Birdoku

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Place the geese: one per row, column and colour region.

Play Birdoku

on ponderclub.co

Today's Birdoku board on desktop: an empty 7 by 7 grid of seven colour regions, with the geese counter at 0/7 and the timer

Birdoku is Ponder Club's daily Queens-style puzzle with geese. Each day there is a new 7x7 grid of seven colour regions, and you place one goose in every row, column and region so that no two geese touch. It is solved by deduction, with a timer, a hint button and an archive of earlier boards.

About Birdoku

Birdoku is one of the Ponder Club Labs games, a set of newer puzzles Ponder Club runs beside its main daily games. It takes the Queens idea and swaps the crowns for geese. The board is a 7 by 7 grid divided into seven irregular colour regions.

The rules are short: one goose in each row, one in each column and one in each colour region, and no two geese may sit next to each other, not even diagonally. From those rules there is a single correct placement, so a day's board is worked out step by step rather than guessed.

You tap a cell once to mark it with a cross where a goose cannot go, tap again to place a goose, and a third time to clear it. You can also drag to cross off several cells at once. When you place a goose, the game crosses off the cells it rules out, and a counter shows how many of the seven geese are down, next to a running timer. Undo, Clear and Hint buttons sit under the board, and an Archive button opens earlier days' boards.

The game is free to play with no account. Ponder Club shows ads to players who have not bought its one-time ad-free option. It plays the same on a phone and a desktop.

It suits players who already solve LinkedIn's Queens or Star Battle and want one more short grid a day, with a lighter look.

How to play Birdoku

Open today's board: a 7 by 7 grid split into seven colour regions.
Tap a cell once to mark it with a cross where a goose cannot go.
Tap a cell twice to place a goose there; a third tap clears it.
Place one goose in every row, every column and every colour region.
Keep the geese apart: no two may touch, not even at a corner.
The puzzle is solved when all seven geese are placed under these rules.

Screenshots

Birdoku being played: three geese placed and the cells they rule out crossed off, geese counter at 3/7

Today's Birdoku board at phone size, with Undo, Clear and Hint below the grid

Tips

Start with the smallest region or one squeezed into a single row; its goose has few places to go.
A region that lies wholly in one row or column takes that row's or column's goose, so cross off the rest of it.
Every goose rules out the eight cells around it, so look at what a placement leaves for the regions next to it.
If two regions fit inside the same two rows, no other region can use those rows.

Questions

What are the rules of Birdoku?

Place seven geese on the 7 by 7 grid so that every row, every column and every colour region has exactly one, and no two geese touch, even diagonally.

Is there a new board every day?

Yes. There is one board a day, the same for everyone, and the Archive button opens earlier days.

Is Birdoku free?

Yes, it is free with no account needed. Ponder Club shows ads unless you buy its one-time ad-free option.

Is there a hint?

Yes. A Hint button sits under the board next to Undo and Clear.