Hashiwokakero (DIE ZEIT)

About Hashiwokakero (DIE ZEIT)

Hashiwokakero, usually shortened to Hashi, is a Japanese logic puzzle whose name means roughly "build bridges". The German weekly DIE ZEIT runs it on its games site, spiele.zeit.de, alongside its sudoku, crosswords and word games. The pages are in German.

Each day there is a new grid at three levels: the easy one has about 10 to 15 islands, the medium one 20 to 25, and the hard one 30 to 35. Every island carries a number, and that number is how many bridges must leave it. Bridges run straight along the grid lines, two islands can be joined by one or two bridges, bridges may not cross, and at the end every island must be connected into a single group.

You play by clicking between islands: one click lays a bridge, a second makes it double, a third removes both. A help mode behind the question mark button colours correct bridges green and wrong ones red. Solving quickly can earn a place on the highscore list, which needs a ZEIT account, and past days stay available from the menu.

Hashi is part of the ZEIT games subscription (Spiele-Abo, priced at 0.99 euros a week with a free trial at the time of writing); the site's free games are the sudoku and quizzes. It can also be played in the ZEIT ONLINE app. It suits fans of pure logic puzzles who want a daily grid in a choice of sizes.

How to play Hashiwokakero (DIE ZEIT)

1. Pick the easy, medium or hard grid for today.
2. Click between two islands to lay a bridge; click again for a double bridge, a third time to remove it.
3. Make each island's bridge count match its number, without crossing bridges.
4. Finish when every island is joined into one connected network.

Tips

• Start with islands at the edge or with high numbers, since they have the fewest ways to connect.
• Check now and then that no group of islands has been cut off from the rest.
• Turn on the help mode if you are stuck: it shows correct bridges in green and mistakes in red.

Questions