The search for the next Sudoku is over.

The search for the next Sudoku is over.

Greetings, 

I have been a Sudoku fan since the end of 2005. I have grown tired of my own addiction. Desperately waiting for the next big craze left me experimenting with games like KenKen and Slitherlink and what ever else the Japanese could throw at us. Nothing really duplicated the success Sudoku had. 

Last Friday was different. I saw a group of people on the train playing Sudoku on my commute to work on their iPhones. I asked one of them if they really enjoyed Sudoku. To my surprise (and with an odd look) I was informed that Sudoku was old news! People are playing Str8ts now!

Str8ts? The person I rudely interrupted  (thanks Jim) finished his puzzle in front of me explaining as much as he could to a newbie. The puzzle was all about making sequences within compartments! How simple is that?

I wrote down the name and walked to my office tower along with droves of other clones from the suburbs of Chicago. I felt different than them since I had a jump in my step and a smile from ear to ear. I entered my office, closed the door and searched the word "STR8TS". There it was www.str8ts.com.  Please, please have an online version or something I can print right now. (My secretary dropped off my Starbucks and I was ready to go) Not hoping for a lot since I never heard of the puzzle I clicked on the link. Like a little kid at Xmas there it was an elegant on line player inviting me to puzzle heaven. The website was really well done. To my surprise it was a Canadian company! So i read the simple rules and tried my luck. I was so happy they even had a button called "My first Str8ts". It had a lot more clues. The puzzle was still really hard for me. I kept thinking as if I were playing Sudoku. After filling in a dozen compartments, the proverbial light bulb went off and the concept of the puzzle and my inner inhibitions were united.

I am happy again. My life has come full circle and I am an addict once again to a black and white puzzle. I will not be a victim of Alzheimer! 

I had one last problem that I had to solve! I have a Blackberry Storm. I called the guys in Canada congratulated them and asked them if they were planning a Blackberry release of the game. They explained that they were bursting at the seams trying to keep up with their growth and that it would take them a while to catch up. So I bought 20 % of the company with the main clause being that the Storm was the next phone they would develop the app for.  

I need to make sure my investment turns a profit so that is why I am selling the goods.

Str8ts will be the next Sudoku. I personally will make sure it happens.

M. Schwartz