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Queens

One queen per row, column and color.

Play today's daily
Time 0:00Queens 0/6Best -

One queen per row, column and color. Queens can't touch.

Tap a cell: X, then queen, then empty. Drag across empty cells to mark X. Keys: arrows, Space, Q, X.

How to play Queens

Goal

Place one queen in each row, column and colored region, with no two queens touching.

  1. 1Each row, each column and each color region gets exactly one queen.
  2. 2Queens may not touch, not even diagonally.
  3. 3Tap once for an X to rule a cell out, twice for a queen, three times to clear.
  4. 4In Classic mode, place N queens so none share a row, column or diagonal.

On a computer

Click to cycle X, queen and empty. Arrows move, Space cycles, Q places a queen, X marks. U undoes.

On a phone

Tap to cycle X, queen and empty. Drag across empty cells to mark several X at once.

Play Queens free online. Place one queen in every row, column and color region with no queens touching, or solve classic N-Queens boards from 4 to 12.

Queens tips and strategy

  • Start with the smallest region. If it sits in one row or column, nothing else in that line can hold a queen.
  • When two regions fit inside the same two rows, those rows are taken. Cross out other regions there.
  • Every queen rules out the eight cells around it. Mark them with X right away.
  • If a region only has cells in one column, its queen lives in that column.
  • Use X marks generously. Most of the solving is ruling cells out.
  • In Classic mode, try a staircase pattern of knight moves to get started on larger boards.

About Queens

Queens is a logic puzzle on a square board split into colored regions. Place exactly one queen in every row, every column and every color region. There is one more rule that makes it tricky: queens may not touch each other, not even at a corner. Each region puzzle here is generated with a single solution, so every queen can be found by reasoning.

The puzzle grew out of the famous eight queens problem, first posed by a chess composer in 1848: place eight chess queens on a board so that none can attack another. That classic is included too. In Classic mode you pick a board from 4 by 4 up to 12 by 12 and place one queen per row and column with no two on the same diagonal. Any arrangement that works counts as a win.

Tap a cell once to mark it with an X, twice for a queen, and a third time to clear it. You can drag across empty cells to mark many X at once, turn on Auto X to cross out cells a new queen rules out, and conflicts are highlighted in red.

Queens FAQ

What are the rules of the Queens puzzle?

Place one queen in each row, column and colored region. No two queens can touch, including diagonally.

Do region puzzles have only one solution?

Yes. Each board is checked by a solver, and the regions are adjusted until exactly one answer remains.

What is the eight queens problem?

It asks you to place eight chess queens on an 8 by 8 board so that no two attack each other along a row, column or diagonal. Classic mode lets you try it on boards from 4 to 12.

Is there a daily Queens puzzle?

Yes. The daily uses the color region rules on an 8 by 8 board.

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