Gentle puzzles for warming up or learning the game. Every one can be finished with the simplest technique there is.

What makes these puzzles easy

"Easy" here has an exact meaning. Before a puzzle reaches this page, our solver works through it the way a person would, trying the simplest technique first. A puzzle only counts as easy if the solver finishes it using naked singles alone: at every point there is at least one square where only one digit fits. If the solver ever needs anything harder, the puzzle is set aside and another one is tried.

Easy puzzles also start with at least 38 digits, so there is always somewhere to begin. Like every puzzle on the site, each one has exactly one solution, which the solver checks before you see it. You never need to guess.

How to find a naked single

Pick an empty square and look at three places: its row, its column and its 3×3 box. Cross off every digit you see in any of them. If eight digits are crossed off, the ninth is the answer.

A quick example: a square's row holds 1, 3, 5 and 7; its column holds 2, 4 and 8; its box holds 1, 6 and 7. Between them that is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Only 9 is left, so the square is 9.

Want to see a whole puzzle solved this way, move by move? Our step-by-step beginner walkthrough does exactly that, with a grid after each stage.

Tips for your first games

Start with the busiest areas. Rows, columns and boxes that already hold six or seven digits leave the fewest choices. A row with two gaps is nearly done.
Follow your last move. Every digit you place changes its row, column and box. The next easy square is often right beside it.
Scan one digit at a time. Pick a digit, say 5, and look for boxes where it is still missing. Often the other 5s rule out all but one square.
Use notes when stuck. Turn on Notes and pencil in what each square could be. The answer often jumps out.
Don't guess. On an easy puzzle a forced square always exists. If you can't see one, look again rather than trying a digit.

Using the game's tools

Notes (the ✎ button, or N on a keyboard) switches between writing digits and pencilling candidates.
Hint fills one square and names the technique that finds it, with a link to how it works. If you have a wrong digit on the board, the hint points to it first, since every later step depends on it.
Undo takes back your last move, up to 200 moves back (Ctrl+Z works too).
Show mistakes marks wrong digits in red and counts them. Turn it off if you'd rather find your own errors.
Your puzzle is saved in this browser as you play, so you can close the page and come back to it.

A hint is a good teacher if you use it well: after it fills a square, ask yourself why that digit had to go there before you carry on.

Common beginner mistakes

Forgetting the box. Most missed eliminations come from checking a row and column but not the 3×3 box, or the other way round.
Trusting a digit you weren't sure of. One wrong digit can sit unnoticed for many moves before the grid stops making sense. If things stop fitting, check your last few entries first.
Only looking at squares. Asking "where can this digit go in this box?" finds digits that asking "what goes in this square?" misses.

When to move up

When you can finish easy puzzles without hints, try medium sudoku. Medium puzzles need at least one hidden single: a digit that has only one possible square in a row, column or box, even though that square could hold other digits. There is a fresh puzzle at each level on our daily page too, the same for everyone that day.