Sudoku a journey into the depth of our minds

Published by Ryan Aschroft on 1 June 2024

Picking a Hobby

I’m going to let you into a secret, I’ve been working on these projects and Hobbies for years mostly in theory and concept due to my lack of confidence as such I worked on little bits each month hoping to bring inspiration and courage to go forward with it all. As such I’ve got about five or six out of the eighty plus Hobbies that I’ve already had some involvement in; this could be as simple as the concept and some headings or just the Thumbnails and Titles for videos. As such I wanted to stick with those Hobbies as there’s a sense of familiarity and some of the work has been done; These Hobbies are pretty much set in stone but after this Hobby I may change how I choose and maybe even the whole concept will look different forever more.

Picking what you need

I was so glad that out of the pre-planned Hobbies that YoYo seems to be for the most part the only physical Hobby, not that I won’t ever do a physical Hobby again but maybe give me few years to learn to adapt to them better especially how to shoot footage because my skillset isn’t ready for that. As such I was so happy when Sudoku Puzzles came up, a Hobby I’m already familiar with and a nice change in pace just exactly what I need.

I learn a lot from my prior experiences, with YoYo it was to be wary of physical hobbies, how to engage in them and how to produce content for something I’m not very comfortable with but also to be accepting that we may (or will) fall short in our challenges yet with Sudoku I had prior knowledge of the Hobby and was excited to go beyond what I knew and discover even more.

Doing the research

One of my favourite parts of this series is when I do pick up a new Hobby, is to go deep into the research, challenge all my pre-conceptions and likely have to re-write a lot of things in order to fit in line with what I’ve newly learned. This is such a comforting and rewarding part of this experience because I’m able to have these discoveries be a part and shape the project.

Before I started this Hobby project, I only knew of a few different types of puzzles but being able to see so many variations and types of puzzles had got me curious and I kept venturing down the rabbit hole to find more; I’m starting to think I enjoy the research more than the participation but alas the entirety of the experience and recording of it is a true reward too.

Sudoku speaks to me

I’ve been doing Sudoku Puzzles for decades, when my family was doing crosswords and word-searches I was always the one to pick up the Sudoku Puzzle; I think this is because numbers have always spoken to me louder than words (not to mention my spelling, grammar and comfort with the words of the world is shockingly bad…the irony isn’t lost on me I know) as such I think that’s why Sudoku was my go-to. It’s a simple concept with rules and structure that is of comfort to me. Like the Jigsaw Puzzles these are found by many to be a relaxing get away, something that can be easily pursued, enjoyed and put away at a moment’s notice.

There’s a very relaxing and calming notion (for some) of just being able to do something in a moment’s notice with almost no restrictions; be it a book or an app on your phone you’re able to take part in these puzzles. They can be a stopping gap between something else, something to distract you or a way to regain what you felt could have been a wasted day yet spent relaxing with great puzzles that support our minds and help us be in that moment until something else or inspiration comes along – or simply the motivation to start cleaning the house.

Rules and Structure

Structure, Routine, organisation and well-defined rules; these all speak to my personality and likely millions of others and this is a Hobby that provides all of that. Sudoku Puzzles at face value are very simple due to their simple rule structure, use the numbers one to nine uniquely in each row, column and square that’s it there’s no more description there’s just techniques but in picking up the puzzles, reading the rules which could all take less than a minute you’re taking part in the Hobby. There’s no preparation of equipment, there’s no change of outfit or buying of supplies (although a long Sudoku session could and should involve snacks).

History

Now for me (not just for the content) I like to look into the history of a Hobby, see where it came from and how it’s evolved to better understand, enjoy and participate in the Hobby. Sudoku has it’s own history and comes from inspiration from other puzzles and concepts those being Magic and Latin Squares.

These two puzzles are very similar to Sudoku but have their own rules and functions.

Magic Squares

Magic Squares are very similar in appearance to Sudoku Puzzles in that they use equal size grids (e.g. 3x3, 4x4, 5x5 etc) but Magic Squares each column, row and diagonal section always adds up to the same value. So in a 3x3 Magic Square or Order 3 each Column, row and diagonal section adds up to 15, it’s rather magical I must say.

Latin Squares

Known to be the original Sudoku puzzle but the difference here is that Latin Squares only followed the row and column rules as such the grid itself didn’t come into effect this greatly limited the numbers used in each of the puzzles but the grid sizes themselves could be extremely big as the rules didn’t limit the puzzle.

Variations

Although there’s a insurmountable quantity of Sudoku Puzzles that didn’t stop people coming up with new variations of Sudoku Puzzles to challenges people even further, although you would think changing the puzzles and adding more rules would increase the difficulty this isn’t always the case. I found when adding some restrictions and rules it sometimes made things easier because the more restrictions you add the more limited possibilities you have for a correct answer which limits the quantity of suspects you have to remove in order to get the right answer but don’t get me wrong each variation takes time to understand, learn and get used to but it’s all rather fun.

Killer Sudoku

The addition made by Killer Sudoku is that there are little mini groups added and we are informed of the total sum these numbers must add up to, so for example if three squares must add up to twelve, and we already know two squares are four and three, we know that the third must be five this is because it doesn’t break the one to nine unique number rule and it’s the only number that would when added together with the others total twelve. This to me is a good example of when a new addition sometimes can make things easier, I found myself resolving a lot of these new groups before even narrowing down the usual suspects in the rows, columns and grids which just gave me even more numbers to support me. This variation has become one of my favorites discovered (not just because there’s a really nice app on my phone for it) but because it adds another layer of structure that’s easy for my brain to follow.

Jigsaw Sudoku

Like Killer Sudoku in that there’s just one slight adjustment to the rules; the 3x3 Grids don’t follow the square layout and can be in any shape or form as long as it contains a total of 9 squares and must follow the same rule of one to nine uniquely once rules. I’m not going to deny this concept messed with my brain a fair bit because it removed a lot of the structure and organisation of the puzzles I adored about this Hobby. I would struggle with these puzzles for a bit and my brain was happy to throw them into a void never to be looked upon ever again; my brain knows what it likes and doesn’t like; annoying but useful.

Hexadoku

This variation simply increased the size of the inner grids from 3x3 to 4x4, this mean that total size of the grid was 16x16 not 9x9as such in order to keep to the single unique digit rules of Sudoku that the first 7 letters of the alphabet were added to the puzzles to ensure the normal rules could be maintained while increasing the size of the puzzles. This became a monumental task to complete but for a Hobbyist who wanted to focus on a single task instead of ten smaller ones this is rather ideal and there’s a sense of achievement after the long journey of seeing it fully complete.

The Hobby Experience

Sudoku Puzzles have always been such a rewarding and relaxing experience for me, they are so easy to engage with but also test and train our minds to stay sharp. With the addition of apps on our phones it wasn’t long till electronic versions of these puzzles became available and for me this is where I truly found my place.

The combination of an easy to pick up and cheap hobby I could carry everywhere with to relax and participate with any time I wanted was always a great appeal but to also add functionality such as changing the formats and colouring allowed my quirky neurodivergent mind to be appeased. The addition of being able to change the colour of the tiles based on its current state greatly appealed to me as my brain sometimes got lost in the sea of numbers and forgot where it was up to in its puzzle solving adventure.

I found Sudoku Puzzles to be so relaxing, when able and happy to it; then it being comfortable to turn to the app and enjoy a few puzzles this could be while waiting in a queue or travelling on public transport I could keep my Hobby by my side wherever I went. Yet this isn’t just a casual and relaxing Hobby for some, there are tournaments and those who speed to completion to prove their skill; it’s amazing that such a Hobby can be so versatile and appeal to so many; just goes to shower even further not to judge anything by our first sight or thoughts of a given Hobby.

Burnout & Authenticity

I might have been avoiding the subject matter for some time but unfortunately while on this journey of rediscovering this old favourite Hobby of mine I did experience an unfortunate period of Autistic Burnout that made it very difficult if not impossible to focus on tasks especially the Sudoku Puzzles as such my experience wasn’t as smooth as I had hoped but for me it was just another means to adapt, learn and evolve from my experiences. Let’s take a quick look how this burnout shaped and still is changing my view on the Hobby and the future.

Accepting all challenges

Not to point out the obvious but I call this series in which I pick new Hobbies the ‘Hobbyist Challenge Series’ but let’s face it the challenge isn’t just the new Hobbies we pick up but the experiences on how we adapt into putting it into our daily lives and it would be wrong to put health issues and other matters faced along the way into a box never to be discussed. My health and burnout were another challenge I had to overcome during this period, it both added and took away a lot from this experience, but I didn’t want to give up I simply wanted to ensure the experience I had was learnt from, enjoyed and ensured I didn’t go too far as to make myself worse.

The Journey to Burnout

The journey towards burnout isn’t one that suddenly just occurs there’s a build up over time before it finally goes into full swing. I suffer from a lot of ‘Dysfunctional Days’ in which I have very brief periods (one to two days) of problems with my sensory regulation and executive functions making it very difficult to focus on tasks as such I minimise my sensory input and limit my activities. Being the person I am I keep a list of tasks onboard that don’t require much input but appease my brain knowing we’re doing something to keep ourselves busy but not overworking.

The problem is we aren’t always aware of a tasks given impact on the fuel left in the tank that we have nor do we even know how much we’ve left in the tank; as such even with these changes and trying to minimise the impact all these tasks still take away what little energy we have left. Over time we may come out of these dysfunctional days but they do get longer and a little more impactful until you hit a burnout in which sensory regulation is very difficult (because everything seems to be at eleven), the dysfunction means even the simplest of tasks become difficult and with that meltdowns & shutdowns become more regular but also we’re unable to make the previous changes that we thought helped. As such this burnout state leaves us with very few options but to minimise impact and recover yet there are very few options to achieve this and it’s unique to everybody.

During this state we need to put life on hold and take care of ourselves which is one of the most difficult tasks for a person like me because I always want to be following a routine, schedule, plan and working towards something I find it difficult to get off that path but ask anybody who’s been in a burnout state sometimes you need to accept your current state, look after yourself and simply regulate whatever you can because it’s the only way you’re going to get back on track.

Comfort in Planning

Even without knowing about my Autism I’ve always gone through these burnouts but sometimes they have led to major depressive episodes; as such I tend to know the signs and how to start looking after myself. This is why I knew I could never do content creation as a Job because I would always put my life on hold for the betterment of my health instead of chasing the trend or next big audience grabber, but this allows me to this Hobby of Content Creation at my own pace. This also means when I’m able I will hammer out months of content in the knowledge I may need to take a few months break in-between to regulate myself.

It's always about forward planning, use the moments of normality to enjoy and engage in your Hobbies but always plan for the moments you need to take care of yourself but also not to beat myself up for not engaging or enjoying in my Hobby because our health must come first.

I won’t fixate on this too much although I’m not hiding from my experience that occurred during the Hobby I do feel once covered the focus should be on Sudoku and what it has taught me not to mention the future path we take.

What has Sudoku taught me?

Sudoku Puzzles taught me that you can take something that brings you joy and relaxation wherever that you go but no matter how small, relaxing and adaptable a Hobby might be we all need to put our Hobbies down, relax and recover via other means sometimes but it will always be there for you when you’re ready to go back to it.

Learn from Hobbies and Life

Sudoku made me get back to my roots, it didn’t have to be a big adventure or a journey full of purchases and reshoots not to mention injured body parts, but that the Hobby in its simplest of forms can be enough. There’s not always a need for more than that and the realisation of that is very freeing not to mention it really helps my wallet.

It also made me realise no matter how simple, basic and adaptable a Hobby might be life get’s in the way sometimes, no matter the obstacle big or small the best adjustment is to put it down and tend to our wounds.

A Hobby always there for you

I’m not going to deny I’ve had the Sudoku Apps on my phone for years, I can’t even remember for how long but at some point, new shinier things must have got my attention because I forgot they were even there. Yet when I got back into the Hobby, I almost instantly remembered how much I struggled with the book formats due to the lack of functionality and colour differences but due to this realisation I remember how the apps helped with my shortcomings and neurodivergent brain preferences allowing even my brain to enjoy these amazing puzzles and it made me appreciate it even more.

Keeps the mind sharp

I know there are companies making billions off the concept of “keeping the mind sharp” selling you products, ideas and concepts to ensure the degradation of your mind is slowed down and ‘kept sharp’. Although I don’t believe you need to spend the bank on this concept I do feel engaging in puzzles does help certain parts of your brain; every now and then I think they would do us all good to challenge ourselves to some puzzles. Maybe next time you’re on a trip take a puzzle book or app with you and give it a go I’ve no idea of the outcome but I know it’s something that we can all take part in and enjoy.

Versatile and Adaptable

This might be one of the most versatile and adaptable Hobbies that I’ve come across, the apps offer so much functionality makes it very accessible to those with physical and neurological disabilities. There’s text to speech, variations on the colours and the utilising of touch screen can help with impairments. It’s good to see that a Hobby can be enjoyed by so many no matter the obstacles they need to overcome there’s always a Sudoku Puzzle there to challenge and accept you.

Sudoku in the future?

I didn’t want to pull entire plug on this challenge / episode it was already planned, scripted it was just literally the partaking in the Hobby left and I didn’t want to shelve it just so I could release something better that’s not me. This is an authentic journey; I’m not pretending this didn’t happen or editing it away. I think Sudoku will forever remain a go-to app on my phone but also a reminder this is why I plan so far in advance, this is why I can’t do this as a Job, my needs and health must come before the content no matter the outcome.

I don’t think Sudoku itself was what led to my Autistic Burnout, as with what we know it’s a combination of things and trying to push myself to do it all. I’m still on my neurodivergent discovery path it’s all fresh and raw (odd statement since technically I’ve been like this since birth) but my perceptions of how the world truly sees me now changes how I perceive myself and with that comes a lot of rewriting who I am and what I want to be with that knowledge. Knowing this is a burnout and not another major depressive episode is a little bit of comfort but it’s still debilitating and something I need to heal from.

So, with that in mind, I’m not sure we will be revisiting Sudoku in near future, nor is it because a Burnout happened during the production of this content but because I’m content with how it all turned out as I didn’t simply throw the footage, scripts and blogs etc all in the bin or metaphorical draw to be used again in the future. This happened, it wasn’t planned but it’s time to move on, recharge and then to the next project maybe just little slower pace for a while.

If you made it this far through this interesting blog post, I appreciate you so much and look forward to the future with you all.

The dreaded signing off...

The early days of our content and blog will be focused on around general subject matters, something we can all relate to, such as time, money and organising / routines then branching out to more diverse and sometimes wacky subject matters all to get you thinking about your Hobby in different ways but also for you to pay it forward and teach us about your Hobbies.

I thank you for making it to the end, there are and should be other blogs for you to read; if you like diversity in your content you can watch our video-based content on YouTube, our reels and photos on Instagram or you can swing by our live streaming on Twitch to engage with us in real time, no matter your content of choice I can’t wait to hear from you.

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Have a lovely day and happy Hobbying.