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Paused
The grid is hidden while you pause, so nobody can peek. Take a breath, then jump back in.
Pick a level above and press Play. A brand new puzzle is waiting.
👆 Tap a square, then tap a number • ✎ Notes mode pencils in small guesses • 💡 You get 3 hints per game • 3 mistakes end the game
A sudoku game you can play right here, free. This is Sudoku Master, an original GameOLL game. Every puzzle is built fresh on your device and checked by a solver, so it always has exactly one true solution. Pick Easy for a calm warm-up or Expert for a real fight. No download. No sign-up. It works on your phone and your PC.
Tap a square, tap a number, and think. Notes help you track the maybes. Three hints help you out of a jam. Three mistakes end the game. A daily puzzle gives every player the same grid each day, and your wins and best times save in your browser.
Genre
Puzzle · Logic
Players
1 Player
Platform
Browser · Mobile · PC
Price
Free
In this guide
- How to play
- The rules of Sudoku
- Difficulty levels and scoring
- 8 beginner strategies
- Sudoku Master FAQ
- Final verdict
How to play Sudoku Master
The board is a 9 by 9 grid. Some squares already hold numbers. Those are printed on the puzzle and can never change. Your job is to fill every empty square.
- Pick a level — Easy, Medium, Hard or Expert — and press Play. A fresh puzzle appears.
- Tap an empty square to select it. Its row, its column and its 3 by 3 box light up so you can study them.
- Tap a number on the pad below the board to place it. If the number is right, it turns blue and locks in.
- Not sure yet? Turn on Notes and tap numbers to pencil small guesses into the square. As many as you like. Placing a real number clears the notes for you.
- Made a slip? Select the square and tap Erase. Only squares you filled yourself can be erased. Wrong numbers turn red and count as mistakes.
- Stuck hard? Tap Hint. The game fills one square with its true number and locks it. You get 3 hints per game.
- Fill the last square right and the puzzle is solved. Your time, your mistakes and your score appear at once.
Watch the mistake counter. A wrong number is a mistake, and the third mistake ends the game on the spot. Slow and sure beats fast and sorry.
The rules of Sudoku
Sudoku has just three rules, and they all say the same thing in three directions. Every row of nine squares must hold the numbers 1 to 9, each exactly once. Every column of nine squares must hold the numbers 1 to 9, each exactly once. And every 3 by 3 box — the nine thick-lined squares that divide the board — must hold the numbers 1 to 9, each exactly once.
That is the whole game. There is no maths and no adding up. It is pure logic: if a number already sits in a row, it cannot go anywhere else in that row, so you cross it off your list for every other square in the line. Bit by bit, squares end up with only one number that can fit, and the grid fills itself in.
One promise matters more than any other: every Sudoku Master puzzle has exactly one solution. The game first builds a complete, correct grid. Then it removes numbers in mirrored pairs, and after each removal a solver checks that the puzzle still has one — and only one — answer. If a removal opens the door to a second solution, the numbers go back. So if you are stuck, the fault is never the puzzle. The answer is always there, and logic alone can find it. You never have to guess.
Controls for phone and PC
| Action | Phone / tablet | PC / laptop |
|---|---|---|
| Select a square | Tap the square | Click the square, or use the arrow keys |
| Place a number | Tap a number on the pad | Click a number on the pad, or press 1 to 9 |
| Pencil a note | Turn Notes on, then tap a number | Press N for Notes, then a number key |
| Erase a square | Tap Erase | Click Erase, or press Backspace |
| Use a hint | Tap Hint | Click Hint, or press H |
| Pause the clock | Tap Pause | Click Pause, or press P |
Pausing hides the grid. That is fair play: nobody can study the puzzle while the clock is stopped, and nobody can peek at your screen either.
Difficulty levels and scoring
The four levels differ in one simple way: how many printed numbers you start with. Fewer printed numbers means more logic between you and the answer.
| Level | Printed numbers | Base score | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | About 40 | 1,000 | First games and warm-ups |
| Medium | About 34 | 2,000 | A steady daily challenge |
| Hard | About 30 | 3,000 | Players who know the basic tricks |
| Expert | About 26 | 5,000 | Deep logic and long solves |
Your score starts at the base for your level. The clock takes 5 points per second. Each hint costs 150 points, and each mistake costs 100 points. A score never drops below 100, so a slow, hard-won solve still counts. Speed matters, but a clean solve matters more: one hint and one mistake together cost as much as 50 seconds of thinking.
The daily puzzle is a Medium grid built from the date itself, so every player in the world gets the same puzzle on the same day. Beat it, and the game remembers the date. Come back tomorrow for a new one. Your fastest win on Hard or Expert also saves as your personal best, shown in the panel above the board.
8 beginner strategies that actually work
- Start with the fullest lines. Look for the row, column or box that already holds the most numbers. Fewer gaps means fewer choices, and the first easy fills often unlock the rest.
- Hunt one number at a time. Pick a number, say 7, and scan the whole board for it. Every printed 7 rules out its row, its column and its box. The squares where a 7 can still live shrink fast.
- Use the box trick. If a number is missing from a box and only one square in that box can hold it — because the other squares sit in rows or columns that already have the number — that square is solved. This one trick clears most Easy puzzles.
- Pencil notes in tight squares. When a square can only be two numbers, note both. Pairs like that are gold: they block those two numbers from every other square in the line, and they often crack the next square open.
- Do not guess. A guess that lands wrong is a mistake, and three end the game. Worse, a lucky guess can hide a wrong idea that poisons ten later squares. If no square is certain, scan again — a certain square is always there.
- Work the crosses. For an empty square, list what its row rules out, then what its column rules out, then its box. The number left standing after all three lists is the answer. Slow, steady, and it never lies.
- Save hints for real walls. A hint costs 150 points, but a mistake costs 100 and a ended game costs everything. If two minutes of scanning finds nothing, the hint is cheap at the price.
- Pause when you are stuck, not sloppy. A short break clears the pattern blindness that sets in after long staring. The clock stops and the grid hides, so your score stays honest.
Is Sudoku Master free and safe to play?
Yes. The game is free. It runs fully inside this page. It asks for no name, no email and no account. It installs nothing on your device. Your wins, your best times and your daily streak stay in your browser only.
Sudoku Master is an original game made by GameOLL. The puzzles are generated on your device the moment you press Play, so no two visits need ever show the same grid — apart from the daily puzzle, which is the same for everyone by design.
More games and guides on GameOLL
- Want every game in one place? Visit our Play Games page.
- Love number puzzles? Play Tile Merge 2048, our 2048 game.
- Prefer careful clicking? Play Minesweeper, our minesweeper game.
- Crack codes instead of grids in Code Breaker, our mastermind game.
- Slide pieces into place in Block Puzzle, our block puzzle game.
Sudoku Master FAQ
Is Sudoku Master free to play?
Yes. Sudoku Master is 100% free. You play it right on this page. There is no download, no sign-up and no payment.
Does every puzzle have exactly one solution?
Yes. The game builds a full solved grid first, then removes numbers in mirrored pairs and checks after every removal that only one solution remains. If a removal would allow a second solution, the numbers go back. So the puzzle on your screen always has one true answer.
What happens when I make three mistakes?
The game ends. Wrong numbers turn red and count as mistakes, and the third mistake closes the puzzle. Press Try Again for a fresh puzzle at the same level, or change the level first.
What is the daily puzzle?
Every day there is one shared Medium puzzle. It is built from the date, so you and every other player get the same grid on the same day. Finish it and the game remembers the date, ready for a new challenge tomorrow.
Can I play Sudoku Master on my phone?
Yes. The board is built for touch. Tap a square, then tap a number on the pad. It also works with a mouse and a keyboard on laptops and desktop PCs.
Does the game save my progress?
Yes, in your own browser. It keeps your wins and your best time on every level, plus your fastest Hard or Expert win and the last day you finished the daily puzzle. Nothing leaves your device.
Final verdict: should you play Sudoku Master?
Yes — if you like a puzzle that is always fair and never in a hurry. Sudoku Master gives you a fresh grid with one true answer every time you press Play, honest scoring, notes and hints that help without cheating for you, and a daily puzzle to share with the world. Easy takes five calm minutes. Expert can hold you for half an hour. Your records wait in your browser between visits. Pick a level, and start crossing off numbers.
▶ Play Sudoku Master 🎮 See All Free GamesLast updated: November 4, 2026. Sudoku Master v1.0 — the first release of our original Sudoku game, with a one-solution puzzle generator, four difficulty levels, notes, hints, a daily puzzle and saved stats. An original GameOLL browser game. Found a bug? Tell us in the comments and we will fix it in the next version.
