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Sudoku
 
Hanjie
 
Kakuro
 
Futoshiki
 
Calcudoku
 
Hitori
 
Killer Sudoku
 
Nurikabe
 
Slitherlink
 
Skyscraper

Sudoku-X
 
Jigsaw Sudoku
 
Consecutive Sudoku
 
Kropki Sudoku
 
Sudoku XV
 
Oddpair Sudoku
 
Toroidal Sudoku
 
Killer Sudoku-X
 
Killer Sudoku
Pro

 
Jigsaw Killer
Sudoku

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Nurikabe puzzles and instructions


Play free Nurikabe puzzles:
Nurikabe   Yesterday
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Nurikabe   4th Dec
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Nurikabe   8th Nov
  Nurikabe 388 
Nurikabe   27th Oct
  Nurikabe 384 
Nurikabe puzzles are fun Japanese logic puzzles where the aim is to shade in certain empty squares to create a set of 'islands' of the given sizes. The rules need to be read carefully to start with, but once you are familiar with them they are very rewarding and due to their visual nature can be particularly intuitive to solve.

How to solve Nurikabe puzzles
In a Nurikabe puzzle you start with a mostly-empty grid that contains some numbered squares. Shade in some squares so that every given number in the puzzle remains as part of a continuous unshaded area of the stated number of squares. There must be exactly one number per unshaded area (so no unshaded areas without numbers, and no unshaded areas with more than one number). Unshaded areas must have shaded squares or the edges of the puzzle around them on all sides - in other words, they cannot touch one another (except diagonally).

A very important second rule is that shaded squares cannot form any solid 2x2 (or larger) areas. This is often key to solving the puzzles. Unshaded areas can be any shape you like.

And finally a third important rule: all the shaded squares must form one single continuous area.

Nurikabe exampleIn the example solved puzzle on the left, notice how each number is in its own, separate unshaded area of that given number of squares.

Notice also how all of the shaded squares form a single area, so you can travel from any shaded square to any other, and that there are no 2x2 shaded areas.

One of the nice things about Nurikabe is that there are various ways to think about solving a puzzle, all of which can help when you get stuck. You can look for 2x2 areas that can only be reached by one (or a limited number) of unshaded areas, or you can try growing areas from the existing numbers - or you can do the converse, growing regions that must be there to prevent a 2x2 shaded area but which you don't yet know the size of.

Every Nurikabe puzzle only ever has one possible solution, and it can always be reached via reasonable logical deduction. In other words, guessing is never required.

Nurikabe puzzles on puzzlemix appear at a wide range of sizes and difficulties, usually from 10x10 upwards.

Other types of puzzle
It's not just Nurikabe you can solve online at puzzlemix. You can also solve logic puzzles that include these:
CalcudokuConsecutive SudokuFutoshikiHanjie
HitoriJigsaw SudokuKakuroKiller Jigsaw Sudoku
Killer SudokuKiller Sudoku ProKiller Sudoku-XKropki Sudoku
Odd Pair SudokuSkyscraperSlitherlinkSudoku
Sudoku XVSudoku-XToroidal Sudoku

Keywords
Are you searching for help with Nurikabe puzzles? Stuck on solving Nurikabe? Don't know the instructions for Nurikabe? Need Nurikabe instructions? Want solving hints and tips for Nurikabe? Then puzzlemix is the place for you to play Nurikabe puzzles online.

External links

Looking for printed Nurikabe puzzles? Visit Sudoku Xtra for puzzle magazines and books.

Or are you looking for a Nurikabe puzzle supplier? If so then check out Any Puzzle Media, my puzzle production company.


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