Samurai Sudokuplay free online, or print the puzzle
Samurai Sudoku · Easy · samuraisudoku.app
Choose your puzzle
Five overlapping grids, one unique solution.
Arrow keys move · 1–9 fill · Shift+digit toggles a note · N notes · U undo · H hint · M mute.
What is Samurai Sudoku
Five sudoku grids that share their corners
Samurai Sudoku links five 9×9 grids — four in the corners and one in the middle — through four shared 3×3 boxes. The rule is the one you know: every row, column, and box holds the digits 1 to 9 once. What changes is the scale: 369 cells, and a digit in an overlap that works for two grids at once. It is the same puzzle stretched into a longer, more absorbing solve.
- Fresh puzzles, one solution
- Every puzzle is generated on your device and checked by a solver that rejects anything with more than one answer, so you never need to guess.
- Easy, Medium, Hard
- Levels are graded by technique: obvious singles, hidden singles, then the sparsest clue set the generator can build.
- Notes, hints, undo
- Pencil notes that clean themselves up across grids, red conflict highlighting, unlimited undo, and hints when a corner will not budge.
- Print it or resume it
- One tap prints a clean blank puzzle for paper. Your puzzle in progress and your best times are saved on your device — never on a server.
How to play
How to play Samurai Sudoku
Samurai Sudoku is one rule on a bigger board. Fill every row, column, and 3×3 box of five overlapping grids with the digits 1 to 9, and let the shared boxes carry your progress from grid to grid.
- 1
Read the layout
A Samurai puzzle is five 9×9 sudoku grids arranged like the dots on a die: four in the corners and one in the centre. The centre grid overlaps each corner grid in one shared 3×3 box, so the whole puzzle has 369 cells instead of 405.
- 2
Follow the one rule
Every row, column, and 3×3 box of every grid must contain the digits 1 to 9 exactly once. That is the whole rule set — there are no sums, no cages, and no guessing required. The clues in each puzzle lead to exactly one solution.
- 3
Use the shared boxes
A digit in a shared box counts in both grids at once. That is where Samurai gets its rhythm: solve a cell in a corner grid and it can suddenly unlock cells in the centre grid, and the centre unlocks the other corners.
- 4
Fill every cell
Select a cell, enter a digit, and use pencil notes to track candidates. Conflicts glow red as you go. The puzzle is solved the moment all 369 cells are filled correctly — the timer stops and your best time is saved on your device.
Tips to solve faster
- Start in the shared boxes. A digit there works for two grids at once, so those cells get constrained fastest.
- Scan for each digit across the whole shape: find every place a 5 is already placed, and see where the remaining 5s can still go.
- Look for hidden singles — a digit with only one legal cell left in a row, column, or box — before you fill notes.
- Use pencil notes for cells with two or three candidates, and let the automatic note cleanup do the tidying.
- Work outward from the centre grid: solving it opens the inner boxes of all four corner grids.
- When stuck in one grid, switch to a neighbour. Progress in an adjacent grid often feeds back through the shared box.
- If a red conflict appears, undo back to the last placement you were sure of rather than patching cells one by one.
- On a phone, use Zoom while placing digits and zoom out to see the whole shape when planning your next move.
FAQ
Samurai Sudoku, answered
Straight answers about the free Samurai Sudoku puzzle you can play or print from your browser.
What is Samurai Sudoku?
Samurai Sudoku is a sudoku variant built from five overlapping 9×9 grids: four in the corners and one in the centre. The centre grid shares a 3×3 box with each corner grid, which links all five into a single 21×21 puzzle of 369 cells. You fill every cell so that each row, column, and box of every grid contains the digits 1 to 9 once.
Is Samurai Sudoku free to play online?
Yes. samuraisudoku.app is completely free and runs entirely in your browser. There is nothing to buy, download, or install, no account, and no video ads between puzzles. Open the page, pick a difficulty, and you are playing.
How do you play Samurai Sudoku?
Treat each of the five grids as a normal sudoku: 1–9 once in every row, column, and 3×3 box. Where two grids overlap, the shared 3×3 box counts for both, so a digit there must fit both grids. Select a cell, enter a digit or a pencil note, and solve outward from cells that have only one possible digit. Fill all 369 cells to win.
How is Samurai Sudoku different from regular sudoku?
The rule is identical; the scale and the links are new. A regular sudoku has 81 cells and one grid. Samurai has 369 cells across five grids, and four shared boxes let information flow between grids. That makes puzzles longer, and it makes progress in one grid unlock cells in another, which many players find more absorbing.
Does every puzzle have exactly one solution?
Yes. Each puzzle is generated in your browser and then verified by a solver that counts solutions; any puzzle with more than one is rejected before you see it. That means a purely logical route always exists and you never need to guess.
What do the difficulty levels mean?
Levels are graded by the techniques needed, not just clue count. Easy has about 170 givens and can be finished by always filling a cell that has one candidate left. Medium has about 130 givens and needs hidden singles — a digit with only one place in a row, column, or box. Hard has about 100 givens and is the sparsest puzzle the generator can build with a unique solution.
How long does a Samurai Sudoku take?
Roughly 20–40 minutes for an Easy puzzle, 40–60 for Medium, and an hour or more for Hard, depending on experience. That is longer than a regular sudoku because there are 369 cells to fill. The timer pauses when the tab is hidden, and your puzzle is saved automatically so you can leave and come back.
How do I solve Samurai Sudoku without guessing?
Start with the shared boxes, where a digit works for two grids, and scan each digit across the whole shape. Fill cells that have a single candidate, then look for hidden singles. Add pencil notes for cells with two or three candidates and let automatic cleanup remove them as you place digits. When one grid stalls, move to a neighbour — its progress often feeds back through the overlap.
Can I print Samurai Sudoku puzzles?
Yes. Start a puzzle, then press the printer button above the board. The print view shows only the given clues in a clean layout — none of your entries or notes — and you can print to paper or choose “Save as PDF” in your print dialog. See the printable page for a step-by-step guide.
Does the game save my progress?
Yes, locally. The puzzle you are working on, your best times, solves, and streaks for each difficulty are saved in your browser, so a refresh resumes exactly where you left off. Nothing is sent to a server and there is no account. A different phone, a new browser profile, or cleared site data looks like a fresh start.
Can I play Samurai Sudoku on mobile?
Yes. The board scales to your screen with the number pad and tools directly below it. Five grids fit on a phone in portrait, and a Zoom button doubles the cell size and follows your selection when you want to work with notes. Tablets and landscape phones show the whole board comfortably.