HOW DO YOU PLAY KENKEN?

1. Your goal is to fill the grid with numbers so that no numbers repeat in any row or column. In the easy 4 x 4 grid,  use the numbers 1–4. In a 6 x 6 challenge grid, use numbers 1–6. You can enter numbers by clicking or using the keyboard.
2. The heavily-outlined squares in each grid are called “cages.” In the upper-left corner of each cage, there is a “target number” and a math operation (+, –, x, ÷).
3. Fill in each square of a cage with a number. The numbers in each cage must combine — in any order, using only that cage’s math operation — to form that cage’s target number.
4. Cages with just one square should be filled in with the number in that cage’s top corner…it’s a freebie!
5. You CAN repeat a number within a cage, as long as those repeated numbers are not in the same row or column.

HOW DO YOU SOLVE A KENKEN PUZZLE?

There aren’t a lot of tricks to solving a KenKen puzzle. What’s going to help you the most in KenKen is to develop problem-solving skills.

Step 1 - Fill out what numbers you can and figure out the rest.  Some cages are easy to solve. One-square cages, for example, have to be the target number. If you have a two-square cage with a target number of 3+, those two squares have to be 1 and 2.

Your first goal should be to fill out these obvious squares and solve the easy cages before doing anything else. That’ll make solving the more challenging difficult cages a lot easier.

Step 2 - Take notes. It’ll be much easier to solve your KenKen puzzle if you can visualize all the possibilities instead of having to remember them all. We’ve included a note functionality in the bottom-right corner of the game so you can put your notes directly into the KenKen squares. Just select the square you want to add your note to and choose from the numbers in the bottom-right corner of the game window. You’ll see those numbers appear in small print at the bottom of your selected puzzle square. That’s your note.

Step 3 - Go back to what’s easy. Once you have all the possible number combinations written out on a piece of paper in front of you, you’ll see some more obvious number placements that you couldn’t see before you wrote out all of the possibilities. Add those newly obvious numbers to their appropriate squares.

Step 4 - Repeat until solved. At this point, you’ll repeat steps 2 and 3 until you’ve solved the entire puzzle. Every time you write out the possible number combinations down, you’ll find even more obvious square solutions. Every time you fill out those obvious squares, it’ll give you more information about the number possibilities for the remaining blank squares.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN FROM PLAYING KENKEN?

KenKen can help you develop basic math skills such as addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication. It also helps develop and strengthen problem-solving techniques, logic, and critical thinking.