The Sudoku riddle has hit worldwide mass media and papers with such a substantial impact, that it has to be the puzzle game introduction of the century.
But what is it that cause marking numbers into little boxes so improbably addictive? One part of the mix has definitely to be sheer simplicity of the brainteaser.
The instructions of Sudoku are so easy to understand that everyone can start gaming almost right away.
Yet the game requires huge amounts of practise and patience.
A Sudoku enigma can also be made so tricky that even a whiz kid would probably have a hard time solving it.
Contrary to what many will believe when they initially see a Sudoku mystery, this brain-teasing exercise doesn't require particularly high understanding of math.
It is more a matter of reasoning and the digits could, in fact, be replaced with any other symbol.
Sudoku darts? The rivalry between siblings is certainly nothing new under the sun, and most people who have brothers or sisters can probably tell you many intriguing stories about their family.
I can tell a story when I was a kid and we spent the vacation at our cottage in the archipelago.
One day my sibling and I found an old darts game - not like the intricate ones they use in real dart competitions, but more of a tough "outdoors" (or whatnot the official term is) type of dartboard with numeral characters from one on the outside to ten in the bulls eye, and fairly heavy and firm darts.
Neither of us where very good at lobbing darts, so it was a good plan we hung the dart board on the outside wall of an old shed.
After a while of throwing, I was able to to get quite a good score - 42 with five darts.
Luck had much to do with it of course, but now something very interesting happened.
My sister could not quit before she had gotten at least the same score as me! I think she fired away at that dart target for a couple of hours straight, and had she been a creature in a comic she would definitely have been portrayed with a black cloud over her head, so to say.
It was beginning to get dark before she finally had beaten my record and could allow herself to quit.
It is genuinely remarkable to witness such determination.
Although having very little to do with Sudoku puzzles per se, I think the same kind of driving influence is also "blamable" for the addictiveness of the Sudoku puzzle.
Most might love a contest, providing that there is actually a fairly credible opportunity to appear "conquering" in the end.
When tackling a appropriately complex Sudoku riddle a participant can sometimes come into almost a trance like state where he or she just can't put down the pen before they have flattened the Sudoku demanding task.
Much in the same way as it occurred in that dart game many years ago.
So as you see, the simple goal of breaking a record or solving a puzzle - although very basic things - can have a profound effect on a persons reactions.
This is all good, as Sudoku is a very inexpensive hobby that definitely grants a good work out for the brain.
However, would something catch fire in the kitchen or if the neighbor is drowning - by all means put that Sudoku mystery aside for just a few minutes.