Futoshiki
- Category
- Brain
- Players
- 1
- Controls
- Tap
- Grid
- 4 x 4
- Loads
- Plays instantly
Controls
| Tap a cell | Select it. |
| Tap a number | Place it. |
| Tap ✕ | Clear the cell. |
Next up
| Tap a cell | Select it. |
| Tap a number | Place it. |
| Tap ✕ | Clear the cell. |
Futoshiki combines a Latin square with inequality signs. Every row and column must contain the numbers one to four exactly once, and wherever a sign appears between two cells, the numbers must respect it. Japanese for "not equal", the name describes exactly what the signs are telling you.
The signs are what lift it above a plain number placement puzzle. A chain of two signs pointing the same way forces the largest and smallest values into place immediately, and following those chains is far more satisfying than simple elimination.
Follow the chains. Three cells linked by signs pointing the same way must hold three increasing values, which on a four by four grid usually pins them down completely.
The ends of a chain are the giveaway. A cell that is greater than two others cannot be a one or a two, and that single deduction often unlocks a whole row.
Use the signs before the numbers. Beginners fill in what they can from row and column rules first, but on a small grid the inequalities are the stronger constraint.
Check both directions on every placement. A number that satisfies its row may break a sign in its column, and the signs are easy to overlook once you are focused on elimination.
They show which of the two neighbouring cells holds the larger number.
One to four, each exactly once per row and column.
Futoshiki is Japanese for "not equal", after the inequality signs.
Yes, each is built from a completed grid with the signs read off it.
Completely free, with no trial and no unlock. Futoshiki loads with the page and plays immediately, without an install step or a video ad first.