Customer Reviews

KEN KEN Electronic Handheld Game

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

First, I must tell you that I am addicted to Kenken puzzles... on paper. I also greatly enjoy Sudoku and own two different handheld electronic versions of that game. So, when an electronic version of Kenken hit the market, I was ready for it. Drooling, in fact.
My Kenken arrived today. After opening it and feeding it the requisite triple-As, I started in on the play time. First thing I noticed was that there was no light. I searched around the outside of the toy for a light switch (like on my Sudoku), but couldn't find one. So, I had to go to the instructions. They were in English (yay!) and I found that by using the stylus and poking in just the right spot on the screen, I could turn on the light. So far, so good. The stylus is much more flexible than my other handheld electronic puzzles- one might even call it 'cheap'... The light must be cheap, too- it goes out every 30 seconds and you have to re-touch the one tiny little spot on the screen to re-light. Only be careful! If you touch too far to the left, you reset the whole game you have been working on and the timer keeps on ticking. Very frustrating. No- make that ANNOYING AS ALL-GET-OUT!!!
The game started on level 1 which is a 3 x 3 puzzle. Too easy. So, I tried to find a way to change levels- hoping to get a 6 x 6 puzzle. The instructions said that I would have a choice of levels each time the game was turned on. Nope. I found level 10 quite by accident. Still too easy on a 4 x 4 grid. I have no idea how to get to the 6 x 6...
After each puzzle, you hit the "done" button. Then, the game tells you if you won or lost. If you won, it tells you how many points you got but you never know if the points are based on how fast you played or how few mistakes you had to correct or if you smiled at it or what. Then, up in the right hand corner or the screen, it displays your score. But- once you play one game, the score stays and doesn't keep adding for each subsequent game. Seems pointless to just have 980 sitting up there and not knowing what it really means. If the machine would just say "YES!" when I finish a puzzle correctly, that would be all I need to keep going...
Wondering what would happen if I didn't win, I did a puzzle wrong and the screen proclaimed "you lose" and then flashed on the parts that were wrong and then very quickly reset the puzzle.
The unit itself feels flimsy- the screen is not very sensitive and I have to tap hard to enter numbers. It's not easy to tap hard with the cheapo stylus. Also, the way in which the numbers are entered is completely backward from my Sudoku game, so I had to really focus on what I was doing.
I guess what I am saying is that I was really disappointed with the product. I still ADORE Kenken, and will continue to do the paper puzzles, but I am not hooked on this handheld. The puzzles are not challenging enough and the product is more expensive than the user friendly, sturdy, mega-screen Sudoku I am used to.

If I had read the reviews of the game before purchasing it I might not have but I didn't and I did so I was stuck to on how to get to a bigger grid too. I called the customer support number on the package and got this hint. It worked and I'm now extremely happy with the product (I do use my DS Lite stylus). I figure that if I want to drop back down to a small grid I can always use the reset button. Hope this helps someone:
Hint to move to a bigger grid size:
1. While you are in a game touch "DONE"
2. "LEAVE PUZZLE" will appear on the screen
3. Touch "Y"
4. The game shows a new puzzle.
a. If this is a puzzle you want to try then start playing.
b. If you want a different puzzle, then you must repeat steps 1,2 and 3.
If you follow the steps outlined you will get to larger puzzles. You may have to exit out 20-30 times but eventually you will hit a larger puzzle.

Product and manual not especially user friendly. Screen a little hard to see. Glad I already understood the game. Has lots of levels. Biggest drawback is the screen. The black lines are quite faint. Hard to see the symbols. Once you say done, if you are wrong, the entire puzzle clears so you can do it again from scratch.

I'm addicted to KenKen and there aren't nearly as many sources of puzzles as there are for Sudoku, so when I'm desparate, even this lame electronic puzzle is worth having around. Electronic Sudoku is lame too, by the way. Nobody's figured out a way to make the little pencil marks on a teeny tiny screen, so I can't really complain that the pencil marks on this game are not all that helpful.

The biggest complaint I have is with the levels. You have to quit a game in the middle at the current level to be allowed the choice of a new level. And so far, I HAVE NOT FIGURED OUT A WAY TO GET OFF OF 4X4 PUZZLES. I'd really like to do 6X6. Does anybody know how to make it go to 6X6?

Really, this electronic game is a weak interpretation of what you get with pencil and paper. But, still, it's better than nothing. $20 is a lot of money for what you get, but when you're craving KenKen, it's a pretty cheap price to pay to avoid the withdrawal symptoms.

For 10 bucks and after reading other reviews, I was prepared for the poor instructions from earlier reviews and limited range of games. What I wasn't expecting was how hard it is to see the numbers on the grid. Honestly, they are so small, there should have been a magnifying glass included with the stylus. To add to this, the back lighting is lousy. I bought this to take on an upcoming trip because it is lighter & smaller than paperbacks. But I guess I'll stick with the extra size/weight of the books.

I've been addicted to Ken Ken (calcu-doku, etc.) for almost a year now after getting a couple sample puzzles in a big book of puzzles quite a few years ago. I started with Sudoku and then tried out Kakuro and then tried Ken Ken. It's my favorite of the three and I've been getting it wherever I can--free online, books of Ken Ken, phone games, PS3 download games, and now this. This is a great little handheld game, but the puzzles only get up to 6x6. Still, there are varying difficulties and you can pause it and it has a very bright backlight. It's about the size of my hand, so it's small enough to put in your purse in case you get bored. Love it!

I was given this for Christmas, and am only now finding out that it only costs [...]. I would happily pay double for what I've seen so far. I've spent quite a few hours with it and tried most of the sizes and levels, but once you've got the hang of it, less than 6x6 grid isn't terribly challenging. The gradations are good -- you can work your way up the levels and stay challenged even as you are learning new tricks.

I had no trouble figuring out how to change sizes and levels and have not (yet) bothered to look at the instruction leaflet, so I suspect the thing has a few capabilities that I haven't discovered and/or needed. Haven't yet run out of battery.

My major concern is durability. If the thing lasts a year for [...], I figure it will have been worth it, and I'd raise it to five stars. If it dies tomorrow, I may lower the rating. Yes, the user interface isn't that sexy, but it's much more important to me that it has a large stock of puzzles, which so far I think is the case.

As for the paper vs. electronic issue, I can go either way. (I'm not sure I believed that when I unwrapped the package, but I do now.) I do think one is probably better off learning the game (or at least its mechanics) on paper and then migrating to the electronic version.

Good as a gift for somebody (including yourself!) who's already hooked on the game. Unlike Sudoku, you have to understand some discrete mathematics in order to master it fully. Like Sudoku, it also entails considerable logic as well.

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Addendum August 2011

It has held up well. Battery life is quite reasonable. Upgraded overall rating from 4 to 5 stars.

It definitely took me a good three minutes to figure out
exactly how to change levels.

One of the reviews below me had it right the first three steps.
Although, I found that after you're asked if you want to leave
the puzzle and select "Y" then you are taken to
a screen that tells you to CHOOSE LEVEL and you can either (-) or (+)
the level number, the highest level being 10.

Overall not too bad. I just kinda wanted something fancier.

It gets the job done and despite the irreversible battery saving back
light it really is what you buy, a Ken Ken handheld game. You play ken ken.
:)

Mine works great ive had no issues with it. I love how many puzzles there are and the different degrees of difficulty. great toy...this is my go to gift for xmas this year.

I just recieved the toy and from the first use the touch screen did not work properly. I cannot select numbers and certain rows are not selectable. Try a different product!