Sudoku Neo: Daily Puzzle

Sudoku Neo scores how you solve, not how fast you type. Most sudoku apps rank players by finishing time. Sudoku Neo awards points for the shape of a solve: closing a digit family across the board, finishing a 3×3 box without a mistake, the order you close them in, and how much work the puzzle actually left you. The formula is published below, carries a version number, and is computed identically on every device — so the daily ranking is reproducible, not a black box. ONE DAILY PUZZLE FOR EVERYONE The Daily Challenge is a fixed, pre-verified Medium board shipped inside the app: every player in the world gets the same puzzle, playable offline, one attempt each. A completed game enters the recurring Game Center leaderboard; a loss stays in your local statistics and is never submitted. Missed a day? The archive keeps every past challenge playable — the same boards everyone else got. Archive results count toward your statistics, best score and best time, but never reach the leaderboard and never extend your streak: a streak means showing up on the day. HINTS THAT TEACH When you are stuck, the hint names the technique that unlocks the position — locked candidate, naked or hidden pair, triple, X-Wing, XY-Wing — and explains why it works before placing anything. Easy and Medium fall to plain scanning; Hard and Expert genuinely need technique, and the same solver that rates the puzzles backs every label. HOW SCORING WORKS • +40 points for each correctly filled cell. • Closing all nine copies of a digit awards a bonus for the work it took, the order you closed it in, and focused time. • Completing a 3×3 box awards a speed bonus, plus a clean-box bonus if it holds no mistake. • A digit and a box closed with one move award a combo. Winning adds a final pace bonus. • Mistakes escalate: −150, −350, −600 — the third ends the game. Each revealed hint costs −100. • The total is multiplied by difficulty: Easy ×1.00, Medium and Daily ×1.15, Hard ×1.35, Expert ×1.60. The formula is stored with a version number, so an update never rewrites results you already earned. Current scoring version: 2. BUILT FOR FOCUSED PLAY • Four difficulties, each puzzle with one unique solution and no guessing required • Notes, auto-notes, locked digits, pause, sound and haptics • Three colour themes, VoiceOver labels everywhere, Dynamic Type, Reduce Motion • Full interface in English, Russian, Japanese, German and Spanish — including every hint explanation • Works offline, no account, no tracking FAIR MONETIZATION Free to play. Interstitial ads appear only at breaks between games, never during a puzzle. Two hints per game are free; extra hints can be unlocked with an optional rewarded ad. One non-consumable purchase removes all advertising permanently.