Super Sudokoid Dark Inversion
(Eingestellt am 9. Mai 2026, 00:00 Uhr von The M)
While cruising through hyperspace, as one does on occasion, your radio suddenly picks up a distress signal from a nearby solar system. The planet it originates from isn't on your star chart, but your ship's computer is adamant that this is none other than the lost home world of the ancient Puzzlo race, known for their penchant for intricate puzzle, and deadly super-weapons. With trepidation, you set course to land.
A few months back I created a massive, metroidvania-esque puzzle called Super Sudokoid: Final Transmission, heavily inspired by the fantastic Sudokovania puzzle. This time, I wanted to create something new and original, to evolve the concept and push the limit of what a Sudoku could be.
You don't need to have played any Metroidvania-style Sudoku before to play this, but it might help. If you have played one, jump to the "What's different" section below.
Instructions
This is a dynamic, expanding puzzle, consisting of 16 sectors in a 4x4 grid.
Most of the grid is covered in fog. By correctly placing digits, the fog may be lifted. You may place digits in the fog if you know what they are, but avoid guessing.
Each sector is a complete and separate 9x9, regular shape Sudoku. Sudoku rules applies independently to each sector, so a digit in one sector doesn't affect cells in other sectors. Other rules may span multiple sectors and DO affect all involved cells.
On the right side of the puzzle is your HUD. Clicking in any of the revealed cells will update the puzzle description by adding a new section to the bottom with new information. Be sure to click on any newly revealed cell to learn about new rules, bosses or story segments. Be careful not to click on any unrevealed HUD cells as the description still updates and will spoil future unlockables! Clicking anywhere else in the grid is perfectly safe.
Bosses and upgrades appear as imp emojis and yellow circles respectively. Once you've placed a digit in the cell, check the HUD for new information. For bosses, the corresponding boss cell in the HUD will have a link to a boss puzzle. Solve the puzzle to progress in the main grid. You will be given a digit to place in the boss' HUD cell to indicate that you defeated it.
Finally, pink cells are cosmetic and should be considered the same as their neighbors.
What's different
Sectors: the puzzle consists of a 4x4 grid of sectors. Each sector is a separate, standard 9x9 sudoku.
HUD: all information is presented in the HUD on the right edge of the puzzle. Click in any revealed cells to update the puzzle description and don't click in unrevealed cells. You may freely click anywhere in the sectors without fearing spoilers.
Bosses: some sectors contain a boss. The boss cell will be revealed in the HUD once you fill in the corresponding cell in the grid. Click on the HUD cell to access the boss puzzle and fill in the HUD cell with the given digit after you defeat the boss.
Upgrades: yellow circles indicate upgrades or other important items. Always check the HUD after filling one in.
Walls: some cells are walls. Normal Sudoku rules do not apply to these cells. See the rules in the puzzle for more details.
Cosmetic cells: pink cells are purely cosmetic and should be considered the same as their neighbors.
Solve in SudokuPad here!
(Note: the puzzle is NOT mobile friendly!)
Current version: 1.0.5
Old versions:
1.0.4
1.0.3
1.0.2
1.0.1
1.0.0
Lösungscode: Enter all digits from the HUD boss cells in ascending boss order (i.e. from left to right, top to bottom).
Kommentare
am 6. Juli 2026, 03:47 Uhr von eap314
Definitely at least as good as Sudokuvania! Here's my rating:
++ anti-sudoku and custom rules
+ you can always see the regions of any grid you're solving
+ good story and helpful descriptions
= very solvable by uniqueness (not a bad thing, just a note)
= one thing is *technically* in the rules (no spoilers, but like sudokuvania)
— no CC / deconstruction (not expected, but wished)
— pencilmarks are sometimes very hard to see
Note (for next time?): you can turn off fog auto-clears when you enter a correct digit
am 4. Juli 2026, 11:30 Uhr von The M
Sure, go ahead
am 4. Juli 2026, 06:03 Uhr von sevenc_nanashi
Hello! As I've 100%'d this puzzle, and finished translating Final Transmission, so I'd like to translate this to Japanese as well. Would it be okay to create a translated version as well?
am 1. Juli 2026, 19:35 Uhr von The M
I am by no means an expert on what you can do with SudokuPad, but I found that you can define grids with their own description blocks. When you click in the defined region the block gets added to the end of the description and if multiple areas overlap they all get added.
There's a little quirk that the description treats this as a separate puzzle so it will show a title and author. You can replace them with invisible characters but there's no way to get rid of the "by" in the "title by author" text. The way I (and I believe Skeptical Mario) get around this is by integrating the "by" into the title. E.g. "SCAN DOTS by White kropki dots" or "Break in by Log 1".
You add it to the metadata json block of the puzzle, for example when exporting from SudokuMaker. Here's an example:
"grids": [
{
"top": 13,
"left": 37,
"width": 4,
"height": 1,
"author": "White kropki dots",
"title": "SCAN DOTS",
"rules": "Digits separated by a white SCAN DOT differ by exactly 1."
},
{...}
]
am 1. Juli 2026, 18:19 Uhr von eap314
How do you change the rules text dynamically? I'm interested in the sudokuvania puzzle type, but I don't know how the HUD works
am 26. Juni 2026, 13:59 Uhr von The M
Thanks! I added a note to the rules in 1.0.5 about the emoji issue.
am 26. Juni 2026, 09:40 Uhr von cstuder
Made it through, very cool. Noticeable improvement over part 1, congratulations.
(And also ran into the bug on Firefox on MacOS not showing the emojis.)
am 23. Juni 2026, 00:42 Uhr von The M
Thanks for playing and for all the feedback guys! When I made this I never expected so many people to try it out. It's been amazing seeing people enjoy the puzzle!
Version 1.0.5 is now out. Apart from rule clarifications, this one has a major change in that I've replaced one of the events with a more streamlined version that should be more fun to solve.
If you're playing on an older version, consider upgrading. If you're forced to start over, continue on the old version instead and check out the new version after beating boss 6. The new event reveals slightly different digits, so enter the discovered digit in the new version, then solve the digit to the left of it. Enter those two and the given digit in the same row into the same cells in the old version to reveal the area.
am 22. Juni 2026, 22:04 Uhr von NeilAgg
At times, this was more difficult than I preferred. I really loved solving the Wits puzzle, that was a great mechanic! Overall, an amazing creation which deserves a lot of kudos!
am 22. Juni 2026, 04:26 Uhr von Calvinball
Such an epic journey. Flipping through the finished grid like a book you just finished provides a sense of accomplishment unlike anything else you can find in puzzles.
am 19. Juni 2026, 21:17 Uhr von checkoway
This is an amazing puzzle! It's the most impressive one I've ever solved.
The description suggests turning on the "Disable Emoji Replacement" setting. Doing that in Firefox on macOS removed the explosion, key, and boss icons for me and made progressing essentially impossible (at least for log 25).
am 16. Juni 2026, 16:36 Uhr von Turbien
Even better than the Final Transmission
It really feels like a Metroidvania with all the going back with new mechanics
I find it sometimes hard to differentiate the different sectors tho, maybe it would be a good idea to give them background color ? dunno
I hope to see more puzzles from you, some of these were truly brilliant
am 15. Juni 2026, 04:53 Uhr von voidsea
This is a very well-designed puzzle. I had a good time solving it in a week. But the rules are a little hard to understand, especially the Fillomino part.
am 13. Juni 2026, 12:23 Uhr von Chaotix37
This is the 1st time for me to solve this kind of Metroidvania of Sudoku, it took me almost 48 Hours or 2 days of solving time. I skipped my work productivity to this one, Totally worth it.
I had some guidance to get stumped in this puzzle. It was a wonderful journey of solving, had fun and unique experience. Moreover I learned lots of rule sets especially on the snake puzzle.
More power and Kudos to this puzzle creator.
am 12. Juni 2026, 12:45 Uhr von Jewel
Extremely fun, really really good, glad to see some experimentation with some new ideas!
am 10. Juni 2026, 02:28 Uhr von YulimitBreak
One of the best puzzles I ever solved in my life, I enjoyed it even more than original Sudokuvania. It really makes you feel like you're playing an actual Metroidvania game, with a perfectly done transition from "What the heck is going on there" to feeling like you're mastering the game.
I also liked using non-trivial rules, because other puzzles like that make me go "Oh I know what is this clue, let me use it already!", but here I experienced being completely confused, only to unlock the new tool, and seeing everything with new eyes.
Took me 28 hours (could have taken less if I was better at remembering to make renban shots) across four days (I just couldn't put it away so I spent a ton of hours every day), and it was a delight from start to finish (except those times I've been stuck, due, again, not remembering renban shots), with some outright gorgeous logic.
I want more of this now
am 3. Juni 2026, 00:29 Uhr von Malrog
Exceptional puzzle experience. Really, astonishing that you could pull this together. Many shout-out-loud moments, and all tied together with an interesting story. Huge respect. Thank you.
am 29. Mai 2026, 23:53 Uhr von Shentsi
This puzzle has so many times that make me re-realize, "oh I could do this!". Also the abnormal way to present usual rules like thermol, or unusual rules, could stop players from knowing some rules in advance then lost the experience of revealing new rules and eureka moment.
Thank you again for bring this great, fantastic, and polished puzzle.
am 29. Mai 2026, 19:16 Uhr von The M
1.0.4 is out!
Once again, this is just me trying to clarify a rule description. If you can't upgrade to the new version without losing progress, don't bother and stay on your current version.
Thanks for playing everyone!
am 27. Mai 2026, 07:43 Uhr von CauchySchwarz
This sudoku captures the "Metroid spirit" incredibly well, and had several of the delightful "oh my gosh, this upgrade means I need to look over everything again with new eyes" moments that the best Metroid-likes manage to pull off maybe once or twice. I don't know how you could possibly top this, so I look forward to being pleasantly surprised!
am 27. Mai 2026, 01:58 Uhr von hampterss
This was amazing!!! I hope you plan on doing more :)
am 25. Mai 2026, 17:54 Uhr von Mondo
Absolutely superb puzzle!
And much harder than the first one, as others have said.
Very satisfying the ways the story moments tie in as well.
Top drawer stuff!
am 20. Mai 2026, 12:01 Uhr von wjyg
much better than the first (and much harder), better than sudokuvania for me
took me like many days to finish this
am 17. Mai 2026, 21:42 Uhr von The M
Version 1.0.3 is now out!
Much like previous updates, this version just rewords a few rules to improve clarity. If you're playing an older version and upgrading resets the puzzle, I suggest you keep going on the old version as the changes are very minor.
am 17. Mai 2026, 21:08 Uhr von CitrusGremlin
Absolutely stellar adventure. I'm going to have to ruminate on a Zelda-inspired one.
am 15. Mai 2026, 22:24 Uhr von dumediat
This was such an incredible experience from start to finish. I realize I was harsh on Final Transmission, but this is truly the best puzzle compilation I've solved.
Every time I thought I was stuck, I found a small detail I had missed or something I hadn't fully used yet to allow further progress. The events that occurred throughout the journey were brilliantly constructed, and the branched puzzles felt much closer in difficulty to the overworld puzzle this time.
Some of the rules were super creative, and all of them were implemented incredibly well that did not require assumptions (save one small one). The HUD was a fantastic call, too. I really can't say enough good things about this, thank you so much for the experience!
am 15. Mai 2026, 20:06 Uhr von Zpixi09
no way
am 15. Mai 2026, 19:10 Uhr von The M
Thanks for the kind words!
Funny enough, a friend said almost exactly the same thing about Final Transmission and it really resonated with me. It's what initially pushed me to make this one.
About the rules, you're not the only person who's mentioned it. There will be a 1.0.3 coming out soon with a rewording. Probably by the end of the week.
am 15. Mai 2026, 17:14 Uhr von Froman
Wow. Just wow.
I think you accomplished, above and beyond, what you set out to do about pushing the limits of the concept.
I really liked Final Transmission, but it felt a bit TOO inspired by Sudokuvania (Which is great, since I've been itching for more since Digits of Despair). With Dark Inversion I feel you stand out much more like your own thing. It may be kind of a stretch, but it feels like you captured the "Metroid" side of the genre, while Digits of Despair (And Final Transmission too) are more Castlevania-coded.
I loved the addition of the Story moments, the events and the walls mechanics. Truly, above and beyond.
Another thing of note is how soon you got this one out!! I mean, Final Transmission was just a couple of months ago
am 13. Mai 2026, 18:52 Uhr von Sarhik
Thank you for the clarification of the rules, I got it finally.
This was brilliant, loved the journey.
am 13. Mai 2026, 14:10 Uhr von stranac
This was an absolute masterpiece!
It improves on the original in every aspect. I loved the story, the power-ups, and the puzzles themselves.
Making the HUD and rules separate from the main grid was a great decision.
am 12. Mai 2026, 19:50 Uhr von The M
Version 1.0.2 is now out! This only difference is that some rules are (hopefully) clearer.
If you can't upgrade without the puzzle resetting, feel free to continue on an older version and jump onto the latest if you need clarification (remember that you can still click on hidden upgrade or log cells to get their descriptions).
am 12. Mai 2026, 14:39 Uhr von Kurobepine
Hi!
First of all, huge thanks for this amazing experience. This is truly incredible, and though it's quite tricky I am having a total blast!
Now for a question : I find myself just stuck at Log22 (bunker), don't know how to start.
I wondered if I might have made a mistake earlier, as I should have completed all walls in Sector 16 but did not receive the associated completion.
However, I managed to complete correctly walls in sector 11 and 12, and non-walls in 16, and I also got all the runes, and trying to restart walls in sector 16 from scratch using these certified clues always lead me to the same answer.
Is there any way the completion might be bugged (for instance: delayed until some later point)?
In any case, I guess I have some work, either to finally spot my mistake in the walls of 16, or to finally crack open this blasted sector 15 (which may become easier if I discover that my right phase entry is wrong, I guess)...
Again, huge shoutouts for this work of art!
am 12. Mai 2026, 11:46 Uhr von by81996672
Regarding the reasons for this confusion, my guess is that previous rules were all based on logical reasoning, but the rules in the highlighted area only become clear after the highlighting is completed, which then explains what the subsequent filling of numbers means. Therefore, when problem solvers with logical reasoning skills encounter this type of expression where the highlighted rules can only be understood after completing them literally, they will become confused.
am 12. Mai 2026, 10:51 Uhr von The M
Thanks for the feedback! I'll see if I can do another small iteration on the rules. It's surprisingly hard to be clear and concise.
am 12. Mai 2026, 08:04 Uhr von Kithyane
This was an incredible experience, thank you sooo much!
am 12. Mai 2026, 02:38 Uhr von MuShin
Unparalleled. Respect.
Played version: 1.0.0
+ Offers an experience even closer to a Metroidvania than its predecessor, with more nonlinear progression (especially during key collection and wall completion). Log12 and Log20 are truly adventurous events.
+ Richer rules and more brilliant reuse of the puzzle panels.
+ More challenging than its predecessor.（3⭐-> 5⭐）
+ Map design that fits the narrative well, with distinct landmarks/buildings in different areas.
+ Clear and well-organized HUD that integrates the story into it for easy reference at any time.
– Too many rules are presented on the panels after waking up at the bottom of a ravine, most of which have to wait until later to be unlocked.
– Excessive rule icons make the overall panels look overly cluttered, especially Log25 — I had to put in a lot of effort just to identify the target.
– Rule descriptions still need improvement; some are confusing or ambiguous.
am 11. Mai 2026, 00:33 Uhr von nonofish
Incredible! Everything flows together so smoothly and there was one rule reveal in particular that left me speechless. The [!] moments were also so, so, cool.
Each area has a surprising amount of character with just a few colors/lines and the help of the lore text.
The (current) 5 star difficulty rating might be daunting, but I would still highly recommend those comfortable with 3+ star puzzles to give it a try!
am 10. Mai 2026, 17:08 Uhr von Sarhik
I'm totally lost with log 25. Is it possible to get any hint so I can get my head around it?
am 9. Mai 2026, 22:16 Uhr von Froman
Huh, I must have missed a pencil mark. Just tried to replicate it and I couldn't do it.
am 9. Mai 2026, 21:25 Uhr von The M
I'm quite confident that shouldn't be possible at that point. I can't replicate it, even with a solver. Are you sure you haven't missed anything?
am 9. Mai 2026, 19:38 Uhr von Froman
I'm sure you're aware of it, since the genre lends itself to it, but still I'd like to point out:
I uncovered the 28th story moment before the second, by sudoku.
Looking great so far! Loved the first boss
am 9. Mai 2026, 19:34 Uhr von The M
Is there anything in particular that stands out as confusing, fishsaltyak? If you want to get started, it should be enough to focus on three things:
1. Solve as much as you can of the revealed Sudoku grid.
2. Click on any cell to the right and the puzzle description box updates with information about what you clicked on (if you scroll to the bottom).
3. Don't place any digits in the purple wall cells at the bottom of the revealed grid.
If you need more help, jump on the ctc discord server and check out the puzzle thread there. Or try the previous puzzle, which is much more beginner friendly.
am 9. Mai 2026, 19:07 Uhr von Lunair
incredible
am 9. Mai 2026, 16:31 Uhr von fishsaltyak
I have no idea what any of this means.
am 9. Mai 2026, 05:23 Uhr von Zpixi09
no way
am 9. Mai 2026, 02:56 Uhr von Leaving Leaves
the best metroidvania sudoku so far
