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[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/LogicalJourneyOfTheZoombinis https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/logical_journey_of_the_zoombinis_mudball_wall.jpg]]]]

A StockPuzzle that presents a grid, and a bunch of elements that must be put in appropriate cells of the grid. There are usually constraints in which elements must or cannot be placed in the same rows, in the same columns, in the same diagonals, or touching on certain cell boundaries. The constraints may or may not determine a unique solution.

Unlike the sliding block puzzles (such as FifteenPuzzle and {{Klotski}}) and [[RubiksCubeInternationalGeniusSymbol Rubik's Cube]], there are no restrictions on the way elements can be repositioned, except for possibly a few cells fixed at the start. Once you think you have figured out a solution, you're free to put any available elements where you think they ought to be. (The selection and availability of elements is non-random, too.)

Usually, the grid is square, but it need not be quadrilateral; it could even have irregular boundaries.

SuperTrope of FifteenPuzzle, sliding numbered tiles in a 4×4 grid so they are arranged in ascending order; CrosswordPuzzle, using clues to fill words into overlapping horizontal and vertical lines; MagicSquarePuzzle, a square array of integers that sum the same in each row, column, and main diagonal; MatchThreeGame, a game involving matching three objects that are similar in some way; and QueensPuzzle, put eight queens on a TabletopGame/{{chess}}board so they can't capture each other. Contrast BlockPuzzle, puzzles solved by arranging blocks to interact with the environment. Can be part of a {{Metapuzzle}}, a multi-layered puzzle of which the solution requires solving other individual puzzles first. Not to be confused with SetPiecePuzzle, a puzzle isolated in an object from the main game by gameplay mechanics.
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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime & Manga ]]

* ''Manga/{{Beelzebub}}'': In Chapter 135, Pillar Head Quetzalcoatl sets up a Sudoku puzzle locking a door that Oga or Tojo must beat (along with other three puzzles hidden in the school) in order to get to Hilda. Quetzalcoatl, who is fascinated by human games, is also the one to explain the rules to Oga. As the IdiotHero he is, this proves too much for Oga's intellect and he gives up.
* ''Anime/PhiBrainPuzzleOfGod'': The tenth episode revolves around Kaito solving one of these.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Alternate Reality Games ]]

* ''ARG/MITMysteryHunt'': Puzzlehunts like this one often have puzzles that riff on pre-existing grid puzzles like sudoku, nonogram, etc.; but may also introduce plenty of twists and extra constraints that solvers need to deduce on the fly.

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[[folder: Creators ]]

* Creator/CliffJohnson's games (''VideoGame/TheFoolsErrand'', ''VideoGame/AtTheCarnival'', ''VideoGame/ThreeInThree'') include several variations, such as unscrambling a picture, a map, or a crossword. Some used irregular grids.

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[[folder: Films -- Animation ]]

* ''Animation/RPGMetanoia'': The titular {{MMORPG}} features Sudoku puzzles that are [[VariantChess weird hybrids]] with TabletopGame/{{chess}} that only K'Mao can crack.

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[[folder: Films -- Live-Action ]]

* ''Film/HappyDeathDay'': Sudoku puzzles are used as a metaphor for TheProtagonist Tree's situation --similar to how Sudoku gets easier the more cells you fill, the clues to reveal Tree's murder are made more evident as the day passes by and she discards suspects and killing methods.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'': The Irrational Cube is a giant Rubix-cube-like creature with a Sudoku puzzle on each of its sides whose particular nature causes almost every door in town to be locked by puzzles. This makes it a PuzzleBoss of challenging difficulty seeing that solving the sudokus of each side could undo one you already solved on another side if you mess up the colors.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live-Action TV ]]

* ''Series/{{Taskmaster}}'': In [[Recap/TaskmasterSeriesFive Series 5]], the participants are tasked with recording the most incredible footage with a camera on their heads. Nish merely completes a Sudoku puzzle as quickly as possible. Unfortunately for him, he solves it the wrong way.

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[[folder: Roleplays ]]

* ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'': The conclusion in Anton Wykowsku's file has been replaced by a Sudoku puzzle by an unknown party. It's not clear whether solving it would reveal key information about the aforementioned student.

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[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* Challenger is a four-by-four spreadsheet that includes totals of the rows, columns, and diagonals. Given four starting digits, the challenge is to supply the missing digits that will add up correctly. These puzzles include a difficulty timer that rarely exceeds nine minutes, and is often less than five minutes.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Battleship}}'': It's a two-layered grid puzzle, with the first layer being figuring out the optimal placement of your ships and the second being deciphering the ship arrangement of your opponent with a limited set of missiles.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_square Latin Square]] puzzles such as Sudoku, Futoshiki, and Kenken.
* Nonogram, variously known as Griddlers, Pic-A-Pix, and other names. In it, an assortment of numbers in a chart at the side determines the cells to be colored. This creates of pixel {{art}}-like picture.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Scrabble}}'': The goal is to arrange letters on a 15x15 grid in order to maximize the amount of points. There are tons of possible solutions to the puzzle since it all depends on the arrangement of the other tiles and where the multiplier cells are.

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[[folder: Video Games ]]

* ''VideoGame/AdventureEscape'': A couple appear in ''Asylum'', one involving musical instruments and another with butterflies.
* ''VideoGame/{{Annalynn}}: ''Picture Prospector'' is a spin-off PuzzleGame centered around solving nonograms to advance mazes.
* ''VideoGame/AtTheCarnival'': Some puzzles involve unscrambling a 3x3 grid of letters so every row and column spells a word. Other puzzles involve unscrambling a picture like a jigsaw puzzle, but using squares in a grid.
* ''VideoGame/BoxxyQuestTheGatheringStorm'': Nearing the final stages of the game, the turn-based RPG gameplay will sometimes change to feature nonograms that need to be cleared in order to advance.
* ''VideoGame/BrainAge'': The first installment features tons of Sudoku puzzles as mini-games meant to unwind.
* ''Literature/CallahansCrosstimeSaloon'': In the video game adaptation, a simple marbles-in-the-holes puzzle is used to guard the ancient temple. The game then offers you a selection of more difficult puzzles that have nothing to do with the plot but hey, we designed the interface, might as well use it more than once.
* ''VideoGame/DeadlyRoomsOfDeath'': ''The Second Sky'' has a level of Nonogram puzzles that make for an UnexpectedGameplayChange.
* ''VideoGame/{{Exmortis}}'': There's a sudoku puzzle to solve. Three cells are marked, and they're a 3-digit combination.
* ''VideoGame/TheFoolsErrand'': Some of the puzzles are jigsaws.
* ''VideoGame/{{Hebereke}}'': ''O-Chan no Oekaki Logic'' revolves around solving nonograms with the help of TheOjou O-chan.
* ''VideoGame/TheIllogicalJourneyOfTheZambonis'': There is a puzzle based on Mudball Wall, except the results are already scripted regardless of what color and shape combination you enter.
* ''VideoGame/KhimeraPuzzleIsland'': The puzzles of this island are nonograms.
* ''VideoGame/LastCallBBS'': ''Dungeons and Diagrams'' is a nonogram-style puzzle with a dungeon theme.
* ''VideoGame/LogicalJourneyOfTheZoombinis'':
** Mudball Wall has a grid with the color and shape of the ball determining which cell gets hit; "Very Hard" and "Very Very Hard" add a second color inside the shape. On "Oh So Hard" and "Very Very Hard", one variable doesn't correspond directly to its position in the grid, but a pattern still applies to it (e.g., the top row's shape order might be square-star-triangle-circle-diamond but the next row is star-triangle-circle-diamond-square).
** Hotel Dimensia requires Zoombinis to be sorted by one of their features per dimension of the room grid. The size of the hotel corresponds with the difficulty: on "Not So Easy" there's only one dimension (sort by one of the four Zoombini features), on "Oh So Hard" and "Very Hard" the hotel expands to two dimensions (one feature for the row, another for the column; "Very Hard" has some rooms blocked off because of [[EvilCounterpart Fleens]] wrecking them), and "Very Very Hard" has three dimensions (the third one achieved by subdividing each of the rooms into a suite with five rooms apiece).
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
** ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'': The nicknamed "sudoku" puzzles consist of placing glyphs on a grid until you figure out the right sequence. This requires you to think some moves ahead since certain combinations of glyphs become incompatible. The hardest one so far is found in the Elaaden vault.
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'': A logic grid puzzle is a part of Liara's quest. There are five people --Turian, Salarian, etc.-- and five jobs --merchant, killer, observer, etc. You need to find out who is the Shadow Broker's assistant, the Observer. The correct answer is [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope none of the above]], because ''all five are male'', and Observer referred to herself as a female once. The whole thing is fake, and the Observer is actually Liara's secretary]].
* ''VideoGame/NancyDrew'': In "Shadow at the Water's Edge", the puzzles to solve are a master sudoku, a giant nonogram in the Senior Detective mode, and five connected sudoku puzzles in the Junior Detective mode.
* ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline2NewGenesis'': One of the possible puzzle rooms in Leciel Exploration is a nonogram played with floor tiles.
* ''VideoGame/{{Picross}}'' is the video game version of the nonogram puzzle.
* ''VideoGame/{{Pixelo}}'': A given since the game is based on Picross. Every puzzle is a 5x5, 10x10, 15x15, or 20x20 grid you have to fill based on clues on the walls.
* ''VideoGame/PokemonHeartGoldAndSoulSilver'': Instead of the original Game Corner, [[DifficultyByRegion European releases]] get a minigame that mixes Minesweeper with Sudoku and a bit of {{luck|BasedMission}}. Among the prizes that can be gained, there's Dratini.
* ''VideoGame/{{Riven}}'': The Fire Marble Puzzle is one of these. You must deduce where to place the six colored spheres in a 25x25 grid. [[spoiler: Overlaps with EnterSolutionHere, since you're just re-creating a map. The trick is gathering the information to make the map, then figuring out the precise positioning through trial and error.]]
* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': As its name indicates, ''Mario's Picross'' is based on solving nonograms. There are two modes --Mario mode, where the player's mistakes are corrected automatically and there's a time limit, and Wario mode, where the player is required to self-correct but there's no timer.
* ''VideoGame/{{Statik}}'': The first puzzle the players face is a variant of this idea. But before you can solve it you first must figure out the device to set all the pieces in place.
* ''VideoGame/ThereIsNoGameWrongDimension'': One of the in-game switch combinations is found in a Sudoku puzzle a pop-up ad that has nothing to do with the legit game mechanics. The solutions can be pretty nonsensical.
* ''VideoGame/{{Trace}}'': The lock on the [[spoiler:outside door]] requires you to place the gold stars in the correct cells of the grid.
* ''VideoGame/{{X}}3: Terran Conflict'': The HackingMinigame of the New Home plot consists of breaking a four-digit code that reveals a Sudoku.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Visual Novels ]]

* ''VisualNovel/CharmStudies'': Visual novel segments separated by Picross segments a.k.a Nonograms.
* ''VisualNovel/FatalHearts'': The Box of Runes puzzle.
* ''VisualNovel/MurderByNumbers2020'': The player collects evidence to crack murder mysteries by solving nonogram puzzles, hence the game's title.
* ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'': The true route ends with such a puzzle. In the original UsefulNotes/NintendoDS release it's a sudoku[[note]]in the later re-releases it's a number-base puzzle[[/note]] that needs the console to be [[ParadiegeticGameplay held upside-down]] to be solved. Since the bottom part of the screen represents Junpei, it means that it's him who is cracking the puzzle instead of TheProtagonist Akane (who is in the middle of a nervous breakdown due to the impossibility of the challenge and the previous reveals).

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

* ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}'': Axe Bodyspray's king passes along a coded message in the form of a sudoku puzzle that he solves easily.
* ''Webcomic/NineToNine'': When [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolves]] transform, they not only gain fur and wolf features but also a thirst for solving Sudoku puzzles. Unfortunately, they also become dumber, which makes the aforementioned task harder.
* ''Webcomic/ProblemSleuth'': Wizard's Sudoku is a {{Calvinball}} game that combines Sudoku with improbable stuff like jousting and TabletopGame/{{chess}}. PI [[ChessWithDeath plays it with Death]] as one of the challenges to be beaten to achieve freedom.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Websites ]]

* ''Website/SCPFoundation'': One of the Joke [=SCPs=], [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-in-a-box-j SCP-????-J]], is a box that produces different locking mechanisms each round that the Foundation agents have to solve. There's a sudoku locking whose FlavorText describes as "Prints and receives from the same slot and must be completed within ten minutes. Considered "fucking difficult".

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Videos ]]

* [[https://www.youtube.com/c/CrackingTheCryptic Cracking the Cryptic]]: The channel is devoted to cracking several {{Stock Puzzle}}s such as Sudoku and Cryptic {{Crossword|Puzzle}}.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Numberjacks}}'': In the episode [[Recap/NumberjacksS1E4InOutShakeItAllAbout "In, Out and Shake it All About"]], Three and Five are sent to crack a Sudoku so they can clear and exit the puzzle bubble.
* ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'': In [[Recap/WinxClubS2E26ThePhoenixRevealed "The Phoenix Revealed"]], the copied Codex pieces allow the Winx & co. an entrance to the dimension where Darkar and Dark Bloom are doing the ritual to open the Realix. For that purpose, however, there's a puzzle that involves some floating, colored tiles. Nobody can figure out how to solve it until Stella tries her hand at it. Being a GeniusDitz when it comes to fashion, she color-coordinates the tiles into a skewed grid of sorts; opening the portal as a result.

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[[folder: Real Life ]]

* Escape rooms often feature Sudokus that, when solved, reveal the correct sequence to series of buttons needed to exit the place.
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