Hashi (or Hashiwokakero – meaning ‘bridges’) is a new logic puzzle from Japan.
Like Sudoku and Kakuro, it’s fiendishly addictive, easy to pick up and almost impossible to put down. Two UK newspapers have already previewed Hashi puzzles with more expected in 2006.
In Hashi, your job is to join islands together with up to two vertical or horizontal bridges so that every island is connected. The larger the island, the more bridges are needed (so an island of size 6 must have six bridges) and bridges can’t cross over each other.
Successful logic puzzles come in many forms, but have certain things in common: * They’re easy to pick up * Their difficulty can be adjusted easily * They’re fun to play * They can be picked up, worked on, put down, and picked up again and again.
Hashi has all of these qualities, and something else to – the way it’s solved is different enough from Sudoku to really stand out as a great, new puzzle.