Plot (Mind Loft)
Divide the board into rectangles, each holding one number equal to its area.
Every day: One shikaku board a day, the same for every player: 10x10 on weekdays and 12x12 in the Sunday Edition, with one solution reachable by logic. Daily leaderboard with errors and time. New puzzle: Midnight US Eastern Time.
Plot is a free daily shikaku puzzle from Mind Loft. Numbers are scattered across a grid, and you cut the whole board into rectangles so that every rectangle holds exactly one number and covers that many squares. One board a day, one solution, no guessing needed.
About Plot (Mind Loft)
Plot is the shikaku on Mind Loft, a free site of daily browser games. The puzzle is also known as divide by squares. Numbers are scattered across the board, and each one gives the size of the plot it belongs to. You divide the whole board into rectangles so that every rectangle contains exactly one number and covers exactly that many cells.
On the day we looked the board was 10 by 10 with 26 plots to claim. You drag from corner to corner to claim a plot, tap a plot to give it back, and slide off the board mid-drag to cancel. A plot that has the right size but sits in the wrong place turns red and striped, and the header counts your errors, your time and how many of the hundred cells you have claimed. Undo and a hint button sit under the grid.
Every board has exactly one solution and can be solved by deduction alone. The usual way in is a number that has only one rectangle it can form, often a large number near a corner or a small one boxed in by its neighbours.
A new board goes up at midnight US Eastern Time, and the Sunday Edition steps up to 12 by 12. Mind Loft names Etch (nonogram), Hedge (loop) and Suds (sudoku) as its neighbours, and it suits anyone who already plays a daily shikaku such as Rasterix or Mosaik.
How to play Plot (Mind Loft)
- Open mindloftdaily.com/plot and press Start to see the day's board.
- Find a number whose rectangle can only go one way.
- Drag from one corner to the opposite corner to claim that rectangle.
- Repeat until every cell belongs to a rectangle with exactly one number of the right size.
- Tap a plot to give it back if you change your mind; errors count toward your result.
Tips
- Start with numbers that fit only one shape, such as primes on an edge, which can only be a single row or column.
- Cells that only one number can reach must belong to that number's rectangle.
- A red striped plot has the right size but the wrong place, so rethink it before moving on.
- Large numbers have many shapes; leave them until the small ones around them are fixed.
Questions
What is shikaku?
A logic puzzle where you split a grid into rectangles. Each rectangle holds exactly one number, and that number is its area in cells.
How big is the Plot board?
Ten by ten on weekdays and twelve by twelve in the Sunday Edition.
Is Plot free?
Yes. Plot runs in the browser on mindloftdaily.com at no cost. There is no app and no account to make; entering a display name only puts your result on the daily leaderboard.
When does a new Plot come out?
Every day at midnight US Eastern Time, with the same board for every player. Sundays bring the Sunday Edition, a 12x12 board.
Can I play old Plot boards?
Yes. Mind Loft keeps past days in its puzzle archive, together with each day's standings.
Games like Plot (Mind Loft)
Shikaku Days
One shikaku a day for everyone, the same puzzle type
Daily Shikaku
A large daily shikaku grid to cut into rectangles
Rasterix (Tagesspiegel)
A newspaper's daily shikaku with one grid a day
Mosaik (Tages-Anzeiger)
Another daily rectangle-splitting puzzle from a newspaper
Plots (Puzzleship)
Rectangles with area or shape clues, a variant to try next
Parker (Mind Loft)
Another Mind Loft logic daily with one exact solution
Sweep (Mind Loft)
Minesweeper that runs downward with no bottom, the same field for everyone.
Mercury (Mind Loft)
A daily sudoku with thermometers: digits rise from each bulb to its tip.