After our recent review of Buku Sudoku went up, we had the opportunity to sit down and speak with Buku developer Ben Moy. Hit the jump to hear him discuss his sudoku inspirations, the Microsoft de-listing debacle, what he’ll be working on next and a host of other topics.

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Last week we reviewed Live Arcade’s first stab at the numbers racket that is sudoku, Buku Sudoku. In an interview with developer Ben Moy (to be posted later this week) he was gracious enough to let us have a peek at some concept art for themes that didn’t make the cut the first time around. Complete gallery of images and relevant quote from the interview below;

We had a lot of fun coming up with different themes, and unfortunately some were cut for being different, and for space concerns. DLC is a great way for these to be finished up and released. Early mockups had a pirate ship motif I really liked. Then there were a few playables, like a beach with animated surf lapping up, and an ocean theme of underwater bubbles as cells, animated fish, and swaying seaweed.

Do you sudoku? If so, you’ve probably been wondering why you’ve been stuck waiting so long for Microsoft to approve some version of the numbers game for you to get your grubby little mitts on. Fear not, fellow 9-square junkie — Buku Sudoku has come to the rescue!

Weighing in at 800 Microsoft points, Buku Sudoku offers a surprising number of twists and variations in gameplay over the standard 9-square solitaire you’ve come to know and love. Multiplayer, variations in puzzle size, and even optional peripheral support round out this package in an attempt to give you an adequate amount of bang for your buck. Before we delve to far into these features though, we should probably play a little catch-up for those not yet versed in the way of sudoku.

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JOY! We don’t usually report on Live Arcade releases unless something really catches our eye, and this one caught mine. I’ve been excited about Buku Sudoku ever since the first screens popped up a few months ago. Underneath all of that spit and polish, is it probably just another generic Sudoku game? Sure — but I’ll be damned if that spit and polish doesn’t look nice. Check out this Kotaku post from a few months back showing off some other drool-worthy screens.

Also - Warlords.