kisha
Like Minesweeper? Try Kisha
The best part of Minesweeper is the moment a number tells you exactly where things are, and the worst is the guess at the end. Kisha keeps the first and drops the second. Its stations count the eight squares around them, like Minesweeper's numbers, but what they count is the track of their own train, and every puzzle can be solved to the last square by reasoning.
Play Kisha →Play today’s puzzle
What you already know
- Eight neighbours. A station counts the eight squares around it, diagonals included, so the overlap between two stations' squares is where the logic is, as it is between two Minesweeper numbers.
- Edges and corners. A station on the edge has fewer squares around it, and a high number there leaves little choice.
- Counting down. Once a station has all the track it asks for, its train stays out of every other square around it.
What is new
- You draw lines, not flags. Each train runs one line from its start to its finish, so the squares a station counts also have to join up.
- Each station counts its own train, by colour; other trains' track around it does not count.
- No guessing, ever. Every Kisha has exactly one solution, and a solver has checked that reasoning alone gets you there.
The rules of Kisha
- Draw one line for each train, in its colour, from its start to its finish. A line steps from square to neighbouring square, may leave its start any way, and never turns round inside a square. Squares no line uses are fine.startfinisha line
- Lines may cross, but only on straights: two lines share a square only when both run straight through it at right angles. Otherwise track never overlaps, and no line runs into a void or a station.crossingvoid
- A station counts the eight squares around it, diagonals included, in which its own train has track — its start and finish count too, and each square counts once. Its number is that count. A station with ? only has to be passed at least once.station? station
- A piece of track printed on the board has to be laid by one of the lines, whichever train it is. A straight piece may still be crossed at right angles.piece