How to Play Puzaku

Puzaku is a two-phase puzzle that combines word sudoku with an anagram challenge. A new puzzle is available every day — complete it, then keep going with unlimited levels.

1 Choose Your Grid

Select one of three grid sizes, each offering a different challenge:

4×4

Novice

4-letter words
4 boxes of 2×2

6×6

Classic

6-letter words
6 boxes of 2×3

9×9

Master

9-letter words
9 boxes of 3×3

2 Pick a Difficulty

🌱

Easy — Wrong letters are rejected instantly. The row, column, and box of your selected cell are highlighted to help you see which letters are already placed.

🔥

Medium — Letters are accepted even if wrong, but conflicting cells are highlighted in red. You need to figure out which one is incorrect.

💀

Hard — No feedback at all. Letters are accepted without any indication of correctness. You only find out if you're right when the grid is complete.

3 Fill the Grid (Phase 1)

The rules are the same as regular Sudoku, but with letters instead of numbers. Every row, column, and box must contain each letter exactly once.

Tap a cell to select it, then tap a letter from the keyboard below the grid. The letters in the keyboard are the same letters used in the hidden word.

Your Tools

✓ Sure

Mark a cell you're confident about. A small ✓ appears in the corner.

? Maybe

Mark a cell you're unsure of. A small ? appears — useful for tracking your reasoning.

💡 Hint

Reveals the correct letter. If a cell is selected, the hint fills that cell. Otherwise, a random empty cell is filled. Hinted cells can't be erased. Hints are counted and shown in your results.

⌫

Clears the selected cell. Can't erase given letters or hinted cells.

Tip: On Easy and Medium, when you complete an entire row, column, or box correctly, those cells flash green. Use this as confirmation you're on the right track. No flash means something's wrong somewhere.

4 Crack the Anagram (Phase 2)

Once the grid is complete, the timer keeps running and the scrambled letters appear. Your job: unscramble them to spell the hidden word.

Tap a slot to select it, then tap a letter to place it there. You can also drag letters directly into slots on both mobile and desktop. Tap a filled slot to send its letter back.

When all slots are filled, a ✓ Check button appears. Wrong? The letters shake and reset (but hinted letters stay locked). Right? You win!

Tip: The 💡 Hint button also works during the anagram phase. It places one correct letter in the right position, shown in blue. These letters stay locked even if you guess wrong.

5 Daily Levels & Streaks

Everyone gets the same Daily puzzle. Complete Level 1, and Level 2 unlocks with a new word. There's no limit — keep going as long as you want. Each level is a unique puzzle, and everyone playing the same level on the same day gets the same word.

Complete Daily Level 1 on consecutive days to build your 🔥 streak. Miss a day and it resets to 1. Only solving Level 1 (not giving up) counts for the streak.

6 Weekly Challenge

The Weekly challenge is the same puzzle for an entire week. Play it multiple times to beat your best time. Compare with friends by sharing your results.

7 Tips & Strategy

Start with the most constrained areas. Look for rows, columns, or boxes that already have the most letters filled in. These have fewer possibilities and are easier to solve.

Use the "Maybe" marks. If you think a cell could be one of two letters, mark it with ? and come back when you have more information.

Think about the word during Phase 1. As you fill the grid, you'll see all the letters. Start thinking about what word they might spell before you even reach the anagram.

For the anagram, look for common patterns. Common prefixes (UN-, RE-, PRE-), suffixes (-ING, -TION, -LY), and letter pairs (TH, CH, SH) can help you crack the word faster.

Play Puzaku Now →