FakeSudokuPuzzleGenerator generates a unique solution sudoku puzzle by shuffling around and slightly altering already existing unique solution sudoku puzzles.
The shuffling is a clever idea, but it can be shown that the generated puzzle is tightly linked to the base puzzle and is solved in essentially the same way. Simply use just one base puzzle, and send the generated output into HoDoKu, it shows the exact same strategies as being needed to solve. And all puzzles have the same distribution histograph of clues as the base puzzle.
So it just tries to fool the player into thinking there's more variety than there really is. It boils down to just 10 elemental puzzles per difficulty. And really, most of these puzzles aren't easy at all! So most people will either give up or eventually notice they're doing a very specific order of strategies that cannot be chance alone.
Perhaps a hybrid approach might be more effective (to make the puzzles less samey), but I think it would better to embrace it. Such as a way to replay and practice puzzles with specific properties that test specific strategies. Could be a good learning tool. Or for example a "Reseed current game" feature alongside "New game".
The shuffling is a clever idea, but it can be shown that the generated puzzle is tightly linked to the base puzzle and is solved in essentially the same way. Simply use just one base puzzle, and send the generated output into HoDoKu, it shows the exact same strategies as being needed to solve. And all puzzles have the same distribution histograph of clues as the base puzzle.
So it just tries to fool the player into thinking there's more variety than there really is. It boils down to just 10 elemental puzzles per difficulty. And really, most of these puzzles aren't easy at all! So most people will either give up or eventually notice they're doing a very specific order of strategies that cannot be chance alone.
Perhaps a hybrid approach might be more effective (to make the puzzles less samey), but I think it would better to embrace it. Such as a way to replay and practice puzzles with specific properties that test specific strategies. Could be a good learning tool. Or for example a "Reseed current game" feature alongside "New game".