TappyPotato logic puzzles

Pencil logic

Hashiwokakero — rules and where to play

HASHIWOKAKERO · Bridges / Hashi / Chopsticks

The number on an island is how many bridges leave it. Bridges run only horizontally or vertically, never cross, and every island must end up reachable.

Origin
1990 · Japan
Difficulty
★★★★★ 2–4 / 5
Time
5–30 min
Grid
7×7 – 25×25
Sites
9

Rules

  1. Circles are islands; the digit is the total number of bridges touching it.
  2. Bridges run horizontally or vertically and may not cross another bridge or pass through an island.
  3. At most two bridges join any pair of islands.
  4. All islands must end up in one connected network.

How to start

Settle the corners and edges first

A corner takes at most two bridges, an edge at most three. When the digit tops out, the directions are forced.

Let "no crossing" do the pruning

Once a bridge is drawn, every connection that would cross it dies. It removes candidates in bulk.

Finish with a connectivity check

When reasoning stalls, look for an island with no route left — that means an earlier bridge was wrong.

Where players get stuck

  • Forgetting every island must be connected and producing a tidy-looking but split network.
  • Treating a 1 island as optional — it still has to join the whole.

Play Hashiwokakero

9 sites
Puzzle PicnicFree

Handmade Nikoli-style grids from a mix of setters, picked rather than dumped, playable in the page.

Open → PuzzleMixFreemium

Gareth Moore's site: Sudoku, then Slitherlink, Nurikabe, Futoshiki, Calcudoku and Hanjie.

Open → pzv.jpFree

A wider puzz.link-style database — more types, cut a bit finer.

Open → Penpa+Free

A fat editor for Japanese types: lots of shapes and marks, and it will ingest a puzz.link.

Open → pzplusFree

A community bank with difficulty and clear counts, browsable without leaving the page.

Open → Naoki InabaFree

Naoki Inaba writes a lot, including types you won't see many other places.

Open → Puzzle Square JPFree

A large Japanese variant archive that moves often, with difficulty marks on the grids.

Open → Grandmaster PuzzlesFree

Thomas Snyder's own handmade Sudoku and variants — world-champion difficulty, not generated filler.

Open → GridPuzzleFree

Dozens of grid logic types in the browser, with progress tracking and dailies.

Open →

Browse All-in-one portals →

Also on multi-type portals

Janko.atFree

Otto Janko's German/English archive: hundreds of playable types, all free.

Open → Puzzle RulesFree

Clean rule pages for dozens of types. Fastest way to learn a grid you haven't seen.

Open → NoqxFree

An ASP solver for 170-plus types. Connectivity puzzles tend to come back quickly.

Open → Nikoli Puzzle SolverFree

Z3 under the hood, 100-plus types, including hex and triangle boards.

Open →

Browse portals →

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About this page
  • Last updated 2026-09-22
  • Source Curated compilation of established puzzle rules and listed third-party play sites
  • Audience Players learning Hashiwokakero rules or looking for online sites to play
  • Covers Rules summary, how to start, common pitfalls, and the dedicated play sites listed on this page
  • Does not cover Hosted puzzles, worked solutions, official contest rankings, third-party uptime or pricing guarantees
  • Not advice This page is puzzle reference content only. It does not constitute financial, legal, medical or other professional advice.
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