Direct Link : Kakuro
Publisher : Jobro Software

Price : $6.00

Graphics : 5 Out of 10
Sound : 5 out of 10
Gameplay : 8 Out of 10
Longevity : 8 Out of 10
Overall : 6.5 Out of 10

So you Sudoku do you? Well my friend, prepare yourself for a new mental challenge. Kakuro is yet another Japanese craze, this is at first glance similar, but Kakuro adds a mathematical element, which if you weren’t mental before, you will be after.

Kakuro comprises of a playing area with filled and empty cells. Some of the filled cells are blank with a diagonal line. On either or both sides of the line is a number. If the number is on the top right, the blank cells to the right have to add up to this value. The numbers that go to make the total cannot be duplicated. Similarly the same rules apply for the numbers in the bottom left of a diagonal, but this time the empty cells below comprise the total.

This is a difficult game to review as I’m so bloody awful at it, having only completed 1 puzzle in about 30 and that’s at the easiest level. The game layout is simple and concise, with few of the frills that have made the Sudoku games such a hit. However this kind of game doesn’t require lots of bells and whistles, as the game play is so absorbing. You may find that the Wikipedia entry for Kakuro helps with solving the puzzle, you can read it here.

Conclusion : Please don’t be put off by the relatively low overall score. This game does not need flashy graphics and sound and at just $6 you can’t go wrong. Hopefully you can do a bit better than me. I’m sure you can’t do any worse.