Queens
Place one queen in every row, every column and every coloured region. Queens cannot touch — not even diagonally.
The rules
- 1One queen per row and column
Every row and every column of the grid holds exactly one queen — just like the N-queens problem.
- 2One queen per colour
The grid is split into coloured regions. Each region also holds exactly one queen.
- 3Queens never touch
No two queens may be adjacent, including diagonally. Placing a queen rules out all eight squares around it.
- 4Mark what you know
Tap a square once for an X (no queen here), twice for a queen, a third time to clear it. Drag across squares to X several at once.
- 5Finish the grid
When every row, column and region has one queen and none of them touch, the puzzle is solved and your time is recorded.
Controls
- Mouse / touch
- Tap to cycle a square (empty → X → queen). Press and drag to X many squares.
- Keyboard
- Arrow keys move, Space or Enter cycles, X marks, Q places a queen, Backspace clears. Ctrl+Z undoes.
Tips
- Start with the smallest regions: a region of one or two squares pins its queen almost immediately.
- If a region sits entirely inside one row, no other square of that row can hold a queen.
- Two regions confined to the same two rows claim those rows between them — X out the rest.
- Never guess. Every puzzle here is generated with a single solution that deduction alone reaches.
Regions replace the numbers of Sudoku, and queens cannot even touch corners — so each placement clears a whole neighbourhood.
Queens is a pure deduction puzzle: there is always exactly one answer, and you never need to guess. Mark the squares that cannot hold a queen, and the ones that must will show themselves.
Common questions
Is Queens free to play?
Yes. Every Queens puzzle here is free, with nothing to install. The daily and unlimited free-play boards work without an account; signing in only adds streaks, best times and the leaderboard.
Is there a new Queens puzzle every day?
Yes. A new daily board is generated at 00:00 UTC and is the same for every player that day, so times compare directly. Past dailies stay playable in the archive.
Do Queens puzzles ever need guessing?
No. Every board is generated with exactly one solution reachable by deduction alone. When you feel stuck there is always a forced square somewhere, usually in the smallest colour region.
How is Queens different from the N-queens problem?
N-queens only asks that no two queens attack each other. Queens adds coloured regions, one queen per region, and forbids queens from touching even diagonally, so each placement clears all eight neighbouring squares.