Futoshiki Math

Genre: Puzzle

Players: 1

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Review:

Futoshiki Math, released on the Nintendo Switch in 2020, is a Puzzle game in the Futoshiki style, which is similar to Sudoku, but uses different rules. Much as in Sudoku, each column and row must have only one of each number. But where Sudoku further separates the puzzle into three-by-three grids, Futoshiki instead has players narrowing down their options by “greater than/less than” indicators.

The presentation here is decent but unspectacular, featuring clean numbers backed by simple art depicting plants. This is accompanied by a simple, relaxing instrumental theme that does a good job fitting the relaxing tone of the game. All in all, this works, even if it’s not all that impressive.

As for the gameplay here, I actually think this is pretty compelling, perhaps nearly as much as Sudoku, although this may be due to the fact that the strategy and logic of Futoshiki isn’t going to be as familiar to players as Sudoku is. Even if that wasn’t an issue, the lack of an ability to check for mistakes is a huge oversight. This game also doesn’t allow for the use of touchscreen controls, which is a little disappointing.

In the end, Futoshiki Math is a solid Puzzle game that’s well worth a look, especially for fans of Sudoku. It may not be quite on the same level as Sudoku, but it is nevertheless an engaging style of puzzle that’s well-represented here.

tl;dr – Futoshiki Math is a Puzzle game that’s similar to Sudoku, but instead of being separated into three-by-three grids, Futoshiki has greater than/less than symbols to hint at its answers. While this style of puzzle isn’t as well-established as Sudoku, it’s nearly as compelling, and fans of that style of game would do well to give this game a try too.

Grade: B-

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