Rules
Tapa is a shading puzzle. The board is a square grid. Some cells hold a clue, and that cell stays white. The ring around a clue is the cells that touch it, including the diagonals. In the middle that ring has eight cells. On an edge it has fewer. Each number is the length of one group of shaded cells in that ring. A group is consecutive shaded cells along the ring. White cells separate the groups. The numbers are written from smallest to largest, so the order around the ring does not matter. A 0 means every neighbour is white. A 4 means one group of four. A 1 and a 2 means one shaded neighbour on its own and a separate group of two. Shade a cell to make it part of the wall, or leave it white. A dot only records a cell you already know is white. You do not have to dot every white cell. No four shaded cells may form a solid 2×2. Every shaded cell has to share a side with the rest of the wall. Touching only at a corner does not join the wall. The puzzle is finished when the shaded cells are that one wall. Play is 6×6 through 10×10, each at easy, medium, and hard. The daily puzzle is an 8×8 easy grid. People also look this up as a tapa puzzle.
Nurikabe also keeps one shaded region, forbids a solid 2×2, and keeps the numbered cell white. There, a number is the size of a white island. Here, a number is the length of a shaded group in the ring around the clue.
- Read the ring. A clue stays white. Each number is the length of one shaded group in the cells that touch it, diagonals included. A 0 means every neighbour is white.
- No solid block. No four shaded cells may form a solid 2×2.
- One wall. Every shaded cell shares a side with the rest of the wall. The puzzle is finished when those shaded cells are that one wall. Dots are optional.
Fourteen shaded cells. White cells stay blank, including the clues. The frame is the solved frame. Shaded cells use the solved shade. Numbers sit on the solved clue face, white digits on the teal well. No dots. No amber. No yellow ring. A printed puzzle page shows the grid and the numbers. A printed answer fills each shaded cell that is not a clue and leaves white cells blank. Dots are not printed. On the live board, once the puzzle is solved, cells you never marked take a teal wash. This picture leaves them blank.
- Shade
- Dot
- Clue
- Done
- Clash
Choose Shade or Dot under the board. Tap a cell, or drag across cells, to place that mark. Tap a cell that already has the mark to clear it. A cell with the other mark takes the new one. A drag follows the first playable cell: it places the mark, or it clears when that cell already has it. Clue cells stay empty. With a mouse, right-click places a dot, or clears a dot that is already there. Arrow keys move and stop at the edge. The first arrow, when nothing is selected, selects the top-left cell. Space or Enter places the selected mark, or clears it when the cell already has that mark. S or 1 shades the cell. X, D, E, or 2 places a dot. M switches Shade and Dot. Backspace, Delete, or 0 clears the cell. There is no cycle through the marks.
The line under the board reads "Tap a cell, or drag across cells, to place the mark. Tap a mark again to clear it. Clue cells stay empty. Press M to switch Shade and Dot. With a mouse, right-click places a dot."
Press Hint for one step the rules already force, with a sentence saying why. Hint lights the cells it used. One press can place several marks. Press Check when you want the board checked. A legal unfinished board gets "No mistakes so far. Keep going!" A broken board gets "A clue no longer fits, four shaded cells make a block, or the wall does not join up. Look for the marked cells." Hint on a broken board gets "This board has a mistake, so there is no hint yet." If Hint finds nothing on a legal board, it says "No forced cell from here. A shaded cell or a dot may be in the wrong place, so try Check or Undo." Undo and Redo step through the moves. Reset clears the marks you placed. The clues stay. When the shaded cells are the one wall, the board turns teal. The dialog title is "Solved!" The dialog body, and the line under the board once the grid is solved, is "The shaded cells are one wall around the clues." The Mistakes counter counts how many times Check found a broken board. It is not a score.
A clue turns teal when every neighbour is already marked and those marks match. A 0 stays plain while any neighbour is still blank, so an untouched board does not look finished. A clue turns coral when the cell itself is shaded, or when no remaining pattern fits. Four shaded cells that form a block turn coral. A wall that does not join turns coral on the shaded piece that is cut off. With the highlight off, nothing is coral.
The clue
Read one clue. A 0 clears its ring. A number that matches the ring shades every neighbour. When more than one pattern remains, mark only the cells every pattern shares. A blank grid can open on any of the three. On the grid below, the 0 speaks first.
Every neighbour stays white Easy
A 0 means the ring is white. Dot every neighbour. The clue cell stays white, and it is not one of the dots. On the edge the ring is shorter, so a 0 there writes fewer dots. The sentence is the same when one neighbour is left. Hint says "This 0 leaves every neighbour white."
This grid opens here. The edge 0 at row 1 column 5 has five neighbours. Easy, medium, and hard all give this hint. The press does not finish the grid. The same grid's next press is the centre 0 at row 2 column 2. That ring has eight cells. One is the clue 1 at row 3 column 1, already white, so the press writes the other seven as dots. That press is not drawn. Another grid dots all eight neighbours of a centre 0. A corner 0 writes three dots. On another grid the same sentence dots the one neighbour a 0 still has left. The sentence does not change. Those presses are not drawn.
The 0 is done and hinted, so the well is amber, the border is yellow, and the digit stays ink. Hint beats the teal done face. The five dots sit on the amber wash with yellow borders and teal dots. No yellow ring on a dot. The grid is still unfinished. Hint says "This 0 leaves every neighbour white."
This number uses every neighbour Easy
When the number equals the ring, every neighbour is shaded. An edge 5 has five neighbours, so those five cells are one group. A corner 3 has three. A centre 8 has eight. Hint says "This number uses every neighbour, so those cells are shaded."
This grid opens on the edge 5. The article still teaches the 0 first. This grid has a 0 at row 2 column 1, and the button does not open on it. Easy, medium, and hard all give this hint. The press does not finish the grid. A later press on the first grid shades the two unknown neighbours of the corner 3 at row 6 column 1. The third neighbour, row 5 column 2, is already shaded. The press after that shades one cell and finishes the grid. Neither of those presses is drawn.
The 5 is done and hinted, so the well is amber and the digit stays ink. Each new shade uses the hint shade fill, a yellow border, and a yellow ring. No amber under a shade. The grid is still unfinished. Hint says "This number uses every neighbour, so those cells are shaded."
Every pattern agrees Easy
A clue can still have more than one pattern. Mark a neighbour only when every pattern that is left shares that mark. The other neighbours stay blank until a later press. Hint says "Every remaining pattern for this clue agrees on these cells." The sentence stays plural when the press writes one cell.
The picture is a corner 1. Two of its three neighbours are already dotted, so the only pattern left shades the last neighbour. Those dots came from the 0 beside it. The article has already taught the 0. On the blank board of this grid the labels disagree, so the figure is the next press, where they agree. Easy, medium, and hard all give this hint. The press does not finish the grid. A later press on another grid can write a shade and a dot together, and the sentence stays the same. That press is not drawn. A press that finishes the grid is not used here.
The corner 1 has three neighbours. Two are already dotted. The last one is shaded. The 1 is done and hinted, so it stays amber. The 0 beside it is done and not hinted, so it takes the teal done face. The new shade has a yellow ring and no amber. The grid is still unfinished. Hint says "Every remaining pattern for this clue agrees on these cells."
No solid block
Three shaded cells of a 2×2 close the block, so the fourth stays white. One press writes that one dot. The three shades stay ordinary. Some grids meet this after the clue. The grid in this section opens on a 0.
The fourth stays white Easy
Look at any 2×2. Three shaded cells close the block, so the fourth stays white. Hint says "These three shaded cells close a 2×2, so the fourth stays white." One press writes that one dot. The three shades are how you see it. They do not get a ring.
This grid opens on a 0. The article still teaches the clue first. This press is later. Easy, medium, and hard all give this hint. The press does not finish the grid. A 6×6 easy walk in this set finishes without this sentence. The button on those easy grids does not say it there. Some larger easy grids do say it. The same grid dots two more fourth cells the same way. This picture leaves more of the grid blank.
The new dot at row 4 column 4 is amber, with a yellow border and a teal dot. No yellow ring. The three shades stay ordinary ink, with no ring. The done clues that this press does not name stay teal. The grid is still unfinished. Hint says "These three shaded cells close a 2×2, so the fourth stays white."
The wall
A cell that cannot step onto the wall stays white. The one empty cell that joins two shaded pieces is shaded. When the wall is already closed, the cells still blank would stay white. On these grids that sentence never writes, because the shaded set is already finished and the button stops. Easy and medium grids do not say the two sentences that do write. The 6×6 hard grid in this article is the cell that cannot reach the wall. The join is a 7×7.
It cannot reach the wall Hard
Shaded cells have to join by their sides. A blank cell that cannot step from neighbour to neighbour onto that wall, through blank cells or shaded cells, stays white. A clue is white, and a dot is white. Hint says "This cell cannot reach the wall, so it stays white." The sentence stays singular when the press writes two cells. Easy and medium do not say this. On those grids the button returns no hint from this picture.
This grid does not open here. An easy grid opens on a full ring. Medium and hard open on an overlap. The article still teaches the clue and the block first. This press is later. It does not finish the grid. The two cells are a pocket in the corner. Row 1 column 3 and row 1 column 4 are already dotted. Row 2 column 1 is already dotted. The 2 at row 2 column 2 and the 1 1 at row 2 column 3 stay white. The edge closes the top. Row 1 column 1 and row 1 column 2 have no way onto the shaded cells lower down. A one-cell press of this sentence exists on a larger hard grid. The press that dots many cells is not drawn.
The two new dots are amber, with yellow borders and teal dots. No yellow rings. The shaded wall stays ordinary ink. The done clues this press does not name stay teal. The grid is still unfinished. Hint says "This cell cannot reach the wall, so it stays white."
When the wall is already one piece and it has no empty way out, the cells still blank would stay white. Hint would say "The wall is already closed, so the remaining cells stay white." On these grids that sentence never writes. The shaded set is already finished, and the button stops. There is no picture of it here. The path can still occur.
The only cell that joins Hard
Two shaded pieces that do not share a side still have to become one wall. When one piece has a single empty neighbour, that neighbour is shaded. Hint says "This is the only cell that joins the wall." One press writes that one shade. Easy and medium do not say this.
The picture is 7×7. A 6×6 hard walk in this set finishes without this sentence, and without the try. This grid opens on a shared pattern, for easy, medium, and hard. The article still teaches the clue and the shared cells first. This press is later. It does not finish the grid. Later joins on this board include the press that finishes it. Those presses are not drawn.
The shaded cell at row 5 column 6 is alone. Above it, row 4 column 6 is blank. The 1 2 at row 5 column 5 stays white. Row 5 column 7 is already dotted. The 1 at row 6 column 6 stays white. The shaded cells above touch row 4 column 6 from row 3 column 6 and row 3 column 7. Row 4 column 6 is the only join.
The new shade has the hint shade fill, a yellow border, and a yellow ring. No amber under it. The other shaded cells stay ordinary ink. The done clue at row 2 column 7 stays teal. The 1 1 2 uses the three-number label: two digits on the first row, one on the second, at the smaller size. The grid is still unfinished. Hint says "This is the only cell that joins the wall."
One cell
If nothing else writes, try the other mark in one cell and keep the mark that can be finished. The sentence does not name the mark. Easy and medium grids do not say this. The try is not an opening in this set. The article still teaches the clue and the wall first.
The other mark fails Hard
When the clue, the block, and the wall do not write, try the other mark in one cell. Keep the mark that can still be finished. Hint says "The other mark contradicts the clues, so this mark stays." The sentence does not name the mark. One press writes one cell. Easy and medium do not say this.
The picture is the dot at row 2 column 3, on the same 7×7. A shade there fails. The 1 1 2 at row 3 column 4 then agrees that row 2 column 4 stays white. The square of row 1 column 2, row 1 column 3, row 2 column 2, and row 2 column 3 has three shaded cells, so row 1 column 3 stays white. The nine shaded cells row 1 column 1, row 1 column 2, row 2 column 2, row 2 column 3, row 3 column 2, row 4 column 2, row 4 column 3, row 4 column 4, and row 5 column 2 then have no empty neighbour. Clues and dots close them, and the shaded cells on the right are a separate piece. The shade cannot be finished. The dot can. The button does not toast those later sentences. It toasts the try, because the shade dies inside the try. The press does not finish the grid.
The same grid earlier shades row 1 column 1 by this same sentence. A dot there does not survive once the wall is taken into account. Easy and medium give no hint. It does not finish the grid. That press is not drawn.
The new dot is amber, with a yellow border and a teal dot. No yellow ring. The done clues at row 2 column 1, row 2 column 7, and row 4 column 1 stay teal. They are not part of the hint. The grid is still unfinished. Hint says "The other mark contradicts the clues, so this mark stays."
Common mistakes
Check paints a broken rule. Hint will not explain a board that is already broken. The toast is "This board has a mistake, so there is no hint yet." A wrong shade or a wrong dot can also sit there with no coral at all. Then Check says "No mistakes so far. Keep going!" and Hint still offers the next real step. The wrong mark stays unless that step writes the cell. A direct call on a broken board can still return a step, because a mark that disagrees with the solution is set aside for that computation. The button does not make that call. The figures do not draw it.
Four pictures, all on the blank first grid. No amber and no yellow ring on the three broken ones. The quiet one shows the opening five dots, because the board is legal. Coral is the cells the rule names. A shaded clue paints that clue, and the digits turn coral. The cell does not become a solid shade. A shade that leaves a clue with no pattern paints the clue, not the shade. Four shaded cells that form a block paint those four cells.
Row 1 column 5 is shaded. That clue is coral: a coral-soft well, a coral border, and a coral digit. Not a solid shade. Nothing is amber, and there is no yellow ring. Hint says "This board has a mistake, so there is no hint yet."
Row 1 column 6 is shaded, beside the 0. The 0 has no pattern left, so only that clue is coral. The shade stays ordinary ink. It does not close a 2×2. Nothing is amber, and there is no yellow ring. Hint says "This board has a mistake, so there is no hint yet."
Row 5 column 2, row 5 column 3, row 6 column 2, and row 6 column 3 are shaded. None of them is a clue. Those four cells are coral, as solid error shade. The rest of the board stays paper. Nothing is amber, and there is no yellow ring. Hint says "This board has a mistake, so there is no hint yet."
With error highlighting off, the shaded 0, the shade beside the 0, and the solid block paint nothing coral. A shaded piece that is cut off, a finished board with no shaded cells, and a finished colouring that misses the wall are not drawn here. They can still occur, and on a full board they stack with other breaks.
Row 4 column 2 is shaded. The solution says white. It is not a clue. It does not close a 2×2, and it does not leave a clue with no pattern. No coral. Check says "No mistakes so far. Keep going!" Hint still places the opening five dots, with amber on those dots and on the 0. The wrong shade is not among them, and it stays ordinary ink, with no ring and no coral.
A dot at row 4 column 1, which is shaded in the solution, is also quiet, and the direct hint is the same opening five dots. A dot on a correct white cell is quiet too, and the opening write simply omits that cell when it is not one of the five. That is not a broken board. Those dots are not drawn.
What to play next
Easy grids follow from one clue at a time. A 0 clears its ring. A number that matches the ring shades every neighbour. Cells that every remaining pattern shares can be marked next. The fourth cell of a block shows up once that block is on the board. The 6×6 easy grids in this set finish from the clue. The fourth cell shows up from 7×7. Start on a 6×6 easy grid, or on the daily 8×8 easy grid. Medium grids add the clues that share a cell, after the earlier sentences. A medium grid still opens on one clue. Hard grids add the cell that cannot reach the wall, the only join, and the try. One 6×6 hard grid says the cell that cannot reach the wall. The join and the try show up from 7×7. A hard grid still opens on an earlier sentence.
- Easy6×6The 0, the full ring, and the cells a clue's patterns share. These grids finish before the fourth cell.Play 6×6 →
- Medium6×6Clues that share a cell, after the earlier sentences. The grid still opens on one clue.Play 6×6 →
- Hard6×6The cell that cannot reach the wall, on one grid in this set. These grids finish before the join and before the try.Play 6×6 →
A printed answer fills the shaded cells that are not clues and leaves white cells blank. Dots are not printed. Numbers are kept. Four 6×6 or 7×7 grids share a sheet. Two 8×8 or 10×10 grids share a sheet. A 12×12 grid has the sheet to itself. 12×12 is print only, at easy, medium, and hard. The printable page is Tapa packs.
There is no guide-sized seed to open. The boards above are teaching boards.