Puzaku is a two-phase puzzle that combines a letter logic grid with an anagram challenge. Start at Level 1 and work your way through unlimited levels — each one uses a different word and gets progressively harder.
Before you start, pick your grid size and difficulty. These can be changed any time from the home screen.
The rules follow the same logic as a number grid puzzle, but with letters instead of numbers. Every row, column, and box must contain each letter exactly once. The letters are those from the hidden word — so a 6-letter word means 6 unique letters spread across the grid.
Tap or click a cell to select it, then tap a letter from the keyboard below the grid. On desktop, you can also type directly with your keyboard. The word's category is shown above the grid as a clue.
Hints come in three tiers. Every player starts with a free bundle each game — no streak, no ad required. After that, you can watch a short ad for extra penalty-free hints. Any hints beyond that add time to your clock.
| Tier | 4×4 | 6×6 | 9×9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🆓 Free bundle | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 📺 Watch an ad (+2 hints, capped) | 1 ad | 1 ad | 2 ads |
| ⏱ Penalty hints (unlimited) | Each one adds time to your clock — see table below | ||
Your streak doesn't give you more free hints — it makes penalty hints cheaper. The longer your streak, the less time each penalty hint costs you.
| Streak | 4×4 per hint | 6×6 per hint | 9×9 per hint |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–6 days 🔴 | +30s | +45s | +60s |
| 7–13 days 🟠 | +20s | +30s | +40s |
| 14–29 days 🟡 | +15s | +20s | +30s |
| 30+ days 🟢 | +10s | +15s | +20s |
The coloured bulb next to your streak shows your current tier — red at baseline, green at the lowest penalty. Penalty time is added to your clock the moment you use the hint, so your final time already includes the cost.
Once the grid is complete the timer keeps running and the scrambled letters appear. Your job: arrange them to spell the hidden word.
Tap a slot to select it, then tap a letter tile to place it. You can also drag tiles directly into slots on both mobile and desktop. Tap a filled slot to return its letter to the pool.
When all slots are filled, the ✓ Check button appears. Wrong guess? The tiles shake and reset — but any hinted letters stay locked in place. Correct? You win!
Everyone playing the same grid size and difficulty gets the same word at each level — Level 1 is the same for all players, Level 2 is the same for all players, and so on. Complete a level and the next one unlocks with a fresh word. There's no cap — levels go on indefinitely, each progressively harder.
Your level progress is saved permanently — come back any time and pick up where you left off. Play a level each day to build your streak:
Hit 7 days and your hint penalty starts dropping. The longer your streak, the cheaper each penalty hint becomes — reaching minimum cost at 30 days. Miss a day and your streak resets to 1. Giving up (revealing the answer) does not count towards your streak — only solving does.
Your streak and best times are saved locally on your device by default. To protect your progress across devices, go to ⚙️ Settings → Save Progress to Cloud and turn it on. Once enabled, your stats sync automatically after every solve. You'll get a Save Code you can use to restore everything on any new device or browser.
The Weekly Challenge is the same puzzle for the entire week for all players on the same grid size and difficulty. Play it once to set your time, then come back as many times as you like to beat it. The word changes every week.
Weekly results appear on the leaderboard alongside level times — a great way to see how you compare with other players.
The leaderboard shows the fastest times for the current grid size and difficulty. Switch between Level Best (your best time across all levels) and the Weekly leaderboard using the tabs at the top.
Times on the leaderboard are your true times — hint penalties are already included. A clean solve with no penalty hints will always beat the same raw time with hints. The leaderboard naturally rewards skill.
To appear on the leaderboard you need two things: first enable Save Progress to Cloud in ⚙️ Settings, then turn on Show my times publicly. Both are off by default — your times stay private until you choose otherwise. You can opt out of either at any time.
Your leaderboard name is automatically generated from your player ID — a three-word combination like "Glacial Iron Wolverine" or "Blazing Silent Falcon" that is always the same for you. No setup required.
Start with the most constrained areas. Look for rows, columns, or boxes that already have the most letters filled in. Fewer gaps means fewer possibilities and easier deductions.
Use Maybe marks freely. If a cell could be one of two letters, mark it with ? and move on. When you solve another cell, you'll often rule out one of the options automatically.
Think about the word during Phase 1. The category clue above the grid gives you a head start. As you fill in letters, start mentally rearranging them — you'll often arrive at the answer the moment Phase 2 starts.
For the anagram, look for common patterns. Common prefixes (UN-, RE-, PRE-), suffixes (-ING, -ED, -LY), and letter pairs (TH, CH, SH, ST) can help you crack the word much faster than trying random arrangements.