Play Kakuro Online Free

How to Play Kakuro

Kakuro is a cross-sum puzzle - a crossword where every answer is a number. The grid mixes dark clue cells with empty white cells. Each clue cell can hold two totals: the blue number in its lower-left corner is the target for the run of white cells stretching to its right, and the red number in its upper-right corner is the target for the run stretching downward. Fill every white cell with a digit from 1 to 9 so that each run adds up exactly to its clue, without using any digit twice in the same run. Every run is at least two cells long.

Click or tap a white cell to select it, then enter a digit with the number pad below the board or your keyboard. The arrow keys jump between white cells, skipping clue blocks, and Clear, Backspace, Delete or 0 empties a cell. Every digit you enter counts as a move, including replacing one you already entered, while clearing a cell is free. The puzzle finishes the moment every white cell is filled and every run hits its total with no repeats, and a summary shows your moves, your time from the first digit, and the grid size. Choose 6×6, 8×8 or 10×10 above the board; clicking a size button always deals a fresh puzzle.

Strategy Tips

Work the two-cell runs first - short runs around the interior clue blocks have the fewest combinations, and each one you settle hands a fixed digit to the run crossing it.
Start from extreme totals - small totals on long runs and large totals on short runs have the fewest combinations. A 3 across two cells can only be 1 and 2; a 17 across two cells can only be 8 and 9.
Intersect every cell's two runs - each white cell belongs to one across run and one down run, and its digit has to fit both. List the candidates each run allows and keep only the overlap.
Finish runs by subtraction - once all but one cell of a run is filled, the last digit is the clue minus the sum of the others. Look for these after every entry; one placement often completes two runs.
Solve before you type - moves count every digit you enter, so the minimum is one move per white cell. Work a cell out completely before touching it, and you will finish with a far better count.

Read the full Kakuro guide →

Playing Kakuro on PlayVersusAI

Kakuro here is drawn as a square grid of 6×6, 8×8 or 10×10 cells. The top row and left column are always clue cells, and extra clue blocks are scattered through the interior to break rows and columns into shorter runs. Each clue cell shows its across total in blue at the lower left and its down total in red at the upper right. Tap or click a white cell, then enter a digit from the number pad below the board or from your keyboard; the arrow keys jump between white cells, and Clear, Backspace, Delete or 0 empties a cell.

Puzzles are generated on the spot, so you will not meet the same grid twice. The generator fills the white cells following the real Kakuro rule — no digit repeats inside a run — and never leaves a run of just one cell, so the classic combination tables apply exactly. The checker enforces the same rule: the puzzle completes the instant every run reaches its total with no repeated digit. Grids are not checked for a single unique answer, so any filling that meets every clue is accepted, even one that differs from the grid the generator started with. The summary shows your move count, solve time and grid size.

What's on This Page

Three difficulty levels — Easy, Medium and Hard, chosen with the buttons above the board. Changing level starts a fresh game.
High-score table — lowest move counts are ranked on the global leaderboard when you are signed in.
No account required — the full game is playable as a guest, on desktop, tablet or phone.

The three buttons set the grid size: 6×6, 8×8 or 10×10, counting the clue row and column, which leaves a 5×5, 7×7 or 9×9 playing area minus the random interior blocks. Larger grids bring longer runs, bigger totals and many more interlocking constraints. The generation method is identical at every size, so the extra difficulty comes from scale and bookkeeping rather than from a different kind of logic.

Mistakes That Lose Games

Typing guesses into the grid. Every digit you enter is a move, overwrites included, and the leaderboard ranks the fewest moves. Work a cell out before you touch it.
Reading the clue colours the wrong way round. Blue, in the lower left of a clue cell, is the across total; red, in the upper right, is the down total.
Forgetting the no-repeat rule. A run of 4 across two cells is 1 and 3, never 2 and 2. A grid where every sum is right but one run repeats a digit will not complete.
Solving runs in isolation. Each white cell has to satisfy its across run and its down run at the same time, and the overlap between the two candidate lists is where most progress comes from.

Kakuro Questions

Does each puzzle have only one solution?

Not necessarily. Grids are generated randomly and are not checked for uniqueness, so more than one filling can satisfy the clues. The game accepts any grid in which every run adds up to its total without repeating a digit.

Can I play on a phone or tablet?

Yes. Tap a cell to select it and use the number pad under the board to enter digits or clear the cell. On a computer you can type digits directly and use the arrow keys to move between white cells.

How are moves counted for the leaderboard?

Every digit entered into a cell is one move, including replacing a digit already there; clearing a cell costs nothing. The best possible count is one move per white cell, and lower is better on the leaderboard. All three grid sizes share one table, so smaller grids naturally post lower counts.

For the complete rules, the deeper strategy and the history of the game, read the full Kakuro guide, or browse guides for all 33 games.