Red Light, Green Light (Killer/Snake Sudoku)
(Published on 23. November 2021, 02:03 by Piatato)
A puzzle inspired by the incredibly popular TV series Squid Game. In case you haven’t seen it yet, you only need to watch the first episode in order to prepare for this sudoku! ;-)
Rules:
1) Normal Sudoku Rules Apply. Every row, column, and box must contain the digits 1-9 with no repeats.
2) Normal Killer Rules Apply. Digits within a cage cannot repeat, and must sum up to the clue given in the top left corner (if given).
3) Special Red Light, Green Light rules apply:
(Feel free to skip to the tl;dr version below!)
The solver has to find and run along an orthogonally connected path, that starts and ends in the green cells. While on a green light, the solver must run as fast as they can, and while on a red light, they must try not to move! Don’t worry — the speed is represented by the value of the digits, so you won’t need your training gear in order to solve this sudoku! :-)
Actual rules — pay attention: The solver has got a green light as long as the path goes on cells that aren’t part of a killer cage. On these green cells, the solver must keep up the speed, thus these cells must all contain high digits (6 or higher). If the path crosses a killer cage, the solver has got a red light. Here the solver must try and stand as still as they can, in order not to be killed, thus the red cells must all contain low digits (4 or lower).
The path does not touch itself orthogonally or diagonally.
tl;dr version:
Find an orthogonally connected path that starts and ends in the green cells. Digits on the path that are inside killer cages must be low (4 or lower), and cells on the path that are outside of killer cages must be high (6 or higher). The path does not touch itself orthogonally or diagonally.
Good luck surviving!
Solve on Penpa+ here.
Solve in the CtC app here.
Solve on F-Puzzles here.
Solution code: Column 1 and row 9
Comments
on 20. May 2023, 23:30 by annaswan
I really liked this! It was fun figuring out the numbers and cages alongside the developing snake/path. The interplay between the distribution of the digits, the red light/green light rules, and normal sudoku rules was really cool to work with.
on 7. November 2022, 19:02 by Christounet
Got through !
Survived till the next puzzle :)
Very fun puzzle and a nice take on the serie. Thanks.
on 5. September 2022, 04:44 by Nordy
Difficulty = average. Beauty = very nice. Fun = the absolute most you can have!
on 5. August 2022, 11:32 by Playmaker6174
Forgot to register my solve here, this puzzle was such a joy to solve with lots of engaging moments, happy that I managed to escape in time :)
on 23. April 2022, 13:46 by PrimeWeasel
Such a lovely solve!
on 30. November 2021, 22:28 by sPaulding
Love it. Ended up taking me 2 tries, but once I got a hold of the logic, it's really enjoyable, and not too tremendously difficult. Love it!
on 25. November 2021, 20:21 by Piatato
@BHUNTER47 Thanks for the feedback! I'm not very experienced with setting puzzles with less conventional rulesets, so I'm sure the ruleset could have been improved upon to make it even clearer. F ex I've been considering if I should specify that the path must be one cell wide, or if this is understood without saying. As for "not touching itself orthogonally or diagonally", I think that this is a very commonly used phrase for snake rulesets, and it's generally agreed upon that the snake turning 90 degrees doesn't count as touching itself. However, there generally are instances where snakes are able touch themselves diagonally yet not orthogonally, and that's why that rule is stated like it is. In this puzzle these rules are actually not necessary, but in the end I added it in order to avoid confusion and because I think that knowing this in advance makes for a more pleasant solving experience.
on 25. November 2021, 17:20 by BHUNTER47
Very nice puzzle! Only comment I'll have is that I think saying that the path does not touch itself "diagonally" is unnecessary and confusing considering the path is orthogonally connected. Technically, any orthogonally connected path that makes a 90 degree turn has two cells that touch each other diagonally (cells A and C, say, in a A-B-C 90 degree turn), so that rule might throw some people off.
I may also be missing some reason why this was added, so please feel free to ignore me if I'm being obtuse.
on 24. November 2021, 20:46 by Piatato
Changed a word in the rules.
on 24. November 2021, 20:24 by Aaronomys
Absolutely astonishing! This was yet again a masterpiece from you!
on 24. November 2021, 15:31 by abed hawila
Lovely puzzle!
on 23. November 2021, 23:49 by Piatato
Thank you all for the nice comments! I’m glad to see that you all survived! ;-)
on 23. November 2021, 19:45 by filuta
Cool ruleset and really fun puzzle as always.
on 23. November 2021, 18:54 by SudokuExplorer
Snake rulesets always bring their own charm to a puzzle. Thanks for this fun one! :-)
on 23. November 2021, 18:25 by thoughtbyte
Very fun and approachable, Thanks!
on 23. November 2021, 17:02 by kolot
Approachable and fun puzzle! I liked it.
on 23. November 2021, 14:18 by polar
Very fun! Thanks :)
on 23. November 2021, 13:54 by Piatato
Updated the ruleset slightly.
on 23. November 2021, 03:14 by Steven R
Loved it, thanks Piatato!
on 23. November 2021, 03:07 by FryTheGuy
I loved all of the unique deductions required to figure out the snake's path.
Thanks for the puzzle!
