About our puzzle games
Our free puzzle games online cover the full range, from pure deduction to relaxing picture puzzles: Sudoku, Nonograms, Minesweeper, KenKen, Logic Puzzles, Jigsaw Puzzles, Tangram and more. Each one is built to be solved, not just clicked through, with clear rules, fair difficulty curves and tools like pencil marks, undo and hints where they belong.
Five of the puzzles here have a fresh daily edition, so there is always a new grid waiting in the morning. Timed puzzles post to the leaderboards, which makes a daily Sudoku or Nonogram a small, friendly race against other solvers.
You can play every puzzle in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer with no download and no sign-up. Start a Sudoku on your commute, switch to a jigsaw at lunch, and pick up where you left off in the games that auto-save.
Where to start
SudokuThe best all-rounder, from gentle Easy grids to Expert puzzles that need advanced techniques.
NonogramPicture logic: follow the number clues and a pixel image appears as you solve.
Jigsaw PuzzleThe most relaxing option, with 16 to 150 pieces and no pressure.
Logic PuzzlesFor deduction fans who love Einstein-style "who owns the zebra" riddles.
MinesweeperA retro favorite with a safe first click and a mobile-friendly flag mode.
Block PuzzleBest for a five-minute break when you want a puzzle without heavy thinking.Advertisement
The four kinds of puzzle on this page
Puzzle games feel very different depending on what they ask of you. Knowing the type helps you pick the right one for your mood.
- Pure logic. Sudoku, Logic Puzzles and Nonogram have exactly one answer that you reach by reasoning, never by guessing. They reward patience and systematic thinking.
- Logic with arithmetic. KenKen adds simple sums and products to a Sudoku-style grid, and Math Puzzles test quick mental calculation. See our number games for more.
- Spatial and picture puzzles. Tangram, Jigsaw Puzzle and the Sliding Puzzle are about shapes and positions rather than numbers or words.
- Casual puzzle-arcade hybrids. Block Puzzle, 2048, Match 3 and Bubble Shooter mix light planning with a satisfying scoring loop. They are the easiest to dip into for a few minutes.
A short history of the classics
Many of these puzzles are older than they look. The Tangram comes from China and spread to Europe and America in the early 1800s, where it became a popular parlor pastime. The 15 puzzle, the ancestor of our Sliding Puzzle, caused a genuine craze in the United States in 1880.
Sudoku in its modern form first appeared in an American puzzle magazine in 1979 under the name Number Place. It was later popularized in Japan, where it picked up the name we use today, and became a worldwide newspaper staple in the mid-2000s. Nonograms were created in Japan in the late 1980s, and Minesweeper reached millions of desks when it shipped with Microsoft Windows in the early 1990s. KenKen is a newer invention, created by Japanese math teacher Tetsuya Miyamoto in 2004.
Tips if you are new to logic puzzles
- Start one level below where you think you belong. Solving an easy grid cleanly teaches you more than abandoning a hard one halfway.
- Use pencil marks. In Sudoku and KenKen, noting the few numbers that could go in a cell turns an overwhelming grid into a series of small, obvious steps.
- Look for the most constrained spot. In any logic puzzle, the row, clue or cell with the fewest options is usually where progress hides.
- In Nonograms, begin with the big clues. A clue of 8 in a 10-wide row means the middle six cells must be filled, whatever else is true.
- In Minesweeper, count before you click. A revealed 1 touching a single unopened square tells you that square is a mine.
When you are comfortable, try the daily puzzles. They are a good way to build a steady habit, and you can compare your times on the leaderboards.
Frequently asked questions
What is the hardest puzzle game on this site?
For most people, Expert Sudoku, large KenKen grids (up to 7x7) and Hard Logic Puzzles are the toughest. Expert Minesweeper is also demanding because it tests both logic and nerve.
What is the difference between KenKen and Sudoku?
Both ask you to place numbers so none repeat in a row or column. Sudoku uses 3x3 boxes and no arithmetic at all. KenKen replaces the boxes with outlined "cages", each with a target number and an operation such as + or x, so you combine logic with simple math.
What is a nonogram?
A nonogram (also called Picross or Griddlers) is a picture logic puzzle. Numbers beside each row and column tell you the lengths of the filled blocks in that line. Solve them all and a hidden pixel picture appears.
Is there a new puzzle every day?
Yes. Sudoku, KenKen, Nonogram, Logic Puzzles and Jigsaw Puzzle all have a daily edition, alongside unlimited practice puzzles. The Daily Challenge page collects every daily game in one place.
Are puzzle games good for your brain?
Regularly doing puzzles you enjoy keeps you practicing skills like attention, reasoning and working memory, and research has linked mentally active hobbies with better cognitive health. That is an association, though, not proof that puzzles protect the brain on their own. Our puzzle benefits guide explains what the evidence does and does not show.