Shingoki (PuzzleMadness)

About Shingoki (PuzzleMadness)

A Shingoki grid is a field of dots with numbered circles on some of them. You draw one closed loop along the grid lines that never crosses or touches itself. Every circle must lie on the loop: at a white circle the loop passes straight through, at a black circle it makes a right-angle turn. The number in a circle is the total length of the two straight runs leaving it, counted in grid units until each run turns.

Clicking a grid line draws a line segment, clicking again marks it with a cross as unused, and a third click clears it. Circles on the edge of the grid are the usual starting point, because the loop cannot leave the grid and so has fewer ways to go. Today's Medium puzzle, for example, is drawn on a grid of dots seven cells wide and eight tall.

PuzzleMadness is a free puzzle website run by Dewi, a software developer who started out making games for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo Wii and DS and now builds the site as a hobby. It carries dozens of puzzle types, from classic sudoku to newer logic grids, and each one gets its own dated puzzle every day at each difficulty. Shingoki comes in Small, Medium and Large versions plus a Mixed page, and the same day's Shingoki puzzle is shared by everyone who opens it.

The site checks your grid as you go and tells you when it is finished; it does not publish solutions. Each completed puzzle earns a score, and scores feed a monthly and an all-time Shingoki leaderboard, where only your best attempt at a puzzle counts. Older days stay in the archive, so a missed puzzle can still be played later and still counts toward the current month. Playing needs no account; a free registration gives you a username on the leaderboards and a cloud save. The pages carry adverts.

How to play Shingoki (PuzzleMadness)

1. Open today's Shingoki page on PuzzleMadness and choose a difficulty from the menu above the grid.
2. Click a grid line to draw a piece of the loop; click again to mark it with a cross, and a third time to clear it.
3. Pass straight through every white circle and turn at a right angle on every black circle.
4. Make the two straight runs leaving each circle add up to its number, and close everything into one loop.
5. The site tells you when the grid is complete and adds your score; registered players appear on the leaderboards.

Screenshots

Tips

• Start on the edges: a circle against the border has fewer directions it can use.
• A black circle's turn means each of its two arms has to run straight for at least one segment, which often fixes nearby lines.
• Mark segments you know are empty with crosses; they stop the loop running too far from a circle.
• Missed a day? Earlier puzzles are in the archive, and finishing one still counts toward this month's leaderboard.

Questions