Rules
Tents is a placing puzzle. Trees are already on the board. You put one tent next to every tree, on a cell that shares an edge with it. Touching at a corner does not count. Two tents never touch, even at a corner. A number beside each row, and a number above each column, is how many tents that line holds. Zero is a real clue and means the line has no tents.
Grass marks a cell you know is empty. On screen, grass is part of the answer. An empty cell is not grass yet, so a grid with the right tents and no grass is unfinished. The corner of the counts is empty. No cell starts as a tent or as grass. The trees and the numbers are given. You do not move them. Play is 6×6, 8×8, and 10×10, and each of those is easy, medium, and hard. The daily puzzle is an 8×8 easy grid. The grid is finished when every tree has its tent, tents do not touch, and every count matches.
Star Battle already teaches pieces that never touch, even at a corner, plus a count on each line. A star has no tree to stand beside. A tent does, and the tent has to share an edge with its tree.
Kakurasu is the familiar part for the numbers outside the grid. Kakurasu turns teal when a weighted sum already matches. Here a count turns teal when the tents already match, even when grass is still missing. On a blank copy of the rules grid, the 0 left of row 5 is teal while the one empty cell in that row is still open.
- One tent per tree. Each tree gets one tent on a cell that shares an edge with it. A corner does not pair them.
- Tents never touch. No two tents touch, even at a corner. The cell in the corner is grass.
- Outside counts. A number beside each row, and a number above each column, is how many tents that line holds. Zero is a real clue.
- Grass is part of the answer. Grass marks a cell that stays empty. On screen it is required. An empty cell is not grass yet.
The 0 left of row 5 is five trees and one grass cell. The tent in row 3, column 4 shares an edge with the tree above it. The grass at row 2, column 3 touches the tent at row 2, column 2 at a corner, so it is grass. Tents, grass, trees, counts, and the frame are teal. On screen, grass is required. A printed answer leaves those cells blank and draws only the tent triangles.
- Tree
- Tent
- Grass
- Count that matches
Click or tap an open cell to cycle empty, then tent, then grass, then empty again. Shift-click, right-click, or a long-press cycles the other way. Drag across open cells to paint grass. One drag is one undo step. Trees do not take a mark. Selecting a tree only moves the cursor. There is no fill mode and no cross mode.
Arrow keys move and stop at the edge. The first arrow, when nothing is selected, selects the top-left cell.T or 1 places a tent. G, X, M, period, or 2 marks grass. M marks grass. It does not switch a tool. Backspace, Delete, or 0 clears the cell. Space or Enter cycles forward. Shift with Space or Enter cycles backward.
Selecting a cell rings that cell and tints the rest of its row and its column. The clue chips of that row and that column pick up the same selection. A count turns teal when the tents on that line already match it, even if grass is still missing. A count turns red when the line has too many tents, or when the line is finished and still short. The clue turns red, and the cells on that line take a light red wash. The tent stays violet and the grass stays teal. A tent that touches another tent, a tent with no tree beside it, and a tree with nowhere left for its tent turn that cell red while error highlighting is on. With error highlighting off, none of that red is drawn.
Press Hint for one step the rules already force, with a sentence saying why. Hint lights the cells it writes and every count it names. It does not wash the rest of a line. Press Check when you want the board checked. A legal unfinished board gets "No mistakes so far. Keep going!" A broken board gets "Something breaks the rules. Look for the marked cells and counts." Hint on a broken board gets "This board has a mistake, so there is no hint yet." Undo and Redo step through the moves. Reset clears every tent and every grass mark. The trees and the numbers stay. When the grid is right, the board turns teal: tents, grass, trees, counts, and frame. The dialog title is "Solved!" The dialog body is "Every tree has its tent, tents do not touch, and every count matches."
Check keeps a Mistakes count of how many times the board was broken. The solved dialog also shows Time, Grid, and Mistakes. It is not a score and not a grade.
- Undo
- Redo
- Reset
- Hint
- Check
First marks
Mark the cells that cannot hold a tent, then read one count. A cell with no tree beside it is grass. A 0 clears the open cells on that line. A line that already has its tents clears the rest. A cell that touches a tent is grass, corners included. A tree with one side left takes a tent there. A line whose open cells are exactly the tents it still needs, and those cells do not touch, fills them.
No tree beside it Easy
A cell that does not share an edge with a tree cannot hold a tent. It is grass. The how-to is right about the cell. The button writes every such cell in one press. On this figure that is eight cells. The sentence is singular. The press is the whole set. A cell that only touches a tree at a corner is in this set. Row 2, column 1 touches the tree at row 1, column 2 at a corner, and it is grass. A cell that shares an edge with a tree waits, even on a 0 row. Row 5, column 4 shares edges with the trees on either side, so this press leaves it open. The next section marks it.
Eight cells are ringed. Each is new teal grass on the wash. The 0 left of row 5 is already the done chip, and it is not lit. The empty cell in that row sits on the done wash and stays empty. None of the eight cells shares an edge with a tree. Hint says "This cell does not touch a tree, so it is grass."
A count of 0 Easy
A count of 0 means no tents on that line. Every cell on it that is still open is grass, including a cell that shares an edge with a tree. The how-to says the line. The button writes that line's open cells in one press. On this figure the line is row 5, five of its cells are trees, and the one open cell is row 5, column 4. The press grasses that cell. The clue was already teal, because zero tents already match a clue of 0. Hint draws it as the hint chip for this press.
A 0 with several open cells writes all of them. Another easy grid grasses three open cells down a 0 column in one press, and the press before that grasses the two cells still open on its 0 row. That grid is not drawn. A 0 does not have to wait for the other counts. Medium and hard grids in this set have no 0.
The eight grasses from the first press are teal, and they are not washed. Row 5, column 4 is ringed. It is new teal grass on the wash. The 0 left of row 5 is lit, even though it was already the done chip. The five trees on that row are not washed. Hint says "This line's count is 0, so every open cell is grass."
Already enough Easy
If the tents on a line already equal the count, every cell on that line that is still open is grass. This is the count, not the "beside a tent" sentence. On this figure column 4's clue is 1, and row 3, column 4 is already a tent. The tree in row 2 sits between that tent and the open cell at the top of the column, so the tent does not touch it. The press grasses the top cell anyway, because the column is full. The clue is already teal, and this press draws it as the hint chip.
The button looks at columns before rows for this sentence. On this grid the tent in section 7 is placed first, then this grass, because the row is tight before the column is full. The ladder still explains the finished count here. A later column can grass several cells at once. On the other easy grid, three cells in one column become grass after that column already has its one tent. Two of those cells do not touch that tent. That column is not drawn.
Column 4's clue is 1, and the tent in row 3 is already violet. It is not in this hint, and it is not washed. The open cell above the tree is ringed. It is new teal grass. The 1 above column 4 is lit. The tree between them is not washed. Another tent in that column would pass 1. Hint says "This line already has its tents, so the open cells are grass."
Beside a tent Easy
Tents do not touch, even at a corner. Once a tent is placed, every open cell around it is grass. The button writes all of those cells in one press, for every tent already on the grid. On this figure there is one tent, at row 3, column 4, and four cells are still open around it. All four are corners. The cells that share an edge with the tent were already grass. The tree above the tent is not a cell you mark.
A later press of this same sentence can be one cell, when the other neighbours are already marked. That one cell is not drawn.
The four open corners are ringed. Each is new teal grass. Row 2, column 3, column 5, and row 4 are lit. The tent stays violet and is not washed. The cells that were already grass are not washed. A tent in any of the four corners would touch the one that is already placed. Hint says "A tent stands beside this cell, so it is grass."
One place left Easy
Look at one tree. If only one cell that shares an edge with it can still hold a tent, that cell is the tent. The other sides are trees, grass, or off the board. The button does one tree per press, the first such tree. On this figure the tree is in row 5, column 3, in the 0 row. Its left and right neighbours are trees. The cell above it is grass from the last section. The only side left is the cell below. The press puts a tent there. Hint lights the tree's row and the tree's column. It does not light the tent's row. It does not wash the tree.
You do not draw a line from the tent to the tree. The pairing is part of the rules. The mark you write is the tent.
Row 6, column 3 is ringed. It is a new violet tent. The 0 left of row 5 and the 1 above column 3 are lit. Row 6 is not lit. The tree is not washed. The grass above the tree is required. Before that grass, the tree still has two sides, and this press is not the next hint. Hint says "This tree has only one place left for its tent."
Every open cell Easy
Count the tents still missing on one line. If the open cells are exactly that many, and no two of them share an edge, each of those cells is a tent. The how-to says the line fills. The button writes every one of those cells in one press. On a 6×6 in this set the press is always one cell. On this figure row 3's clue is 1, five cells are already grass, and the middle cell is open. The press puts a tent there. The tree above it still has other sides open, so this is the row's count and not "one place left".
Two open cells that share an edge do not get this sentence, because they cannot both be tents. A longer line can place more than one tent in the same press when a tree or a marked cell sits between them. One hard 8×8 places two tents in one column that way. It is not drawn. The easy grids here often need only one cell, and the sentence is the same when the line has several separated cells.
On this grid the tent is placed before the grass in "already enough", because the row is tight before the column is full. The ladder still explains the finished count first.
Row 3 reads grass, grass, grass, empty, grass, grass. The empty cell is ringed and filled. The 1 left of row 3 is lit. The grasses are not washed, and the tree above the tent is not washed. Leaving the cell empty would leave the row short. The zero grass on row 5 is required. Before it, the next press is that 0. Hint says "This line needs a tent in every open cell, and those cells do not touch."
That is the end of the six easy sentences. Every grid here says "no tree beside it", "already enough", "beside a tent", and "one place left". Every easy grid says "a count of 0". Not every easy grid says "every open cell". Medium and hard grids in this set have no 0. The next sections are the sentences those grids add.
Both ways
When a single cell is not forced, look at the ways one line can finish. Medium grids use these two. A tree with two neighbouring sides makes the corner grass. A cell that is a tent in every remaining way is a tent.
Two sides, one corner Medium
A tree may have two cells left that could hold its tent. If those two cells are neighbours, they meet at a corner. That corner cannot be a tent, because either choice would touch it. The corner is grass. The two sides stay open. The button writes the one corner. It lights the tree's row and the tree's column.
On this figure the tree is at the right of row 1. The two sides left are the cell to its left and the cell below it. The corner is row 2, column 5. Opposite sides, one on each end of the tree, do not make a corner, and this sentence does not mark them. The first press on this board is the cells with no tree beside them. It is not its own figure. Easy does not offer this corner.
Row 2, column 5 is ringed. It is new teal grass. The 2 left of row 1 and the 1 above column 6 are lit. The cell left of the tree and the cell below the tree stay empty, and they are not washed. The tree is not washed. The tent is either of those two sides, and both of them touch the corner. Hint says "This tree's two possible tents meet at a corner, so that corner is grass."
Not every medium grid says this. Easy never does. From a blank copy of this grid labeled easy, Hint stops after the cells with no tree beside them, and the grid is unfinished. The next sentence is the other medium step.
Every way agrees Medium
List the ways to place the missing tents on one line so they do not touch. If every way puts the same mark on one cell, write that mark. The other cells on the line can stay open. The button writes one cell. It lights that one count. It does not wash the rest of the line.
On this figure row 1 needs 2 tents. The open cells are column 2, column 4, and column 5. Column 4 and column 5 share an edge, so they cannot both be tents. The two ways are a tent in column 2 and column 4, or a tent in column 2 and column 5. Both ways put a tent in column 2. The press writes that tent. The other two cells stay empty. Grass in column 2 leaves no way to finish the row. A tent there leaves both ways.
The corner grass from the last section is already on the board. It is not on row 1, and it is not why this row is forced. It is required only because the button says the corner first. Dropping it makes the next hint the corner, not this tent.
Row 1, column 2 is ringed. It is a new violet tent. The 2 left of row 1 is lit. Column 4 and column 5 stay empty, and they are not washed. The corner grass is not washed. Hint says "Every way to finish this line puts the same mark here."
Easy grids finish without this sentence. Not every medium grid says it. The next sentence is hard.
Harder steps
A finished line can also force a cell that is not on it. Hard grids use that. The other hard sentence, a handful of trees sharing a handful of cells, is in the list and was not the next press on these grids.
The next cell is covered Hard
Sometimes every way to finish a line puts a tent next to the same cell off the line. That cell is grass, even though it is not one of the cells being counted. The button writes that one neighbour. It lights the line it was reading, which can be the column while the grass sits in the next column.
On this figure column 2's clue is 1. After the opening grasses, the open cells in that column are row 2 and row 3, and they share an edge. Exactly one of them is a tent. Row 3, column 3 sits beside the lower cell and touches the upper cell at a corner. Either tent covers it. The press grasses that neighbour. The two cells in column 2 stay empty. The column has two ways. Easy and medium do not offer this step.
Row 3, column 3 is ringed. It is new teal grass. The 1 above column 2 is lit. Column 3 is not lit. The two open cells in column 2 stay empty, and they are not washed. The opening grasses are not washed. A tent at the upper cell touches the neighbour at a corner. A tent at the lower cell shares an edge with it. Hint says "Every way to finish this line covers the neighbouring cell, so that cell is grass."
Every hard grid in this set says this at least once. Easy and medium never do. From a blank copy of this grid, an easy label and a medium label both stop after the cells with no tree beside them. The grid is unfinished. The next sentence is in the same hard pass, and these grids finish without it.
The same few cells Hard
A few trees can have only a few cells left between them. When the cells are exactly as many as the trees, and the cells do not touch, each of those cells is a tent. Hint would say "These trees have only these cells left, and the cells do not touch, so each one is a tent."
This sentence is in the solver and in the how-to. It was not the next press on these grids, from a blank grid or from a grid filled in solution order. There is no picture. The hard grids here finish with the covered neighbour, and two of them also need the try in the next section.
What if
The sentences above write a cell because a line or a tree already forces it. A hard grid can still have one cell where you have to try both marks. Put grass there, and the counts cannot be finished. Put a tent there, and they can. The cell is a tent. Hint writes that one cell. It does not ask you to keep a second guess. The toast is "The other mark here contradicts the counts, so this cell is settled."
On this figure the cell is row 1, column 3, between two trees. Grass there cannot be finished. A tent there can. The rest of the grid stays as it is. This is a late press. Nine earlier presses are already on the board, including tents at row 1 column 1, row 3 column 1, row 5 column 2, and row 8 column 3. The picture is the whole 8×8. Easy and medium do not offer this try. If those deductions have stopped and the grid is not finished, Check or Undo is the next move. When Hint has nothing to write, it says "No forced cell from here. A tent or some grass may be in the wrong place, so try Check or Undo."
Row 1, column 3 is ringed. It is a new violet tent. The 3 left of row 1 and the 2 above column 3 are lit. The other unknown cells are not washed. The trees on either side are not washed. Easy and medium return nothing on this state. From a blank copy of this grid, those two labels stop after seven presses, and the grid is unfinished. Hint says "The other mark here contradicts the counts, so this cell is settled."
No 6×6 says this. A grid that stops with Hint empty is not a prompt to guess. Check or Undo.
Common mistakes
Check marks a count when the line already has too many tents, or when the line is finished and still short. The clue turns red, and the cells on that line take a light red wash. Tents on that wash stay violet. Grass stays teal. A line that can still reach its count is not a mistake yet. One grass on a row that still has open cells is unfinished, not a short row.
A tent that touches another tent turns both cells red, including a touch at a corner. The count is not red unless it is also wrong. A tent with no tree on any side turns that cell red. A tree whose every side is grass, a tree, or blocked turns that tree red. The grass beside it stays grass-coloured.
A tent that simply is not the solution, and breaks nothing, stays quiet. A row can turn teal because the count matches and every cell is marked, while those cells are still the wrong tents. Check does not compare the line with the answer. On these puzzles a full grid that matches every rule is the solution.
Hint, on the play page, refuses while Check would fail. The toast is "This board has a mistake, so there is no hint yet." The pictures of broken boards show the coral and no amber ring. A direct look can still name the opening step, because a mark that disagrees with the solution is set aside before the search. The button does not show that step. Applying it writes the opening cells and leaves a wrong mark the step does not list. A wrong tent that sits on a cell the opening step does list is overwritten. The button never applies that while the board is invalid.
The tent at row 1, column 3 and the tent at row 2, column 2 share a corner, and both share an edge with the same tree. Both cells are coral, and both tents are coral. No line wash. No clue is coral. Row 1, row 2, and column 3 already have as many tents as their counts, so those chips are the done look while other cells are still open. No amber ring. One tent is not over the counts. An edge touch is the same kind. Two tents that share a side on the bottom row are the same mistake, and that pair is not drawn. Hint refuses. A direct look names the eight opening grasses and leaves both tents.
The tent at row 2, column 1 has empty neighbours. The tree at row 1, column 2 touches it only at a corner. That cell is coral, and the tent is coral. No line wash. No clue is coral. No amber ring. Hint refuses. A direct look names the opening grasses, and this cell is one of them, so that look would replace the tent with grass. The button does not apply it.
Grass covers the three cells that share an edge with the tree at row 1, column 2. The fourth side is off the board. The tree is coral. The three grasses stay teal. They are not error cells. No clue is coral. No amber ring. Hint refuses. A direct look names the opening grasses and does not list these three, because each of them shares an edge with the tree. Applying it leaves all three grasses.
The clue on row 4 is 2, and tents stand in columns 1, 3, and 5. Each shares an edge with a tree on row 5, and they do not touch each other. The 2 turns coral. All six cells of the row take the light red wash. The three tents stay violet. The empty cells stay empty. No cell is an error cell. No amber ring. No other clue is coral. A column is the same kind. Two tents in column 3 make that clue coral and wash the column. That column is not drawn. Hint refuses. A direct look grasses the empty cell in the middle of the row and leaves the three tents. The row stays over.
The clue on row 6 is 3, and all six cells are grass. The row has no trees, so it is finished, and the most it can add is 0. The 3 turns coral. All six cells take the light red wash. The grasses stay teal, not coral, because the cells are not error cells. No amber ring. This is the same kind of mistake as too many tents. One grass on that row, with the other cells still open, is not this mistake. A column can be short without trapping a tree. Five grasses in column 4 leave the tree with its other sides open, and that clue turns coral. That column is not drawn. Hint refuses. A direct look does not list row 6, so the six grasses stay.
A tent stands at row 6, column 2, beside the tree above it. The solution tents on that row are the other three cells. Nothing is broken. The tent stays violet. No coral. The amber ring is the eight opening grasses, ready to write, and the ten counts from the first press are lit, including row 6. The tent is not among the hinted cells. Row 6 is the hint chip, not coral: one tent against a clue of 3, and cells are still open. Check would not fail, so the button does show this hint. If Hint runs, it writes those grasses and leaves the tent where it is.
Row 4 has tents in columns 1 and 5, and grass in the other four cells. The solution uses the other pair. The row tally is two tents and no open cells, and the clue is 2, so the 2 is the done chip, teal text, not coral. The two tents are violet on the done wash. The four grasses stay teal on that same wash. No amber on row 4. The amber ring is the seven opening cells that are still empty. Row 4 is not lit. After that press, all six marks on row 4 are still there. Check does not complain, and it has not compared the row with the answer.
What to play next
6×6, 8×8, and 10×10 come in easy, medium, and hard. A 6×6 easy grid can use no tree beside it, a count of 0, a line that already has its tents, the cells beside a tent, a tree with one place left, and sometimes a line whose open cells are exactly the tents it still needs. Medium grids have no 0. They add the corner and the cell every way agrees on. Hard grids add the covered neighbour. "The same few cells" is a real sentence and was not needed on these grids. One try is a real hint and was needed on two hard grids, not on easy or medium. A grid does not have to use every sentence. The boards above are teaching boards.
- Easy6×6The short grid. No tree beside it, a count of 0, a line that already has its tents, the cells beside a tent, a tree with one place left, and sometimes a line whose open cells are exactly the tents it still needs. Not every 6×6 easy grid says that last sentence.Play 6×6 →
- Easy8×8The daily size. The same sentences. Not every 8×8 easy grid says every open cell.Play 8×8 →Today's daily →
- Medium6×6The easy sentences except a count of 0. These grids have no 0. They add a corner between two sides, or a cell every way agrees on. Not every 6×6 medium grid says the corner.Play 6×6 →
- Hard6×6No 0. The covered neighbour is in every hard grid here. A 6×6 hard grid does not need the one-cell try.Play 6×6 →
The daily puzzle is an 8×8 easy grid: today's Tents and 8×8 easy. A new player can start on the daily, or on any 6×6 easy grid.
Print a Tents pack. A single pack has eight puzzles. The starter pack has twelve, one of every size and difficulty, including a print-only 12×12 that has the sheet to itself. Four 6×6 grids share a sheet. Two 8×8 or 10×10 grids share a sheet. Large print is one grid. The pages are black and white. Trees, tent triangles, and numbers print. Answer pages add a tent in each tent cell and keep the trees and the numbers. They do not print grass. Amber, red, and teal do not print.
Star Battle keeps pieces apart, even at a corner, and a star has no tree. Kakurasu uses outside numbers, and its teal count is a weighted sum.
- GuideStar BattlePieces that never touch, even at a corner. A star has no tree.
- GuideKakurasuOutside numbers and a teal count. Kakurasu is a weighted sum.
- GuideNonogramsFill counts and crosses. The runs are the clue.
- GuideThermometersFill each tube from the bulb so a plain count matches.
- GuideSudokuEach digit once in every row, column and box.
- GuideHashiCount bridges, never cross, connect every island.
- GuideBinairoEvery cell is one of two marks.
- GuideSlitherlinkDraw one loop. Start from the 0s and the 3s.
- GuideHitoriShade repeats, never side by side, keep white connected.
- GuideNurikabeGrow each island to its number and keep one sea.
- GuideLight UpLight every cell. Start beside the 4s and 0s.
- GuideKakuroOne-way sums first, then short runs.
- GuideKiller SudokuCage sums, then the rest of the line.
- GuideJigsaw SudokuFollow the thick walls. Each region has its own shape.
- GuideFutoshikiLess-than and greater-than signs between neighbours.
- GuideRenzokuDots between cells. An empty gap means not one apart.
- GuideSkyscrapersEach clue counts the heights it can see.
- GuideCalcudokuOne-way cages first, then the rest of the line.
- GuideShikakuEach number is an area. Start with the ones that fit one way.
- GuideMasyuTurn on black pearls, go straight through white ones.