Shikaku Grove

About Shikaku Grove

Shikaku Grove is a quiet web site built around one puzzle type: Shikaku. A Shikaku grid holds scattered numbers, and your job is to cut the whole grid into rectangles so that each rectangle contains exactly one number and covers that many cells. Squares count as rectangles, and no cell may be left out or shared.

Every day at 00:00 UTC the site posts a new daily set in three sizes, labelled Gentle (5x5), Steady (7x7) and Deep (9x9). Everyone gets the same grids for that date, and the site says its puzzles are generated in house and checked to have a single solution. A board you already have open stays on its date until you refresh, and Copy puzzle link shares the exact date and size you played.

You draw a rectangle by tapping two opposite corners or dragging across the grid, and the whole game can also be played from the keyboard. A timer runs while you work, a counter shows how many rectangles you have placed, and Undo and Erase take moves back. Explain a step gives a nudge that names the next rectangle to place and why, which suits players still learning the logic. When you finish you can copy your result to share it.

Beside the daily set there is a Practice page with extra puzzles in the same three sizes, a Learn section with a worked example, and printable puzzles. It suits anyone who likes short number-free deduction: the only arithmetic is counting cells.

How to play Shikaku Grove

1. Open the daily page and pick a size: Gentle 5x5, Steady 7x7 or Deep 9x9.
2. Look at a number and work out which rectangles of that area could hold it without covering another number.
3. Tap two opposite corners, or drag across the grid, to draw a rectangle around one number.
4. Keep going until every cell is covered, each rectangle holds exactly one number and none overlap.
5. Use Undo or Erase to take back a rectangle, or Explain a step for a hint, then copy your result when the grid is complete.

Screenshots

Tips

• Start with numbers that have only one possible shape, such as a number in a corner hemmed in by its neighbours.
• A prime number like 5 or 7 can only be a single row or column, which often fixes it quickly.
• A rectangle can match its number and still be wrong if it leaves a neighbour no room; if you get stuck, look at the cells no number can reach yet.

Questions