Sudoku Strategies, From Singles to X-Wing and Beyond
Every sudoku technique in the order you need it, from hidden singles to X-Wing, XY-Wing and colouring, each with a worked example you can check by hand.
Puzzle Picnic blog
Calm logic puzzles, explained properly
How to play and how to get better at Sudoku, Bridges (Hashi), Ships (Battleship solitaire), Star Battle, path puzzles and arrow puzzles. Clear rules, real techniques with worked examples, the history behind each puzzle, and honest notes on puzzles and the mind.
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Hashi Strategies: The Deductions That Solve Most Bridges Puzzles
The Hashi (Bridges) techniques in the order you need them: corner 4s, lonely 1s, crossing blocks, closed groups and what-if reasoning, with worked grids.
Battleship Solitaire Strategy: Water, Counting and the Big Ship First
Battleship solitaire techniques in the order you need them: zero lines, water rings, the battleship first, fleet accounting and a full 8x8 solve.
Star Battle Strategies: Regions, Counting and Squeezes
Every Star Battle technique in the order you need it, from marking around stars to counting regions in rows and 2x2 blocks, with a full 6x6 solve.
Path Puzzle Strategies: Corners, Dead Ends and Parity
The deductions that solve one-line path puzzles like Trail and Zip. Corners, numbers in order, dead ends, chessboard parity, plus a full 5x5 solve.
Lines Strategy: Finding the Line That Can Go First
How to solve arrow puzzles like Lines without mistakes. Read lanes, start at the edges, follow blocking chains and treat the order as a dependency graph.
Do Puzzles Keep Your Brain Sharp? What the Research Says
An honest guide to the research on puzzles and the brain: the PROTECT study, the ACTIVE trial, brain-training claims and the Lancet Commission on dementia risk.
What Is Puzzle Picnic? Six Calm Logic Puzzles in One App
Puzzle Picnic is a calm app with six logic puzzles, from Sudoku to Star Battle. A tour of the games, daily puzzles, challenges, stickers, ads and Premium.
Sudoku guides and strategies
Rules, techniques from singles to X-Wing, the small 6x6 grid and where the puzzle came from.
- Sudoku Strategies, From Singles to X-Wing and Beyond 13 min
- 6x6 Sudoku: Rules, 2x3 Boxes and Tips for the Small Grid 9 min
- How to Play Sudoku: The Rules and Your First Solve 10 min
- Naked and Hidden Pairs in Sudoku, Explained With Examples 9 min
- Sudoku Notes (Pencil Marks): When and How to Use Them 8 min
- The History of Sudoku: From Number Place to the 2005 Craze 10 min
- Why a Good Sudoku Has Exactly One Solution 8 min
- X-Wing and Swordfish: Sudoku Fish Patterns Made Simple 8 min
Bridges (Hashi) guides and strategies
How to play Hashiwokakero, the deductions that solve it and the mistakes to avoid.
- Hashi Strategies: The Deductions That Solve Most Bridges Puzzles 14 min
- Bridges for Sudoku Players: What Carries Over and What Is New 10 min
- Common Bridges Puzzle Mistakes, and How to Avoid Them 8 min
- Hashiwokakero: The Story of the Bridge Puzzle 8 min
- How to Play Bridges (Hashi): Rules and a First Puzzle 9 min
- The Connectivity Rule: How "Everything Must Join" Solves Hashi 9 min
Ships (Battleship solitaire) guides and strategies
Battleship turned into logic: the rules, the no-touch rule, ship pieces and fleet counting.
- Battleship Solitaire Strategy: Water, Counting and the Big Ship First 14 min
- Battleship the Game vs. Battleship the Puzzle: What Changes 9 min
- Bimaru, Yubotu, Battleship Solitaire: One Puzzle, Many Names 9 min
- How to Play Battleship Solitaire: Rules, Fleet and First Moves 10 min
- Reading Ship Pieces: What Ends, Middles and Submarines Tell You 9 min
- Why Ships Never Touch: The Diagonal Rule in Battleship Puzzles 10 min
Stars (Star Battle) guides and strategies
One star per row, column and region: rules, region logic, and how it relates to Queens.
- Star Battle Strategies: Regions, Counting and Squeezes 13 min
- How to Play Star Battle: Rules and a First Puzzle 9 min
- LinkedIn Queens and Star Battle: Same Rules, More Puzzles 8 min
- Star Battle for Beginners: 7 Mistakes and How to Avoid Them 8 min
- Star Battle Regions: How Small Regions Solve the Puzzle 10 min
- Star Battle: Where the Puzzle Came From 9 min
Trail and path puzzle guides
One line through every square: strategies, walls, Hidato and Numbrix, and the maths behind it.
- Path Puzzle Strategies: Corners, Dead Ends and Parity 14 min
- Hidato vs Numbrix vs Trail: Number Path Puzzles Compared 9 min
- How to Play Trail: One Line Through Every Square 9 min
- The Maths Behind One-Line Puzzles: Hamiltonian Paths 10 min
- Walls in Trail: How Barriers Make the Path Easier to Find 9 min
Lines (arrow puzzle) guides
Tap the arrowed lines out of the shape: which line goes first, and how to clear big grids.
Puzzle habits and wellbeing
Daily puzzles, streaks, calm and what the research really says about puzzles and the brain.
- Do Puzzles Keep Your Brain Sharp? What the Research Says 15 min
- Daily Puzzles After Wordle: Logic Puzzles to Try Next 11 min
- How to Build a Daily Puzzle Habit That Lasts 11 min
- Puzzle Streaks: How to Keep One Without Letting It Run You 10 min
- Puzzles With Friends When You Can't Play at the Same Time 11 min
- Swap Ten Minutes of Scrolling for a Puzzle: A Practical Guide 10 min
- The Best Logic Puzzles for Beginners, and Which to Try First 10 min
- Why Logic Puzzles Feel Calming (and When They Don't) 10 min
Inside Puzzle Picnic
How the app makes fair puzzles, how stickers and levels work, and how it treats your time.
- What Is Puzzle Picnic? Six Calm Logic Puzzles in One App 13 min
- Ads Without Interrupting a Puzzle: How Puzzle Picnic Paces Them 9 min
- Easy to Expert: What Changes at Each Puzzle Level 10 min
- How Puzzle Picnic Makes a Puzzle From a Seed 10 min
- My Picnic: How Stickers, Packs and the Blanket Work 8 min
- No Guessing Required: What Logic-Only Puzzles Really Mean 8 min