Nikoli is also a village on the island of Lefkada

Nikoli (ニコリ) is a Japanese publisher that specializes in games and, especially, logic puzzles. Lefkada, or Leucas (Λευκάδα le̞fˈkaða Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Λευκάς Leukás; Santa Maura is a Greek For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. A game is a structured activity, usually undertaken for Enjoyment and sometimes also used as an Educational tool A logic puzzle is a Puzzle deriving from the Mathematics field of Deduction. It is also the nickname of a quarterly magazine issued by the company (whose full name is Puzzle Communication Nikoli). Nikoli became prominent worldwide with the popularity of Sudoku. is a Logic -based number-placement Puzzle. The objective is to fill a 9×9 grid so that each column each row and each of the nine 3×3 boxes (also called blocks

The name 'Nikoli' comes from the racehorse who won the Irish 2,000 Guineas in 1980; the president of Nikoli, Maki Kaji, is fond of horse-racing and betting. This article is about the sport For other uses see Horserace (drinking game or Horse race (politics. The Irish 2000 Guineas is a Group 1 flat horse race in the Republic of Ireland for three-year-old Thoroughbred colts and Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) is the president of Nikoli Co Ltd a Japanese Puzzle manufacturer

Nikoli's claim to fame is its vast library of "culture independent" puzzles. In general, there has been a trend toward "world audience" marketing of games and puzzles; that is, they should function independent of language and culture. (An example of a language/culture-dependent genre of puzzle would be the crossword, which relies on a specific language and alphabet. A language is a dynamic set of visual auditory or tactile Symbols of Communication and the elements used to manipulate them Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate" generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic An alphabet is a standardized set of letters basic written symbols each of which roughly represents a Phoneme, a Spoken language, either ) For this reason, German-style board games are often spare in words and heavily illustrated, and Japanese puzzles are often purely logical, and often numerical. German-style board games are a broad class of games produced in recent decades in Germany and other countries There is much diversity among modern societies when it comes to alphabet and grammar, but all use the same numerical system.

Nikoli's Sudoku, the most popular logic problem in Japan, ^[1] was popularized in the English-speaking world in 2005, although it should be noted it was an American puzzle, since Dell Magazines had created it and distributed it for years. is a Logic -based number-placement Puzzle. The objective is to fill a 9×9 grid so that each column each row and each of the nine 3×3 boxes (also called blocks English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States ^[2]

The magazine has invented several new genres of puzzles, and introduced several new games to Japan.

Nikoli puzzles

A Sudoku puzzle (image hyperlinked to solution)

These are just some of the most popular Nikoli puzzles, along with their Japanese names; terms in parentheses are published English titles for the same puzzles. is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities

• Crossword クロスワードパズル
• Fillomino フィルオミノ (Allied Occupation)
• Hashiwokakero 橋をかけろ (Bridges)
• Heyawake へやわけ
• Hitori ひとりにしてくれ
• Light Up 美術館
• Kakuro カックロ (Cross Sums)
• Masyu ましゅ
• Number Link ナンバーリンク
• Nurikabe ぬりかべ (Cell Structure)
• Ripple Effect 波及効果
• Shikaku 四角に切れ (Divide by Squares)
• Slitherlink スリザーリンク (Fences)
• Sudoku 数独 (Number Place, Nine Numbers)
• Kuromasu 黒マスはどこだ
• Yajilin ヤジリン (Arrow Ring)

For a more complete list, see the List of Nikoli puzzle types. Fillomino (フィルオミノ is a type of Logic puzzle published by Nikoli. Hashiwokakero (橋をかけろ Hashi o kakero; lit "build bridges!" is a type of Logic puzzle published by Nikoli. Heyawake ( Japanese: へやわけ "divided rooms" is a binary-determination Logic puzzle published by Nikoli. Hitori (alone or one person (ひとりにしてくれ Hitori ni shite kure; literally "leave me alone" is a type of Logic puzzle published by Light Up ( Japanese:美術館 bijutsukan) is a binary-determination Logic puzzle published by Nikoli. Kakuro or Kakkuro (カックロ is a kind of Logic puzzle that is often referred to as a mathematical Transliteration of the Crossword Masyu ( Japanese:ましゅ translates as "evil influence" but see History is a type of Logic puzzle designed and published by Nikoli. Number Link is a Logic puzzle published by Nikoli. As of 2006, three books consisting entirely of Number Link puzzles have been published by Nikoli Nurikabe ( Hiragana: ぬりかべ is a binary Determination puzzle named for an invisible wall in Japanese folklore that blocks roads and delays foot travel For the sociological term see Ripple effect. For the episode of Stargate SG-1 see Ripple Effect (Stargate SG-1. (also anglicised as Divide by Squares or Divide by Box) is a logic puzzle published by Nikoli. Slitherlink (also known as Fences Takegaki Loop the Loop Loopy Ouroboros Suriza and Dotty Dilemma is a Logic puzzle published by Nikoli. is a Logic -based number-placement Puzzle. The objective is to fill a 9×9 grid so that each column each row and each of the nine 3×3 boxes (also called blocks Kuromasu ( Japanese:黒マスはどこだ kuromasu wa doko da) is a binary-determination Logic puzzle published by Nikoli. Yajilin (ヤジリン is a type of Logic puzzle published by Nikoli. This is a list of major puzzles published by Nikoli. Terms in parentheses are published English titles for the various puzzle types

External links

• Official website in English
• Official website in Japanese

References