Nikoli Co., Ltd. (Japanese: 株式会社ニコリ, Hepburn: Kabushiki-gaisha, Nikori) is a Japanese publisher that specializes in games and, especially, logic puzzles. Nikoli is also the nickname of a quarterly magazine (whose full name is Puzzle Communication Nikoli) issued by the company in Tokyo.[1]Nikoli was established in 1980,[1] and became prominent worldwide with the popularity of Sudoku.
Nikoli is notable for its vast library of "culture independent" puzzles. An example of a language/culture-dependent genre of puzzle would be the crossword, which relies on a specific language and alphabet. For this reason Nikoli's puzzles are often purely logical, and often numerical.
Nikoli's Sudoku, the most popular logic problem in Japan,[3] was popularized in the English-speaking world in 2005, though that game has a history stretching back hundreds of years and across the globe.[4]
The magazine has invented several new genres of puzzles, and introduced several new games to Japan.
Nikoli puzzles
An uncompleted Hitori puzzleA Hotaru Beam puzzleA Sudoku puzzle
Some of the popular Nikoli puzzles, along with their Japanese names; terms in parentheses are published English titles for the same puzzles.
