DChoc Cafe Sudoku is the first Sudoku game for N-Gage and Developer Digital Chocolate‘s second Cafe game for the platform this generation.
Sudoku’s always an enjoyable game to play. There’s noway you cant enjoy this on N-Gage, right ?
Right ?
Uhh….Maybe you should sit down before you read on for the review.
Gameplay and Game Modes :
As the name suggests, Cafe Sudoku is all about…. Sudoku ! Its a game many know to play, and if you dont, its never too late to learn.
Basically, you have the numbers 1-9 and you must place them in a 3×3 grid containing 9 Squares, so that a number in a square is not repeated again, either in its horizontal column, vertical row or in any of the squares in the grid around it.
Still, for newcomers to the Sudoku world, Cafe Sudoku does have a short Tutorial onboard, that helps you get started.
Everything that you’d need to know about Sudoku is explained in the tutorial, and it should pose no problem in getting you set for the rest of the game. You even unlock some NGP (N-Gage Points) for doing the tutorial, so there’s no reason to not give it a go, really.
There’s only one “Game Mode” here. And that’s “Play Sudoku”. You can however choose your difficulty before you begin.
Easy fills in more numbers before you start the game, and hard gives you less numbers to begin with, which means you’ll have to think a lot more.
You can receive Hints if you’re stuck in a certain place. But you only have a certain number of Hints, so you’ll have to use them wisely.
Depending on the difficulty you choose, you’ll score a certain amount of points. These points are used to unlock new clothes for your avatar, or to improve your cafe (where you can invite people to join you, or visit their cafes).
Online capabilities :
Your avatar is a virtual representation of you, in the Dchoc’s Virtual World. You can choose your sex, hairstyle, skin colour and clothes. As we mentioned earlier, as you play the game, you’ll unlock more clothes for your avatar.
After you’re done making your avatar, you can head to your own little “Cafe”. When you first start the game, you’re situated in the default Cafe. If you decide you want to go online or create your own cafe, then you’ll have to go to the Counter.
From the counter, you can access any Cafe’s you’ve previously visited online too. Each Cafe you visit contains other people who are also online (although not necessarily at the same time you are), in that cafe. You can interact with these people but only through a series of predefined questions that you ask each other. Every time you visit a Cafe, information is downloaded from DChoc’s servers about which other avatars were or are in that Cafe. You play a small Yes-and-No Q&A game with these other avatars, that earns you points for your character. Also, the more avatars in a Cafe, the more stars that Cafe earns (up till 5 stars).
In your Cafe you can view trophies you have won, change your appearance, interact with the other avatars in the cafe and compare scores and trophies, check leaderboards or just play Sudoku. You can also change your location to another Cafe.
Its important to note however, that none of these is in anyway related to N-Gage’s Online Arena. All this takes place in Dchoc’s online servers only. The only thing you can do related to the N-Gage Arena, is upload and view your score. Thats it.
Like every N-Gage Game, you can unlock NGP (N-Gage Points) as you play the game and complete certain tasks.
Controls and Orientation :
Like most N-Gage Games, Cafe Sudoku can be played in both Portrait and Landscape modes, depending on your device.
The game controls are different in each mode. Playing in landscape mode is a bit tedious since you have to use the d-pad to change which number you want to put into the square. Scrolling from 1 to 9 to zero to erase a number can get annoying after a while. Hence we recommend playing it in portrait mode.
In portrait mode, the controls are a lot better. You just use the number keys on your device to input which number you want to put into the square.
If you’re not sure about what number goes in a square, you can hold down the number key, and the number will appear in tiny size in the box.
You can put in upto 4 possible numbers this way. This might make no sense to someone who doesnt play Sudoku, but trust me, its useful.
Graphics and Operation Speed :
The game’s graphics are bright and colorful and the avatars are cartoon-ish. No problems there. The hand-drawn numbers might be a problem to read on some small phone screens though.
But, the area where the game does have a problem, is the speed at which it plays. Loading the game takes unusually long for a game of this type, nearly a minute. By the time you actually get to playing Sudoku, you’ll find a whole minute or two has passed. Even inputting numbers in the squares takes a while, because animated pencils come in and hand-draw your numbers in for you. If they only kept this area simple, with no frills, it would have been a lot more enjoyable.
Music and Sounds :
There’s some music (sometimes) in the Cafe area and menu but thats about it. There’s no music whatsoever ingame which might either be a good or bad thing depending on your preference.
There are a couple sound fx ingame though. The sound for when you fill in a correct number, the sound of a rubber and the sound for a wrong number. Whoop-Te-Doo !
Conclusion :
Dchoc Cafe Sudoku is slow loading and gameplay is nowhere as fast as it should be. While this is “acceptable” by some, a majority might be put off by this. There are plenty of other Sudoku games on S60 that run much quicker and are as enjoyable.
So is the game worth buying ?
We advice you give the demo a try. If you find it a bit too slow like we did, then there’s a ton of other Sudoku games for S60 that might interested you. If you’re comfortable with the game’s pace, then you can go ahead and buy it.
But with its complete lack of N-Gage Arena features, no proper multiplayer at all (A Sudoku head-to-head would have been nice) and slow gameplay, we’re going to give this 2.5 out of 5.
[rating:2.5]
You can find out more about the game over on its Official Game page or if you need tips or help with the game, head on over to the Official DChoc Cafe Sudoku N-Gage forum.
Clinton is currently based in New Delhi, India and is executive editor for UnleashThePhones. He is responsible for all editorial decisions, and covers all forms of Mobile things.
Cj is addicted to caffeine, social media, and technology. Always up for a good conversation, you can reach him through the contact form, his website, on Google Plus 
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