Play queens puzzles
Pick a size and solve by logic alone. New here? Start with the how-to and strategies below.
How to play
Queenkan is a placement puzzle solved by pure logic, like Sudoku. There are only three rules — the reasoning deepens as the board grows.
1. One per row & column
Pick any row or column — exactly one queen
In a finished board every row and every column holds exactly one queen. No doubles, no empty lines.
2. One per color region
Each of the five regions holds one queen
Each colored region also holds exactly one queen — the shapes of the colors are your clues.
3. No touching
Two queens touching diagonally — not allowed
Queens may never touch, not even diagonally. This is the rule everyone forgets.
Controls
- Tap a cell to cycle empty → X (note) → queen.
- Drag to paint X marks across several cells at once. Start the drag on an X and it becomes an eraser.
- Undo reverts one tap or one whole drag. Hint places one correct queen for you.
Solving strategies
Purple X marks are what each strategy newly deduces; the dashed box is where to look.
1. The last cell standing
One empty cell left in the third row → the queen is forced
If a row, column, or region has only one cell left where a queen could go, that cell is the answer. The most basic move — and the one you will use most, start to finish.
2. Clean up after every queen
One queen clears its row, column, region, and ring at once
The moment you place a queen, every other cell in its row, column, and region is out — and so are all eight surrounding cells, diagonals included. Mark them with X right away and the next clue tends to reveal itself.
3. Region confinement
The green region fits inside one row → the yellow cell in that row gets X
If all of a region's remaining candidates sit in a single row (or column), its queen must land in that row. So every other color's cell in that row gets an X — you clear a whole line without knowing where the queen goes.
4. Rows claimed in pairs
Red and yellow claim the top two rows → the green cells there get X
If two regions' candidates together fit inside just two rows, those two rows belong to those two colors. Cross out every other color's cell in them. The same argument generalizes to three regions in three rows.
5. Start small, start cornered
A two-cell corner region sits in the last column → the rest of the column gets X
Regions with only one or two cells, and regions squeezed into a corner, are the strongest clues on the board. If you cannot find a way in, look at the smallest region first.
6. One-step contradiction
Assume the ghost queen and the two-cell region dies → that cell is an X
For a stubborn cell, ask "what if the queen went here?" and follow it just one step. If some row, column, or region would lose all its candidates, that cell is an X. This is the key that opens hard boards.
Tips
- Be generous with X marks — eliminating candidates is what solving is. A drag paints many at once.
- Never guess. Every puzzle has exactly one solution and yields to logic alone; the urge to guess means there is a clue you have not found yet.
- Stuck? Recite the three rules again. "No touching, not even diagonally" is the one everyone forgets.
- Use hints to learn: after one is placed, work backwards to see why that cell was forced.
- Warm up on 6×6, then climb. A 12×12 is the same rules with much deeper deduction.
Gameplay questions
How does the hint work?
It places one correct queen that is not on the board yet — useful for seeing where you got stuck.
How do difficulties differ?
Bigger boards need deeper reasoning. Easy boards fall to a chain of forced moves; hard ones demand confinement, paired rows, and one-step contradictions.
Is it the same puzzle every time?
No. Each size has a pool of puzzles and you start at a random one. The daily puzzle on the home page changes every day.
Can a puzzle have several solutions?
Never. Every puzzle is generated with a unique solution, so pure logic always finishes the board.
What is different in the app?
The app has 600+ levels on a learning curve, hints that teach one deduction at a time, daily records, and twist-rule packs. The web version is the light, free way to play.