Star Battle: Oh my gosh they’re full of stars!
The latest addition to my puzzle menagerie is STAR BATTLE, a newish (well, 21st century, at least) puzzle that was originally created by Hans Eendebak for the 2003 World Puzzle Championship.
If you like Suguru you will probably find these fairly easy to get into, as they are somewhat similar. But instead of placing numbers, you are placing stars – a fixed number of stars in each row, column and bolded region. Like Suguru, the stars may not be adjacent to each other, not even diagonally.
I find these very aesthetically pleasing. I think it has something to do with the stars. If you were placing sturgeon or aardvarks into the puzzle, I don’t think I’d like it as much, but honestly, you can use any symbol you like.
I am currently carrying two versions of this puzzle: 8×8 puzzles that have 1-star in each container, and 10×10 puzzles that have 2-stars. The 10×10 2-star puzzles are significantly harder than the 8x8s.
If you’re new to the puzzles, and find them difficult to get started, then you might find this tutorial I wrote helpful. Or not. Let me know.
Enjoy the puzzles!