Puzzle game guides

Short illustrated lessons for games you can play on this site. Each guide uses our own boards and puzzles, explains the rules as our games apply them, and links straight back to the game.

Written and maintained by Desert Game Studio. The boards and puzzles are our own, and an automated test in our code checks each diagram against the game itself.

• Sudoku for beginners: naked singles, hidden singles and notes

  Two ways to find a forced digit, and how notes keep track, worked on one real puzzle.

  Game: Sudoku

• Minesweeper: numbers, flags and patterns, with diagrams

  Read the numbers, flag with confidence and spot the 1-2-1 and 1-2-2-1 patterns.

  Game: Minesweeper

• 6x6 tic-tac-toe: rules, strategy and practice positions

  What counts as a win on a 6x6 board, why the centre matters and how to make two threats at once.

  Game: Neon Tac

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