Three of these numbers are lying.
How to play
Fill the grid so every row, column and 3×3 box holds the digits 1 to 9 once. Pick a cell, then type a digit or tap the number pad. Notes mode pencils in candidates. Undo is free.
Three of the starting digits are forgeries. They look exactly like the real ones and they never break the rules at a glance. They make the puzzle impossible, eventually. Solve forward until something cannot be true, then work out who put it there.
Switch to Accuse mode and tap a starting digit to accuse it. It is struck out and its cell opens up. You have five accusations, and every one counts, right or wrong. The game will not tell you whether you were right. The grid will: it can only be finished once all three forgeries are gone. Spend your last accusation with a forgery still standing and the round is over. If you would rather be told, switch on instant verdicts in the settings. We will judge you for it.
Finish the grid with no repeats to win. There is one daily puzzle, the same for everyone, and it resets at midnight UTC. Practice mode has easy (two forgeries, four accusations), normal and hard (three forgeries, four accusations) puzzles and no consequences. Mostly.
Give up lives in the settings. The Stats button keeps your daily record.
How it cheats
Every puzzle starts honest: a normal grid with exactly one solution. Then three digits are added that do not belong. Each forgery obeys the rules on its own, so nothing looks wrong at first. Follow the logic far enough and one of them makes a cell impossible.
None of it is random. The daily grid and its forgeries are the same for everyone, and every puzzle is checked so that exactly one set of three digits can be struck to leave a solvable grid. You never have to guess. You can, though. It costs.
When the round ends, the game confesses. Every forged digit flips over to show the number that really belongs there, with the contradiction it would have caused.
FAQ
- Is every puzzle actually solvable?
- Yes. Remove the three forgeries and what is left has exactly one solution, reachable by logic. And there is only one set of three digits whose removal makes the grid solvable.
- Can I just guess which numbers are fake?
- You can accuse any starting digit, but every accusation costs one of your five (four on easy and hard practice), and by default you are not told whether you were right. Guessing among thirty-odd digits goes badly. Logic goes better.
- Can the game tell me if an accusation was right?
- Yes. Switch on instant verdicts in the settings and every accusation is judged on the spot. Your share result will mention that you needed it.
- Why doesn't the game tell me when I enter a wrong number?
- Because it would give the forgeries away. Duplicates in a row, column or box are highlighted. Everything else is your problem.
- Is it the same puzzle for everyone?
- Yes. One daily grid with the same forgeries for everyone, changing at midnight UTC. Practice mode never touches your streak.
- Can I play offline?
- After your first visit, yes. The site keeps an offline copy of itself, and when it cannot reach our server the daily puzzle follows your device clock.
- What happens to my data?
- For now, your progress, stats and settings are stored in your browser, on your device. The privacy policy has the details.
- What does the share result show?
- Your time, your accusations in order (right or wrong) and how many forgeries you caught. Never where they were.