How to Solve Shikaku Puzzles
Divide the grid into rectangles in which each contains exactly one number that is equal to the area of the rectangle.
These are our in-depth tutorials for puzzles, with more being added once they’ve appeared in one of our books. The table of contents in our puzzle books will include a thumbnail of the type of puzzle, and a QR code, which will take you directly to its tutorial page. Variants with no significant change in solving technique, such as some Sudoku puzzles with extra regions, will appear at the bottom of the main tutorial page with a brief explanation of what is different.
Divide the grid into rectangles in which each contains exactly one number that is equal to the area of the rectangle.
Connect grid dots to create a single closed loop that doesn’t cross itself or branch. Number clues indicate how many line segments are adjacent.
Use the clues to uncover the body of a snake, given the location of the head and tail. The body is a 1-cell wide path that travels only in orthogonal directions and may never touch itself, even diagonally.
Connect each region to all neighboring regions with stitches between two adjacent cells.
Fill the grid with the numbers 1-9 such that there are no duplicates in any row, column, or 3×3 region. At the bottom of this tutorial are several variants for which the solving process is basically the same.
Place tents in the grid so that each tree has its own orthogonally adjacent tent. Clues around the edge indicate the number of tents in that row or column. Tents may not be adjacent in any direction.
Use relationship clues – solid lines are true, dashed lines are false – to determine the correct groupings of items from several lists.
Divide the grid into fenced regions, each containing only one type of animal. No empty regions are allowed.