Nurikabe World
The Japanese island puzzle Nurikabe as a calm 3D game, with three curated daily puzzles.
Every day: Three hand-curated Nurikabe puzzles each day at different difficulty levels, the same for every player. New puzzle: Once a day.
Nurikabe World turns the pen-and-paper logic puzzle Nurikabe into a relaxing 3D game. You place water tiles to carve out numbered islands, which then sprout trees and buildings. Each day there are three hand-curated daily puzzles of different difficulty.
About Nurikabe World
Nurikabe World is a logic puzzle game by Hemisquare, released on Steam in January 2025 for Windows, Mac and Linux. It is built on Nurikabe, a classic Japanese grid puzzle, but shown as a small 3D landscape: finished islands fill with trees and structures, and the scenery changes with environments, seasons and times of day.
The rules are short. Each number on the grid belongs to its own island with exactly that many tiles. You place water to separate the islands; all the water must join into one connected river, and no 2x2 block of water (a pool) is allowed. From those rules come puzzles from breezy 5x5 grids to 15x15 marathons, and the campaign teaches advanced solving techniques as it goes.
The daily challenge mode gives three hand-curated puzzles each day, at varying difficulty, for anyone wondering what to play. Beyond that there are hundreds of hand-made campaign puzzles, an infinite generator with several algorithms and settings, and a level editor with Steam Workshop sharing added in 2025.
The game makes a point of what it leaves out: no city building, simulation, multiplayer or crafting, just puzzles. It suits Nurikabe and sudoku solvers, and anyone who wants a calm daily logic set with something pretty to look at.
How to play Nurikabe World
- Buy and install Nurikabe World on Steam.
- Open the daily challenges and pick one of the three puzzles.
- Place water tiles so every number becomes an island of exactly that size.
- Keep all the water connected and avoid 2x2 pools until the board is complete.
Screenshots
Tips
- Start by placing water between numbers that sit next to each other, since they cannot share an island.
- Watch for squares that no island can reach: they must be water.
- Check for 2x2 water blocks as you go; one forced island tile often breaks them up.
Questions
What is Nurikabe?
A Japanese pen-and-paper logic puzzle where you divide a grid into numbered islands and one connected sea.
Are there daily puzzles?
Yes, three hand-curated puzzles of varying difficulty every day.
Can I make my own puzzles?
Yes, with the level editor, and share them through Steam Workshop.
Which platforms does it run on?
Windows, Mac and Linux through Steam.
Games like Nurikabe World
Nurikabe (CoffeeFirst)
Build the day's islands and keep one connected sea.
Daily Nurikabe
Shade a connected sea so every numbered island is the right size.
Fields (Inkwell Games)
Colour the grid into fields of the right sizes.
Umbra
Split the grid into fields of light and shadow, each as big as its number.
Hitori Conquest
A daily shading logic puzzle with streaks.
Pixelogic: Nonograms Unlimited
Another Japanese logic puzzle on Steam with daily puzzles.
3Doku
A sudoku wrapped around a cube, using the numbers 1 to 16.
Arrow Escape (Puzzleship)
Slide every arrow off the board, each in the direction its head points.