For beginners who stalled on 9×9: rank what bugs you, and we suggest a gentler puzzle to start.
Tap the thing that bugs you most to move it to the top. Drag the grip, or use the arrow keys, to fine-tune.
1
2
3
4
Your top pick decides the suggestion. Nothing is saved or sent.
Free on iPhone · no ads
What should a beginner do when sudoku feels too hard?
Shrink the puzzle before you quit it: start with a board of five or six pieces where every step is visible, learn one idea at a time, and come back to 9×9 later. Sudoku is not the friendliest first puzzle. It hides all its logic in one big grid and gives you nothing back when you get a step right.
That is the whole letter, really. The rest is how to choose the smaller puzzle.
Beginner questions about easier puzzles
Is there an easier puzzle than sudoku?
Yes. A 6×6 sudoku has the same rules with 36 cells instead of 81. Hashi (Bridges) and small sum puzzles such as Sumbriska's Gentle boards also start with only a handful of pieces, so each step is easier to see.
Why is sudoku so hard for beginners?
Mostly because a 9×9 grid asks you to track 27 rows, columns and boxes at once, and most books never name the techniques. When nobody tells you the next idea to look for, it feels like you have to guess.
Do you have to be good at math to play number puzzles?
Not for sudoku, which uses digits only as symbols. Sum puzzles like Kakuro and Sumbriska ask for small additions, mostly under 30, which many beginners find makes the logic easier to follow, not harder.
Should I guess in sudoku?
A well-made sudoku never needs a guess. If you are stuck, there is a technique you have not spotted yet, which is why a hint that explains the step teaches more than one that only fills a cell.
Is Sumbriska free?
The free download includes regions 1 and 2, the Daily board, The Deep and Harbor Run. The optional Voyage Pass adds regions 3 to 6, side boards and more for $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year, with no free trial. There are no ads.
Can kids play it?
Yes. Child profiles have no purchases and no links, the adult area is behind a PIN or Face ID, and the app works offline with no account.
How a Sumbriska board works, in 3 steps
Read the islands. Each island shows a target number, like 12 or 26.
Flip a bridge. Every bridge holds two numbers, one facing each island. Tap it and both totals change.
Land every sum. The board is solved when each island adds up exactly. Undo, Hints and step explanations never cost XP.
One tap changes two totals, so every move is a small, checkable piece of logic.
What the gentler start looks like
Gentle: small numbers, a few bridges.A five-island practice board, par 2.Logic Lens and Hint, free to use.
Who this is not for
If you love sudoku and only want more sudoku, stay there and learn techniques by name; a sum puzzle will feel like a detour. If you are on Android, Sumbriska is iPhone only. And if you dislike subscriptions, know that regions 3 to 6 and the side boards sit behind the Voyage Pass ($4.99 a month or $29.99 a year, no free trial). Regions 1 and 2, the Daily board, The Deep and Harbor Run are free for good.
Picture the first evening
Say you have three half-finished sudoku pages in a kitchen drawer. Tonight you open a five-island Gentle board instead. You flip one bridge and watch 12 become 14, then flip it back. By the third board you are saying the sums out loud before you tap. The sudoku pages stay in the drawer, and that is fine. The point was never sudoku. It was finishing something.
We put Gentle first on purpose: small numbers and a few bridges, so the first board is short and every step can be checked.
Easier number puzzles than sudoku, compared
Puzzle
What you track
Math
Beginner start
Sudoku 9×9
81 cells, 27 units
None
Steep
Sudoku 6×6
36 cells
None
Good first step
Hashi (Bridges)
Islands, 1 or 2 bridges each
Counting to 8
Gentle
Kakuro
Crossword-style runs
Sums of runs of 2 to 9 digits
Medium
Sumbriska (ours)
A few islands, flippable bridges
Small sums
Gentle level
A smaller board you finish teaches more than a big board you abandon.
Try one Gentle board tonight
We make Sumbriska. It has no ads, works offline and needs no account. Get Number Puzzles free and flip your first bridge.
Sumbriska: the number bridge puzzleFlip bridges until every island hits its exact sum. A calm number bridge puzzle for iPhone: no ads, offline, two regions free.
