Last week my wife was doing a research paper on using Sudoku in a classroom setting. Having avoiding playing Sudoku all along, I decided, after reading the description, that it might be an amusing logic challenge, so I picked up a book of advanced puzzles.
It’s an amusing diversion, but I soon found the book, paper and (yes, even) and eraser too big of a hassle to carry around, so I broke down and purchased the iTunes version for my iPod.
For starters, let me say it’s a great implementation, especially considering how simplified the entry mechanism has to be using only the iPod’s clickwheel. The game is bright and the graphics are nice (pointless, but nice.)
I particularly like the “newspaper†mode, where you can transcribe a printed grid into the game and play it there. The game times your progress, saves your puzzle when you pause and awards points for how well you do. (It doesn’t count points in Newspaper Mode, though.)
It eats my iPod’s battery alive! All told, I might get 2 – 2.5 hours out it when playing the game.
Here’s the trick, yesterday, when I started the game to show it off, it came up with this message:
This game cannot be played.
Connect your iPod to iTunes and reinstall the game.
For more information, please visit http://apple.com/support/ipod/
The Menu key exited and I tried again, and it worked fine. The next time I tried to play, I got the same error. It appears that every other time I enter the program this happens, and connecting to iTunes makes no difference at all. What’s up with that?
Technorati Tags: Apple, Blog, iPod, Sudoku
