Tapa Puzzle

A tapa puzzle is a logic grid where some cells hold numbers, and you shade cells so the numbers describe the wall around them. Every puzzle is generated in your browser and checked to have exactly one solution. This page lets you play tapa puzzle online in your browser. Choose a size of 6×6, 8×8 or 10×10 and a difficulty of Easy, Medium or Hard, and a new puzzle is generated on the spot.

The tool is free and needs no account or sign-up. It works on phones, tablets and computers, and it keeps your progress in your browser, so you can close the tab and come back later. Puzzles you print here are free to use in class or in products you sell, such as KDP books.

How to use the Tapa puzzle

1. Set Size to 6×6, 8×8 or 10×10. The default is 8×8.
2. Set Difficulty to Easy, Medium or Hard.
3. Press New puzzle. The board is ready as soon as the page opens, and “Generating…” shows only while a new one is made.
4. Click or tap a cell to shade it. Click or tap it again to clear it.
5. Right-click, or use the Dot chip, to mark a cell you know must stay unshaded.
6. Leave numbered clue cells unshaded, since they cannot be shaded. A clue turns grey when its neighbours match it.
7. Press Hint when you are stuck: it highlights the cells involved and explains the rule in one sentence. Press Check to see mistakes in red.
8. If you want the answer, press Show solution.
9. When the puzzle is solved, the page shows “Solved in m:ss.” Press Next puzzle to continue.

You can play with the keyboard too. Arrow keys move between cells, Space shades a cell, X marks a dot, and Backspace clears it. Undo and Redo work with Ctrl+Z and Shift+Ctrl+Z (Cmd on a Mac). To share the exact puzzle, press Copy link. The link holds the size, seed and difficulty, so it opens the same board on any device.

Tapa puzzle rules

A tapa puzzle is a grid with clue cells holding one to four numbers, and you shade cells to build one connected wall. Clue cells are never shaded, every shaded cell connects to the rest along its sides, and no 2×2 block is fully shaded. Each clue’s numbers are the lengths of the separate shaded runs among its eight neighbours, read once around the clue in any order. Cells outside the grid and neighbouring clue cells count as unshaded. Serkan Yürekli invented tapa in 2007.

A single 8 means all eight neighbours are shaded. The clue “3 1” means one run of three shaded neighbours and a separate single shaded neighbour, with unshaded cells between them.

How to solve tapa

To solve tapa, find cells that every legal option agrees on. The solver uses four logic techniques:

• Clue: list every way to place a clue’s runs around it that fits what you already know. A neighbour shaded in all of them is shaded, and one unshaded in all of them stays unshaded.
• Pool: if three cells of a 2×2 block are shaded, the fourth must be unshaded.
• Link: a cell without which two parts of the wall could never join must be shaded.
• Lone: a cell that no path of possibly-shaded cells can connect to the wall must be unshaded.

Easy puzzles need only clue and pool. Medium adds link and lone. Hard puzzles need trial and error. As an example, the first hint on the 8×8 Easy puzzle with seed 3 says every way to fit the runs of the clue 6 at row 3, column 7 shades row 3, column 8.

What do several numbers in one cell mean?

Several numbers in one cell are separate runs of shaded neighbours, one number per run. Each run must be separated from the next by at least one unshaded neighbour, going all the way around the clue. A clue with three numbers therefore needs at least three unshaded neighbours, and the runs cannot touch each other.

Does every puzzle have one solution?

Yes. Every puzzle is generated in your browser from a random seed, and it is kept only when the site’s solver proves that it has exactly one solution. That means you can always finish it by logic.

Frequently asked questions

Is the tapa puzzle free, and do I need an account?

Yes, it is free. You do not need an account or sign-up, and nothing you play is uploaded. Progress and settings are saved in your browser and restored when you return.

Can I play tapa on a phone?

Yes, it works on phones, tablets and computers. On a phone or tablet, the Shade and Dot chips above the board choose what a tap does. The Move chip lets you scroll a zoomed board instead of playing.

Can I print a tapa puzzle?

Yes. Press Print to get the puzzle on its own page, with its size, difficulty and rules. Tick “Print the answer page too” to add the solution on a second page. Choose Save as PDF in the print dialog if you want a file, and both A4 and Letter work.

What if I get stuck?

Press Hint for a one-sentence explanation of the next step. Press Check to see rule breaks or differences from the solution in red, or a “No mistakes so far” message with the percentage done. If you want a harder game, turn off “Show rule errors as I play,” which is on by default.

Can I sell tapa puzzles I print from this page?

Yes. Tapa puzzles from this page are royalty-free for personal, classroom and commercial use, including Amazon KDP puzzle books, Etsy printables, Teachers Pay Teachers and print-on-demand products. No credit is required. The only thing you may not do is copy the generator or the site itself to run a competing service; see the terms.

Related tools

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• LITS puzzle: Try it for a shading puzzle built around fitting fixed tetromino shapes.
• Kurodoko (Kuromasu): Use it for a number-clue puzzle where each number counts the visible cells around it.
• Norinori: Try it for a domino-placing puzzle with shaded pairs in regions.
• Heyawake: Use it for a shading puzzle where room clues limit how many cells can be shaded.
• Star Battle: Try it for a logic puzzle where you place stars under row, column and region limits.
• Nonogram (play online): Use it for a picture puzzle where row and column numbers tell you which cells to fill.
• All puzzles on the site: Browse every puzzle type in one place.