Octophobia

Octophobia is built on one small rule. Every cell on the 8x8 board holds a number. When you click a cell it drops to 0 and stays there, and its value is added to each of its eight neighbours. A neighbour that goes past 9 wraps round, so 9 plus 3 becomes 2, and one that lands on exactly 10 becomes 0 and is cleared along with it, so a single click can clear a whole patch of the board. If any cell ever becomes an 8, that is the evil 8.

The trick is to spot pairs that add up to 8: 1 and 7, 2 and 6, 3 and 5, 4 and 4, and 9 and 9, because wrapping makes 18 into 8. Clicking either cell of such a pair turns the other into an 8, so each move means checking a cell's neighbours first. The daily board is made from the date, the same for everyone, and always has a solution. You get a set number of moves to clear every cell (16 on Day #80) and three lives: an 8 costs a life and the move is taken back, and a fourth ends the game. You can restart as often as you like, and a Hint button points at a safe cell.

Zen mode has no move limit. Clear a board and the next one is dealt at once, your score counts every cell you clear, and a single 8 ends the run. A short playable tutorial walks new players through the rules.

Octophobia is made by Sukrit Studio, who released it on itch.io in August 2026. It is free with no ads and no account; stats and streaks stay in your browser, and there is a link for players who want to support it. It suits players who like a short daily board with one clear rule to reason about.