Watch out crossword and word search, there’s a new puzzle in town. Sudoku, a number-based puzzle game, is taking gamers by storm. “The Book of Sudoku 2,” compiled by Michael Mepham, is only one of many books designed to teach new Sudoku followers the rules and methods used to solve the addictive puzzle.

Puzzle connoisseur Mepham, who supplies crosswords to major papers worldwide, breaks it down in his latest book, “Sudoku 2,” so even the lame can understand. Written and designed more as a guide to playing, Mepham briefly touches on the history of Sudoku and jumps straight into the puzzle itself.

Sudoku isn’t a game that uses math so much as logic. The puzzle consists of a nine-by-nine grid subdivided by nine boxes made up of three-by-three squares. To solve a Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must have one of the numbers in a sequence from one to nine.

Sudoku first appeared in an American puzzle magazine in the late 1970s under the name “Number Place.” Later picked up by Japanese publisher Nikoli, the puzzle was dubbed Sudoku: “su” meaning number and “doku” meaning single or bachelor.

Reaching its peak of popularity in Japan in 2004, where number puzzles are much more prevalent than word puzzles, Sudoku seeped into newspapers in the United Kingdom and is now sweeping the United States, appearing in the Los Angeles Times, New York Post and other publications.

Mepham’s “Sudoku 2” breaks down the difficulty levels into three groups: gentle, moderate and diabolical. At times, for the new Sudoku puzzle player, even the gentle can seem devilish. Thank goodness for the puzzle solutions in the back of the book, which can be used as clues as long as you’re able to limit your look to one or two squares.

Why is Sudoku so popular? Is it because we’re sick of word games? Let's face it — besides crossword and word search, there isn’t much else, making Sudoku’s number approach a breath of fresh air for avid puzzle fans. And much like its counterparts, Sudoku is known for its mental workout and is even capable of slowing the progression of brain diseases like Alzheimer's.

With the growing popularity of this puzzle, it’s not necessary to buy a book in order to play. A simple Internet search will lead the Sudoku connoisseur, or beginner, to many sites of limitless puzzles and solutions.