Logic Puzzles Online Free
Classic pencil puzzles, most of them first published by the Japanese puzzle company Nikoli. Shikaku, Kakurasu and Dominosa are a gentle start, and Kakuro is a crossword made of sums. Futoshiki, Skyscrapers and Suguru are number puzzles in the style of Sudoku. Nurikabe and Heyawake are about shading squares, Masyu and Slitherlink are about drawing a loop, Hashi is about building bridges between islands, Star Battle is about placing stars, and Hidato is a chain of numbers from start to finish. Peg Solitaire is the classic jumping puzzle on the English cross board. Every puzzle is generated fresh and checked to have exactly one solution, so you never need to guess.
16 games
What are logic puzzles?
Logic puzzles are grid puzzles with a set of rules and exactly one solution that you reach by deduction, never by guessing. Most of the ones here were made popular by Nikoli, the Japanese publisher that also named Sudoku, and each one tests a different kind of reasoning.
Some are number puzzles: Kakuro and Kakurasu are built on addition, Futoshiki on greater-than and less-than signs, Skyscrapers on comparing heights, Suguru on small sets of numbers, and Shikaku on area and factor pairs. Others are pure logic: Nurikabe and Heyawake are about shading squares, Masyu and Slitherlink are about drawing a loop, Hashi is about connecting islands with bridges, Star Battle is about placing stars that never touch, Hidato is about chaining numbers in order, and Dominosa is about finding where each domino lies.
Each puzzle comes in three sizes. The smallest is good for learning the rules, and the largest takes a confident solver several minutes.
Questions and answers
Which logic puzzle should I start with?
Shikaku is the easiest to learn: split the grid into rectangles whose areas match the numbers. Hidato, Suguru, 4 × 4 Futoshiki, Kakurasu, Hashi and Dominosa are other good first puzzles. Move on to Kakuro, Star Battle, Skyscrapers and Nurikabe, then Slitherlink, Heyawake and Masyu.
Which logic puzzles use math?
Kakuro and Kakurasu are built on addition: every clue is a total to make. Futoshiki and Skyscrapers are about comparing and ordering numbers, and Shikaku practises area and factor pairs. Masyu, Slitherlink, Heyawake and Nurikabe use no arithmetic at all, just logic.
Do these puzzles need guessing?
No. Each puzzle is checked by a solver when it’s made, so it has exactly one solution that can be found by reasoning.
Are logic puzzles good for kids?
Yes. They build careful, step-by-step reasoning, and Kakuro, Kakurasu and Shikaku practise addition, area and factor pairs too. The smallest size of each puzzle suits children from about 8.