to play Sudoku but just in case. . . no number may exist more than once in each quadrant ("ninth-rant?") or in each line vertically or horizontally. Easy to explain. . . more difficult to play.
Then I found the potty game Sudoku. First, no pens are involved. Second, the game makes me feel "OK" with numbers for maybe the first time. . . The e-version of Sudoku is cleverly designed with little hints and guides to help newcomers quickly solve the easier levels of the game.
I am sure all of you know how to play Sudoku but just in case. . . no number may exist more than once in each quadrant ("ninth-rant?") or in each line vertically or horizontally. Easy to explain. . . more difficult to play.
Have a look at the screenshot to the left. In the middle block of nine on the left column (the block with the red rectangle around it) where does the 7 belong? . . Without the little green square "hints" it might be difficult to find . . . but with the hints it's a whole different story - an. The second image shows, with the constraints above, the only possible place to put the 7.
In this image it's easy to see why the 7 must be placed where I have it. Now for the rest of the empty squares. .. .
The above is just one of the methods that this version of Sudoku provides to make the game less threatening to non-mathies. There are other hints, tools and levels to not only make the play non-threatening but also to allow one to gradually work up to more difficult levels.
OK. . . so here's the thing. This is NOT a math game, right? No, it isn't. But my early experience with math made working with numbers in any form a trial to be avoided at any cost. The thing about this game is that it made me feel like I COULD work with numbers and be successful. I never really enjoyed the paper Sudoku but I do enjoy, and am getting better at, the e-version . . . . and I find I am playing it at every "potty opportunity"
OK. . . so here's the thing. This is NOT a math game, right? No, it isn't. But my early experience with math made working with numbers in any form a trial to be avoided at any cost. The thing about this game is that it made me feel like I COULD work with numbers and be successful. I never really enjoyed the paper Sudoku but I do enjoy, and am getting better at, the e-version . . . . and I find I am playing it at every "potty opportunity"
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