Nikoli
Encyclopedia
Nikoli Co., Ltd. is a Japan
ese publisher that specializes in game
s and, especially, logic puzzle
s. Nikoli is also the nickname of a quarterly magazine (whose full name is Puzzle Communication Nikoli) issued by the company. Nikoli became prominent worldwide with the popularity of Sudoku
.
The name "Nikoli" comes from the racehorse who won the Irish 2,000 Guineas in 1980; the president of Nikoli, Maki Kaji
, is fond of horse-racing and betting.
Nikoli's claim to fame is its vast library of "culture independent" puzzles. An example of a language
/culture
-dependent genre of puzzle would be the crossword
, which relies on a specific language and alphabet
. For this reason Nikoli's puzzles are often purely logical, and often numerical.
Nikoli's Sudoku
, the most popular logic problem in Japan
, was popularized in the English
-speaking world in 2005, although it was originally an American puzzle, since Dell Magazines
had created it and distributed it for years. With their recent release of an Android app they have claimed that all other apps using Sudoku or Sudoku play infringe on their IP and all have been removed.
The magazine has invented several new genres of puzzles, and introduced several new games to Japan.
Some of the popular Nikoli puzzles, along with their Japanese
names; terms in parentheses are published English titles for the same puzzles.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese publisher that specializes in game
Game
A game is structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements...
s and, especially, logic puzzle
Logic puzzle
A logic puzzle is a puzzle deriving from the mathematics field of deduction.-History:The logic puzzle was first produced by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who is better known under his pen name Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...
s. Nikoli is also the nickname of a quarterly magazine (whose full name is Puzzle Communication Nikoli) issued by the company. Nikoli became prominent worldwide with the popularity of Sudoku
Sudoku
is a logic-based, combinatorial number-placement puzzle. The objective is to fill a 9×9 grid with digits so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3×3 sub-grids that compose the grid contains all of the digits from 1 to 9...
.
The name "Nikoli" comes from the racehorse who won the Irish 2,000 Guineas in 1980; the president of Nikoli, Maki Kaji
Maki Kaji
is the president of Nikoli Co., Ltd., a Japanese puzzle manufacturer.He was significant in promoting the development and marketing of the game of Sudoku...
, is fond of horse-racing and betting.
Nikoli's claim to fame is its vast library of "culture independent" puzzles. An example of a language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
/culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
-dependent genre of puzzle would be the crossword
Crossword
A crossword is a word puzzle that normally takes the form of a square or rectangular grid of white and shaded squares. The goal is to fill the white squares with letters, forming words or phrases, by solving clues which lead to the answers. In languages that are written left-to-right, the answer...
, which relies on a specific language and alphabet
Alphabet
An alphabet is a standard set of letters—basic written symbols or graphemes—each of which represents a phoneme in a spoken language, either as it exists now or as it was in the past. There are other systems, such as logographies, in which each character represents a word, morpheme, or semantic...
. For this reason Nikoli's puzzles are often purely logical, and often numerical.
Nikoli's Sudoku
Sudoku
is a logic-based, combinatorial number-placement puzzle. The objective is to fill a 9×9 grid with digits so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3×3 sub-grids that compose the grid contains all of the digits from 1 to 9...
, the most popular logic problem in Japan
Japanese puzzle
In the English language, the expression "Japanese puzzle" usually refers to logic puzzles, which have been more popular in Japan than in the West, where word games dominate....
, was popularized in the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
-speaking world in 2005, although it was originally an American puzzle, since Dell Magazines
Dell Magazines
Dell Magazines was a company founded by George T. Delacorte Jr. in 1921 as part of his Dell Publishing Co. Dell is today known for its many puzzle magazines, as well as fiction magazines such as Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Asimov's Science Fiction, and...
had created it and distributed it for years. With their recent release of an Android app they have claimed that all other apps using Sudoku or Sudoku play infringe on their IP and all have been removed.
The magazine has invented several new genres of puzzles, and introduced several new games to Japan.
Nikoli puzzles
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
names; terms in parentheses are published English titles for the same puzzles.
- BagBag (puzzle)Bag is a binary-determination logic puzzle published by Nikoli.-Rules:Bag is played on a rectangular grid, usually of dashed lines, in which numbers appear in some of the cells....
バッグ (Corral) - Connect the dotsConnect the dotsConnect the dots, also known as dot to dot or join the dots is a form of puzzle containing a sequence of numbered dots. When a line is drawn connecting the dots the outline of an object is revealed. The puzzles often contain simple line art to enhance the image created or to assist in rendering a...
点つなぎ (dot to dots) - Country RoadCountry Road (puzzle)- Rules :The square grid is divided into "rooms" of various shapes; some of these rooms contain a number. The object is to draw a closed loop in the grid, entering and exiting each room once. A room with a number must have that many squares used by the loop . Lastly, adjacent unused squares must...
カントリーロード - CrosswordCrosswordA crossword is a word puzzle that normally takes the form of a square or rectangular grid of white and shaded squares. The goal is to fill the white squares with letters, forming words or phrases, by solving clues which lead to the answers. In languages that are written left-to-right, the answer...
クロスワードパズル- Cipher crossword ナンクロ
- Edel エデル (Paint by Numbers, Nonogram, Griddler)
- FillominoFillominoFillomino is a type of logic puzzle published by Nikoli. Other published titles for the puzzle include Allied Occupation. As of 2005, three books consisting entirely of Fillomino puzzles have been published by Nikoli.-Rules:...
フィルオミノ (Allied Occupation) - Gokigen NanameGokigen NanameGokigen Naname is a binary-determination logic puzzle published by Nikoli.-Rules:Gokigen Naname is played on a rectangular grid in which numbers in circles appear at some of the intersections on the grid....
ごきげんななめ - Goishi HiroiGoishi HiroiGoishi Hiroi, also known as Hiroimono, is a binary-determination logic puzzle.-Rules:Goishi Hiroi is played on a rectangular grid in which circles appear at some of the intersections on the grid....
碁石ひろい (Go Stones) - HashiwokakeroHashiwokakeroHashiwokakero is a type of logic puzzle published by Nikoli. It has also been published in English under the name Bridges or Chopsticks...
橋をかけろ (Bridges) - HeyawakeHeyawakeHeyawake is a binary-determination logic puzzle published by Nikoli. As of 2011, four books consisting entirely of Heyawake puzzles have been published by Nikoli...
へやわけ - HitoriHitoriHitori is a type of logic puzzle published by Nikoli.-Rules:Hitori is played with a grid of squares or cells, and each cell contains a number...
ひとりにしてくれ - Hotaru BeamHotaru Beam-Rules:Hotaru Beam is played on a rectangular grid, usually of dashed lines, in which numbers in circles appear at some of the intersections on the grid. Additionally, each circle has a dot on one of the grid lines leading into the circle....
ホタルビーム - Inshi no heyaInshi no heyaInshi no heya is a type of logic puzzle published by Nikoli.- Rules :Inshi no heya is played on a rectangular grid with no standard size, broken into "rooms" by heavier borders...
因子の部屋 - KakuroCross SumsKakuro or Kakkuro is a kind of logic puzzle that is often referred to as a mathematical transliteration of the crossword. Kakuro puzzles are regular features in many math-and-logic puzzle publications in the United States...
カックロ (Cross Sums, Kakro) - KeisukeKeisuke-Rules:Keisuke is played on a rectangular grid, in which some cells of the grid are shaded. Additionally, external to the grid, several numeric values are given, some denoted as horizontal, and some denoted as vertical....
ケイスケ - Kin-Kon-Kan キンコンカン
- Kuromasu 黒マスはどこだ
- Light UpLight UpLight Up , also called Akari, is a binary-determination logic puzzle published by Nikoli. As of 2011, three books consisting entirely of Light Up puzzles have been published by Nikoli.-Rules:...
美術館 - LITSLITSLITS, formerly known as Nuruomino , is a binary determination puzzle published by Nikoli.-Rules:LITS is played on a rectangular grid, typically 10×10; the grid is divided into polyominoes, none of which have fewer than four cells...
- MasyuMasyuMasyu is a type of logic puzzle designed and published by Nikoli. The purpose of its creation was to present a puzzle that uses no numbers or letters and yet retains depth and aesthetics.-Rules:...
ましゅ - MazeMazeA maze is a tour puzzle in the form of a complex branching passage through which the solver must find a route. In everyday speech, both maze and labyrinth denote a complex and confusing series of pathways, but technically the maze is distinguished from the labyrinth, as the labyrinth has a single...
迷路- Picture mazePicture mazeA picture maze is a maze puzzle that forms a picture when solved.-Rules:Picture mazes require no special rules or learning and rules are very simple:* Draw a path from the entrance to exit of the puzzle, avoiding the dead ends...
浮き出し迷路
- Picture maze
- Mochikoro モチコロ
- Number LinkNumber LinkNumberlink is a type of logic puzzle involving finding paths to connect numbers in a grid.-Rules:The player has to pair up all the matching numbers on the grid with single continuous lines...
ナンバーリンク - NurikabeNurikabeNurikabe is a binary determination puzzle named for an invisible wall in Japanese folklore that blocks roads and delays foot travel...
ぬりかべ (Cell Structure) - Reflect Link リフレクトリンク
- Ripple Effect 波及効果
- Shikaku 四角に切れ (Divide by Squares)
- Slitherlink スリザーリンク (Fences)
- Stained GlassStained Glass (puzzle)-Rules:Stained Glass is played on a field of intersecting vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines. At the intersections of some of these lines are small circles, either unshaded, grey shaded, or completely darkened....
ステンドグラス - SudokuSudokuis a logic-based, combinatorial number-placement puzzle. The objective is to fill a 9×9 grid with digits so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3×3 sub-grids that compose the grid contains all of the digits from 1 to 9...
数独 (Number Place, Nine Numbers) - TatamibariTatamibariTatamibari is a type of logic puzzle designed and published by Nikoli. The puzzle is based on Japanese tatami mats.-Rules:A Tatamibari puzzle is played on a rectangular grid with three different kinds of symbols in it: +, -. and |...
タタミバリ - Tatebo-YokoboTatebo-YokoboTatebo-Yokobo is a binary determination logic puzzle published by Nikoli-Rules:Tatebo-Yokobo is played on a rectangular grid containing both shaded and unshaded cells...
タテボーヨコボー - Tentai Show 天体ショー (Galaxies)
- Tile Paint タイルペイント
- Verbal arithmeticVerbal arithmeticVerbal arithmetic, also known as alphametics, cryptarithmetic, crypt-arithmetic, cryptarithm or word addition, is a type of mathematical game consisting of a mathematical equation among unknown numbers, whose digits are represented by letters. The goal is to identify the value of each letter...
ふくめん算 (Alphametics, Cryptarithm) - Word searchWord searchA word search, word find, word seek, word sleuth or mystery word puzzle is a word game that is letters of a word in a grid, that usually has a rectangular or square shape. The objective of this puzzle is to find and mark all the words hidden inside the box. The words may be horizontally,...
シークワーズ (Word seek) - YajilinYajilinYajilin is a type of logic puzzle published by Nikoli. It has been published in English under the name Arrow Ring, such as in the 2005 U.S. qualifier for the World Puzzle Championship.-Rules:Yajilin is played on a rectangular grid of squares...
ヤジリン (Arrow Ring) - Yajisan-KazusanYajisan-Kazusan-Rules:Yajisan-Kazusan is played on a rectangular grid, the structure of which directly resembles that of Yajilin: Some cells contain numbers with an arrow indicating an orthogonal direction....
やじさんかずさん
External links
- Rules of 80+ Nikoli Puzzles in German and English