One part of the equation has definitely to be sheer simplicity of the enigma. The procedures of Sudoku are so easy to appreciate that anyone can start playing almost without delay.Yet complete mastery of the game necessitate vast amounts of puzzle solving and patience. A Sudoku brainteaser can also be made so grueling that even a genius would have a hard time completing it.

Contrary to what many might imagine when they initially see a Sudoku riddle, this brain-teasing exercise doesn't require outstandingly high understanding of math. It is more a matter of reason and the numbers could, in fact, be substituteed with any other symbol.

When I lost a darts game

Although it might seem ridiculous to draw a parallel between sitting in the sofa playing Sudoku and throwing darts, bear with me for a second and I will get to the point.

I remember when I was a kid and we spent the summer months at our cottage in the countryside. One day my sibling and I found an old darts game - not like the posh ones they use in real dart competitions, but more of a sturdy "outdoors" (or whatnot the real term is) type of dartboard with numeral characters from one on the outside to ten in the bulls eye, and quite weighty and robust darts.

Neither of us where very good at lobbing darts, so it was a good thing we hung the dart board on the outside wall of an old shed. After a while of throwing, I managed to get quite a good score - 42 with five darts.

Luck had much to do with it of course, but now something interesting happened. My sister would probably not quit before she had gotten at least the same score as me!

I think she chopped away at that dart target for a couple of hours without interruption, and had she been a individual in a comic she could surely have been portrayed with a dark rain cloud over her head, so to speak. It began to get dark before she finally had beaten my record and could allow herself to quit.

It is actually mind-blowing to see such determination.

Although having not so much to do with Sudoku puzzles per se, I think the same kind of driving power is also responsible for the addictiveness of the Sudoku enigma.

Most people love a demanding task, provided that there is in fact a fairly reasonable possibility to emerge "conquering" in the end. When tackling a aptly intricate Sudoku brainteaser a participant can sometimes go into almost a meditative like state where he or she basically can't put down the pen before they have crushed the Sudoku competitive encounter. Much in the same way as it occurred in that dart game many donkey's years ago.

Well, there you have it - I managed to make a connection between Sudoku and playing darts. All without starting to throw darts at a Sudoku puzzle or anything.

This is all good, as Sudoku is a very inexpensive hobby that definitely grants a good work out for the brain.However, should something very catch fire nearby or if somebody is drowning - by all means put that Sudoku mystery aside for just a few minutes.