Easy Greater Than Sudoku

New to Greater Than Sudoku? Easy puzzles are designed to teach the core constraint with minimal complexity. Each puzzle uses simpler configurations so you can focus on understanding the rule before anything else.

▶ Play Easy Greater Than Sudoku All Greater Than Sudoku Difficulties

What to expect at Easy level

Easy Greater Than Sudoku puzzles are calibrated so the variant constraint alone is often enough to reveal cells directly. You'll rarely need to look beyond a single unit at a time. Mistakes are easy to catch because the constraint violations are obvious.

Recommended for players who have never tried Greater Than Sudoku before, or those who prefer a relaxed, confidence-building experience.

Difficulty overview

LevelCluesTechniques neededAvg. time
Easy ManyBasic elimination5–10 min
Medium ModerateSingles, pairs10–20 min
Hard FewAdvanced logic20–40 min
Expert MinimalFull mastery40+ min

About Greater Than / Less Than Sudoku

Difficulty
★★★☆☆
3/5
Constraint Type
Cell Relationships
Typical Givens
18–24
Avg. Solve (Easy)
7 min

Greater Than Sudoku (also called Futoshiki-style Sudoku) places < and > inequality signs between adjacent cells. The sign indicates which of the two cells must hold the larger value. Some variants replace all given digits with inequality signs; others provide a hybrid. The constraints create chains of reasoning: if A > B > C > D, then A ≥ 4, B ≥ 3, C ≥ 2, D ≥ 1.

Solving Techniques for Easy Level

Technique Description Level
Chain Inequality — Minimums Link inequalities in a chain: if A > B > C, then A ≥ 3, B ≥ 2, C ≥ 1. Use these minimums to prune candidates immediately. Beginner
Chain Inequality — Maximums In the chain A > B > C > D, also bound from above: A ≤ 9, B ≤ 8, C ≤ 7, D ≤ 6. Beginner

Ready to go deeper? Try Medium Killer Sudoku to unlock Intermediate techniques.

Average Solve Time by Difficulty

Easy
7 min
Medium
16 min
Hard
32 min
Expert
58 min

Frequently Asked Questions

Are given digits provided?
Our puzzles include some given digits alongside the inequality signs.
Can inequality signs replace all givens?
Some harder puzzles use only inequalities with no given digits — the ratio depends on difficulty.