Is there any way to change the negative points background to something different then the positive? Most of my mistakes are simply pressing the wrong number and the + looks so much like the - that I miss it.

Also any hints on what the 3 secret achievements are? I know one since it % up as you go but the last 2 I have no idea.

The starburst actually is red instead of yellow but it's subtly different. I had it redder at one point and it was harder to see the score number. I can look into that for version 2.2.

The other achievements are just higher and higher score totals. Numbers so high that I would have thought them to be impossible a few months earlier before I saw my dad reach them recently.

I see that its red now. Maybe have it make a different sound if its wrong or a completely different explosion to really show its different.

You've stumbled on a topic that I've given a lot of thought to: spoilers.

What I've tried to do in this game is actually provide good solving tools and hints without giving away answers. Unfortunately with scoring the only way to NOT give away answers is to wait to see the score until the game is over. By seeing that you got a + score you know that the answer is correct. If I blurted out "wrong!" in a loud robotic voice you'd obviously know that you had made a mistake. That would be extreme, but even the more subtile (slightly red) negative score tells you the same thing. (if you notice it) Which I don't like from a spoiler standpoint. I considered not showing negative scores or not playing the sound if it was wrong. But I opted for a subtile difference between right and wrong answers specifically because I wanted to lessen the spoiler factor.

I have to say that spoilers was one thing I really didn't like about (another iPhone) sudoku game. I think either it didn't even allow you to enter wrong answers, or it immediately told you they were wrong or something like that. I wouldn't do something like 'immediately highlight them red and leave them like that' because I think that would take all the fun away. At some point the game is just solving the puzzle for you. It's a balance.

In version 1 we made a game that really mimicked pencil and paper, down to the rub out smudge left behind when you erased an answer. In real pencil and paper games you can get almost all the way done and then realize that you made a mistake 20 moves back. I didn't want to take that away from the player because it's frankly part of the game, and felt like some other sudoku games were taking that away.

In version 2 however I really wanted to score games, offer competitive play, and keep some stats. And I think the active scoring gives the game a more arcade feel. But scoring also meant spoilers. So I was/am conflicted about this. The answer was to add an option to turn off the active score and only see it when the game is over. Same goes for the other spoilers like the completion sparkles, which in version 1 shot whenever the line was filled in, and in version 2 you have the option of always, only when the line has the numbers 1-9, and only when the line is correct (1-9 in the correct spots). This puts the decision mostly in the player's hands.

So since it is there (if you notice it) why not make it more obvious. I think if I were to add that it would have to be an option: "different sound for negative scores", or a slight tweaking on the red to make it a little more prominent. If it's something that a few people ask for I'll definitely consider it.

All good points.

I didn't even realize you could turn off the visual scoring.

Another option might be to hide the puzzles before selecting them. Someone could solve the puzzle before even selecting it the way it's laid out now.

Couple more things.

I wouldn't take out scoring or cheating or anything like that because if people want to do it they will. Might as well work to lower the cheaters score.

I haven't looked at the scoring that much. Does it give more points for getting a number that's solvable or for getting a totally hidden number? I would think you would want to give points to people who logically solve the puzzle then to guessing or people filling in from a suduko solver.

There are also people who aren't so much cheating as just not that good lol. They need all the visual help they can get.

Final post on this I just did a grid in a webpage and got a ton more points for just filling it.

I think it would make sure sense to give more points to logic solves then plugging in randoms that you should have no reason to know.

There's always going to be a way to cheat. For example, you could also solve a puzzle down to 1 number left using hints etc, take a screen shot of it or write it down, hit the share button and save it off to your queue, then type in the answers and get a really good score.

I don't know if anyone's come up with a perfect scoring system for sudoku. I figure if you play puzzle challenges against friends then hopefully you can trust them no to cheat.

Unfortunately once you put scores in game center it's a done deal and you can't change it. Apple's rules. So if I were to change the scoring method now the leaderboard would be really meaningless. (of course the high score now is a cheated number - look at the number of games played by that person.. 5)

What I did to combat guessing is that wrong answers are -18 and you get no bonus applied for that cell. Full on guessing you won't get as good a score as carefully solving the puzzle.

Here's the NOT CHEATING way to get a better score: Solve the puzzle in the marks. When you get down to one mark in a cell, that's the answer but don't put it in yet. Then narrow down other marks to answers. Do a batch of at least 5 at a time. Then enter in the answers in the reverse order.