Sudoku with Friends
A real-time multiplayer Sudoku game that allows players to solve puzzles collaboratively in shared rooms. Features live synchronization, player presence tracking, and a complete custom Sudoku engine.


Real-time Multiplayer
Live synchronization
No Registration
Instant play
PWA
Mobile-first design
Multiple Levels
Easy to inhuman
Technology Stack
Frontend
Backend & Database
Technical Implementation
1. Real-time Architecture
The project uses Firebase Realtime Database for seamless multiplayer synchronization. The architecture includes comprehensive input validation, automatic reconnection logic, and conflict resolution for concurrent player actions.
Key Real-time Features:
- • Live game state synchronization across all players
- • Player presence tracking with focus indicators
- • Automatic reconnection with retry logic
- • Real-time move validation and conflict resolution
2. Custom Sudoku Engine
Most Impressive Technical Achievement: 820-line custom Sudoku implementation built from scratch. The engine handles complete puzzle generation, multiple difficulty levels, and constraint satisfaction problem solving.
Difficulty Levels:
3. Advanced State Management
Built with React Context and custom providers, featuring an undo/redo system, notes mode for pencil marks, and comprehensive game validation.
4. Production-Ready Configuration
Includes security headers, performance optimizations, SWC minification, and Progressive Web App capabilities for mobile deployment.
Code Showcase
Custom Sudoku Engine Core
Here's a glimpse of the custom Sudoku generation algorithm:
// Core Sudoku generation algorithm class SudokuGenerator { private grid: number[][]; generatePuzzle(difficulty: Difficulty): number[][] { // Start with a solved grid this.grid = this.generateSolvedGrid(); // Remove numbers based on difficulty const cellsToRemove = this.getCellsToRemove(difficulty); this.removeCells(cellsToRemove); return this.grid; } private generateSolvedGrid(): number[][] { // Backtracking algorithm to create valid Sudoku const grid = Array(9).fill(null).map(() => Array(9).fill(0)); this.solveGrid(grid); return grid; } private solveGrid(grid: number[][]): boolean { for (let row = 0; row < 9; row++) { for (let col = 0; col < 9; col++) { if (grid[row][col] === 0) { const numbers = this.shuffleArray([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]); for (const num of numbers) { if (this.isValid(grid, row, col, num)) { grid[row][col] = num; if (this.solveGrid(grid)) return true; grid[row][col] = 0; } } return false; } } } return true; } }
Real-time State Synchronization
Firebase Realtime Database integration for multiplayer:
// Real-time game state management export const useGameState = () => { const [gameState, setGameState] = useState<GameState | null>(null); const [players, setPlayers] = useState<Player[]>([]); useEffect(() => { const gameRef = ref(database, `games/${roomId}`); const playersRef = ref(database, `games/${roomId}/players`); // Listen for game state changes onValue(gameRef, (snapshot) => { const data = snapshot.val(); if (data) { setGameState(data); } }); // Listen for player presence onValue(playersRef, (snapshot) => { const playersData = snapshot.val(); if (playersData) { const playersList = Object.values(playersData); setPlayers(playersList); } }); return () => { off(gameRef); off(playersRef); }; }, [roomId]); const updateCell = useCallback(async (row: number, col: number, value: number) => { try { const updates: any = {}; updates[`games/${roomId}/grid/${row}/${col}`] = value; updates[`games/${roomId}/lastMove`] = { row, col, value, playerId: currentPlayer.id, timestamp: serverTimestamp() }; await update(ref(database), updates); } catch (error) { console.error('Failed to update cell:', error); } }, [roomId, currentPlayer]); return { gameState, players, updateCell }; };
Mobile-First UI Component
Responsive Sudoku grid with touch interactions:
// Responsive Sudoku grid component const SudokuGrid: React.FC<SudokuGridProps> = ({ grid, selectedCell, onCellSelect, conflicts }) => { return ( <div className="grid grid-cols-9 gap-px bg-gray-300 rounded-lg p-1"> {grid.map((row, rowIndex) => row.map((cell, colIndex) => { const isSelected = selectedCell?.row === rowIndex && selectedCell?.col === colIndex; const hasConflict = conflicts.some( c => c.row === rowIndex && c.col === colIndex ); return ( <button key={`${rowIndex}-${colIndex}`} className={` aspect-square text-lg font-semibold transition-all duration-200 ${isSelected ? 'bg-blue-500 text-white' : 'bg-white'} ${hasConflict ? 'bg-red-100 text-red-600' : ''} hover:bg-blue-50 focus:outline-none focus:ring-2 focus:ring-blue-500 focus:ring-offset-2 `} onClick={() => onCellSelect(rowIndex, colIndex)} aria-label={`Cell ${rowIndex + 1}, ${colIndex + 1}`} > {cell || ''} </button> ); }) )} </div> ); };
Problem Solving & Challenges
1. Real-time Synchronization
Challenge: Keeping game state consistent across multiple players without conflicts.
Solution: Firebase Realtime Database for atomic updates, input validation layer, optimistic updates with rollback capability, and connection retry logic with exponential backoff.
2. Mobile Touch Interface
Challenge: Creating an intuitive Sudoku interface for mobile devices.
Solution: Responsive 9x9 grid with proper touch targets, custom numpad component, visual feedback for selected cells and conflicts, and swipe gestures.
3. Game State Validation
Challenge: Ensuring game integrity and preventing cheating.
Solution: Comprehensive validation algorithms for rows, columns, and 3x3 boxes, with real-time conflict detection and user feedback.
Key Achievements
Technical Excellence
- • Custom algorithm implementation (820 lines)
- • Real-time architecture with Firebase
- • Full TypeScript implementation
- • Comprehensive code quality tools
- • Production-ready deployment
User Experience
- • Zero friction - no registration required
- • Cross-platform PWA support
- • Accessibility with ARIA labels
- • Smooth animations and modern UI
- • Fast loading and responsive design
Technical Metrics
Performance & Analytics
Performance Metrics
User Engagement
Skills Demonstrated
Frontend Development
- • Advanced React patterns (Context, Hooks)
- • TypeScript for large-scale applications
- • Modern CSS with Tailwind
- • Progressive Web App implementation
- • Component-driven architecture
Backend & Real-time
- • Firebase Realtime Database integration
- • Real-time state synchronization
- • Input validation and sanitization
- • Connection management and retry logic
- • API design and error handling
What I Learned
Technical Insights
- • Real-time Architecture: Firebase Realtime Database is excellent for rapid prototyping but requires careful state management for complex applications
- • Algorithm Design: Building a Sudoku solver from scratch taught me constraint satisfaction problems and backtracking algorithms
- • Mobile UX: Touch interfaces require different design patterns than desktop - larger touch targets and gesture support are crucial
- • Performance Optimization: React.memo and useCallback are essential for real-time applications with frequent re-renders
- • TypeScript: Strong typing prevented countless runtime errors and made the codebase more maintainable
Development Process
- • MVP Approach: Starting with a single-player version before adding multiplayer complexity was crucial
- • Testing Strategy: Unit tests for the Sudoku engine saved hours of debugging
- • User Feedback: Early user testing revealed that the mobile interface needed significant improvements
- • Deployment: Vercel's edge functions and automatic deployments streamlined the development workflow
- • Documentation: Good documentation is essential when working with complex algorithms
Future Enhancements
- Spectator Mode: Allow observers to watch games
- Tournament System: Organized competitions with brackets
- AI Hints: Smart hint system with difficulty adaptation
- Voice Chat: WebRTC integration for team communication
- Analytics Dashboard: Player statistics and game insights