Tapa (PuzzleMadness)

About Tapa (PuzzleMadness)

A Tapa grid starts grey, with some clue cells holding one or more numbers. You make every other cell black or white. The black cells must form a single wall, all joined edge to edge, and no 2x2 square may be entirely black. Each clue looks at the eight cells around it, diagonals included: its numbers are the lengths of the unbroken black runs in that ring, and when there is more than one number the runs are separated by at least one white cell. A clue of 4 2 means a run of four black cells and a run of two. Clue cells themselves are never black.

One click turns a cell black, a second white and a third back to grey. Big clues are the easiest way in: a 7 in a corner area with only seven free neighbours fills them all, and the no-2x2 rule then settles cells nearby. Today's Medium puzzle, for example, is an 8x8 grid.

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. Tapa comes in Easy, Medium, Hard and Tough versions plus a Mixed page, and the same day's Tapa 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 Tapa 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 Tapa (PuzzleMadness)

1. Open today's Tapa page on PuzzleMadness and choose a difficulty from the menu above the grid.
2. Click a cell to make it black, again to make it white, and a third time to return it to grey.
3. Shade cells so that each clue's numbers match the runs of black cells in the eight cells around it.
4. Keep all the black cells joined into one wall and never fill a 2x2 block.
5. The site tells you when the grid is complete and adds your score; registered players appear on the leaderboards.

Screenshots

Tips

• Start with the largest clues: a high single number leaves only a few ways to fit its run around the clue.
• Where a clue has two or more numbers, the runs need white gaps between them, which often fixes a cell or two.
• Check the wall as you go: a black group that cannot reach the rest without breaking a clue tells you a cell must change.
• Missed a day? Earlier puzzles are in the archive, and finishing one still counts toward this month's leaderboard.

Questions