How to play Queens

Queens is a daily logic puzzle played on a grid divided into coloured regions. Every board on this site is generated in advance and verified to have exactly one solution, so you never have to guess — every queen can be deduced.

1. One queen per row. Every row holds exactly one queen.
2. One queen per column. No two queens share a column.
3. One queen per colour. Each coloured region holds exactly one queen.
4. No touching. Queens may not be adjacent, not even diagonally.

There is no long-distance diagonal rule: two queens far apart on the same diagonal are fine. That is what separates Queens from classic N-Queens, and it is why the colours carry the puzzle.

Solving tips

• Mark the cells a placed queen rules out before looking for the next one.
• If a row, column or colour has only one candidate cell left, a queen belongs there.
• When a colour is confined to a single row or column, no other region can use that line — often the fastest way to crack a hard board.
• Corners and thin regions constrain the most; start there on larger grids.

Frequently asked questions

What is Queens?

A logic puzzle on a grid of coloured regions. Place one queen in every row, every column and every colour, with no two queens touching — not even diagonally. There is no long-distance diagonal rule, so it is not classic N-Queens.

How do you play Queens?

Tap a cell once to mark it as ruled out, twice to place a queen. Work by elimination: when a row, column or colour has only one cell left, a queen belongs there. You win the moment all four rules hold.

Is there a new puzzle every day?

Yes. A new board goes live at midnight UTC. Size and difficulty follow a weekly rhythm: smaller and gentler early in the week, larger and harder towards the weekend.

Does every puzzle have exactly one solution?

Yes. Each board is run through an exact solver before publication and is only used if the solution is provably unique, so every board can be finished by deduction alone.

Do I need an account to play?

No. The daily puzzle is free and needs no sign-in; your streak lives in your browser. A free account syncs it across devices.

Can I play past Queens puzzles?

Yes. The archive holds every previous day's board, and practice mode generates unlimited fresh puzzles at any size and difficulty. Both are Queens+ supporter features.