Riya's bedroom is covered in solar system posters. The Planets & Space theme replaced every digit with a planet. She started placing Mercury and Venus without reading a single rule. She had no idea she was doing sudoku.
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PLAYER
StargazerRiya
02:14
1st place 🏆
🪐 Planets mode · Each planet appears once per row & column
Riya knows the planets in order. Has done since she was 5. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. She asks to sleep with the projector nightlight showing the Milky Way.
She has zero interest in puzzles. Never touched a sudoku. Went to a different page whenever maths came up on her tablet.
Her dad showed her the Planets & Space theme on Kidoku Live. Instead of 1, 2, 3, 4 — the four inner planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars. The rule: each row and column has each planet once.
Riya didn't need explaining. She already knew the planets. She started placing them immediately, using the same logic she uses when she sorts her solar system cards.
She solved it. Then she said: "What's the 6×6?"
The 6×6 has six planets. She asked which ones. When she found out it includes Jupiter and Saturn, she was already loading the game.
She's now on the 9×9. She knows all eight planets cold. The logic is faster than she thinks it is.
The theme is the gateway. The puzzle is what she stays for.
At kidoku.app/live, pick the Planets & Space theme. Each digit is replaced by a planet. Start with 4×4 — Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars.
The live lobby matches her with other players in the same theme. Real opponents. Same grid. The countdown is the same sense of launch she loves from space videos.
The 9×9 has all eight planets plus the sun. She'll know every symbol before she needs to think about the logic. That prior knowledge becomes a competitive edge.
4×4 = inner planets. 6×6 = inner + gas giants. 9×9 = all eight. She's doing solar system geography at the same time as constraint logic. Neither skill suffers.
She didn't come here for puzzles. She came here for space. The puzzle she discovers on the way is the one she sticks with. Intrinsic motivation beats every reward system.
After 50 games on Planets mode, switching to Classic digits feels comfortable. The constraint logic is already internalised. The symbols are just labels.
Planets by Grid Size
4×4 — Inner Planets
Mercury · Venus · Earth · Mars
6×6 — Terrestrial + Giant
Mercury · Venus · Earth · Mars · Jupiter · Saturn
9×9 — Full Solar System
All eight planets + sun · The complete picture
Every theme works at every grid size
No chat, no real name, no data, no strangers unless she wants them. Here's the full picture.
Logic + Science — constraint reasoning and solar system geography simultaneously
No chat — emoji reactions only. She cannot receive or send text messages.
No real name — auto-generated nickname: StargazerRiya, CosmicOwl77 etc.
Zero personal data collected — by architecture. Nothing to breach.
Every interest is a doorway to learning. Space gets her in. Logic keeps her playing. Neither replaces the other.
Everything you need to know about Kidoku Live for this use case.
Yes. Kidoku Live includes a Space theme that replaces all numbers with space objects — planets, rockets, stars, moons, and more. The logic rules are identical to classic sudoku but the visual theme makes it immediately appealing to children interested in astronomy or science fiction. It works on any device at kidoku.app/live.
No. Theme is visual only — the logical rules are identical whether you play Classic, Animal, Space, or Superhero. The benefit is accessibility: children who resist number puzzles often engage immediately with a themed version. Once they understand the logic through the theme, transitioning to Classic grid play is natural.
Yes. One child can play on the Space theme, another on the Animal theme, another on Classic — all in the same private room, competing on the same leaderboard. Theme is a personal choice per player and doesn't affect scoring or competition fairness.
Current themes include Animals (the most popular for young children), Superheroes, and Space. All themes are available across the 4×4 and 6×6 grid sizes. Classic number-based grids are available from 4×4 through 10×10. New themes are developed periodically.
Yes. The Space theme is popular in primary science lessons as a cross-curricular activity connecting logic and astronomy. No preparation is needed — the teacher creates a room, students join, and the themed puzzle appears automatically. No special theme selection is required from individual students.
Zero personal data is collected. No name, age, email, or device identifier is stored in connection with gameplay. Auto-generated usernames are session-limited. Kidoku Live is safe for unsupervised use by children of any age.
The Space theme is available on 4×4 (ages 5–8) and 6×6 (ages 8–12) grids. Older children and adults can play the same theme on larger grids. The visual appeal is broadest for ages 6–11 but the competitive logic aspect engages players of any age.
The planets are waiting. Mercury to Neptune, live on the grid, with real opponents from around the world. Launch in under 60 seconds.
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