Instructions:
Gabuku is an adaptation on Sudoku that you play on a cube. In normal Sudoku, the 3x3 sections, columns, and rows must all contain 1-9. In Gabuku the rules are very similar, except the columns and rows wrap around the cube and the 3x3 sections are replaced by the 4x4 faces of the cube. Gabuku numbers range from 1 to G. To win you must find the single number that fits in each cell; there is only one solution to each puzzle.
Terminology:
- Cell
- One of the blanks on cube. A cell contains a single value or multiple candidates.
- Candidates
- The possible values for a cell (1-G).
- Stripe
- A column or row that wraps around the cube. Differentiating between columns and rows is unimportant because faces do not all have the same 'up' and 'down'.
- Face
- One side of the cube containing a 4x4 set of cells.
Controls:
- Touch the 3D cube to select a cell.
- Touch the grid at the top-left of the screen to select candidate(s) for a cell.
- Touch the exploded cube in the top-right to rotate to that face.
- Drag the cube to rotate.
- The Check button will make sure all single-canidate cells are correct. If the check is successful then all single-canidate cells are correct.
- Hints will darken single-canidate cells that violate BASIC rules. Wrong values can still exist on the board.
Techniques / Strategies:
You can adapt most standard Sudoku techniques to Gabuku. The names I use are the same used at other sites for Sudoku; I'll provide links to the corresponding Sudoku technique.- Naked Singles
- A cell is solved by looking at the stripes and face and finding all the other possibilities. http://www.sudopedia.org/wiki/Naked_Single
- Hidden Singles
- The opposite of 'Naked Singles'. The value of a cell is found by looking through the stripes and face and finding a value that the other cells could not contain. http://www.sudopedia.org/wiki/Hidden_Single
- Locked Candidates
- If all of the candidates for a value(or set of values) for a stripe or face are contained on the intersection of stripes, or the intersection of a face and stripe then all the cells on the intersecting face or stripe can not contain that value. http://www.sudopedia.org/wiki/Locked_Candidates
- Brute Force
- Try every possible combination. You should never need to use this technique; all Gabuku puzzles are built using human-solvable techniques.
There is a long list of Sudoku techniques at http://www.sudopedia.org/wiki/Solving_Technique