Slant Logic Puzzle
Draw diagonals, never close a loop. Draw one diagonal in every cell so each number is met, and never close a loop. A tap cycles the cell. The puzzle is finished when every cell matches the unique solution.
Tap a cell to cycle \ / /; right-click or long-press to go back
How to play Slant
Cycle a cell
Tap a cell to cycle empty, then a backslash, then a slash, then empty again. Right-click or press and hold to go the other way. After the first tap, drag across cells to paint that same diagonal.
Meet the numbers
Each circle sits on a grid point and counts the diagonals that touch it. A 0 sends them away. A 4 takes every one. A count that can still be met stays quiet.
Leave no loop
Fill every cell. The puzzle is finished when those diagonals are the unique solution and the check is clean. A loop, or a number that can no longer be met, is a clash.
Slant is a diagonal puzzle. You draw one diagonal in every cell, and the lines must never close a loop. You can play squares from 5×5 to 10×10, plus an 8×6 board and a 10×8 board, in easy and medium. Every puzzle here has exactly one solution.
Rules
The board is a grid. A diagonal is either a backslash, from the top-left corner of a cell to the bottom-right, or a slash, from the top-right corner to the bottom-left. Every cell gets exactly one.
Numbers sit on the points where the grid lines meet, inside small white circles. The number is how many diagonals touch that point. An empty point has no number and does not constrain the count. A corner has one cell, so it is 0 or 1. A point on the edge has two cells. An interior point has four.
The diagonals are a forest. They may branch, and they may stop, but they must not close a loop. A loop is a cycle of diagonals that returns to a point it already left.
While you play, a number that can still be met stays quiet. A number is a clash when the diagonals already drawn are more than it allows, or when the drawn diagonals plus every still-empty cell around it still fall short. A diagonal that already sits on a cycle is a clash too, and the cells of that cycle are the ones marked.
The puzzle is solved when every cell is filled, the diagonals match the unique solution, and no clash remains.
Controls
Tap or click a cell to cycle empty, then a backslash, then a slash, then empty again. Right-click cycles the other way. Press and hold a cell to cycle backward as well. After the first tap, drag across other cells to paint the diagonal that tap landed on. One drag is one undo.
The arrow keys move a cell cursor. The first arrow selects the top-left cell. The backslash key sets a backslash in the cursor cell. The slash key sets a slash. Space or Enter cycles forward. Backspace or Delete clears the cell. One clear is one undo.
Press Hint for one step the rules already force, with a sentence saying why. The hint highlights the cell and the numbered point that forced it, then places the diagonal. Press Check when you want the board checked against the rules. Undo and Redo step through your moves, and Reset clears every diagonal. When the diagonals match, they turn teal.
A coral circle or a coral diagonal is a clash that is already visible. The size and difficulty menus list only the bands that ship.
Techniques
Easy:
- corner-0: A corner numbered 0 has one cell, and that diagonal points away from the corner.
- corner-1: A corner numbered 1 has one cell, and that diagonal has to touch the corner.
- border-0: An edge number 0 has two cells, and both diagonals point away from it.
- border-2: An edge number 2 has two cells, and both diagonals point toward it.
- border-1: An edge is 1, and the other diagonal is already set, so this cell is fixed.
- clue-0: This number is 0, so every remaining diagonal points away from it.
- clue-4: This number is 4, so every remaining diagonal has to touch it.
- vertex-sat: This point already has its diagonals, so the remaining cells point away.
- vertex-need: This point still needs every remaining diagonal, so each one has to touch it.
- vertex-enum: Every way to meet this number agrees on these diagonals.
- loop-cell: One diagonal would join two points that are already connected, so the other diagonal stays.
Medium:
- pair: Every remaining drawing of these two adjacent clues uses the same diagonal here.
- diagonal pair: Every remaining drawing of these two diagonal 1s uses the same diagonal here.
Beginner tips
Start with a 0 or a 4, and with the corners. A corner 0 or 1 has only one cell, so it is fixed. An edge 2 takes both diagonals toward that point. An edge 0 sends both away.
When a point already has as many diagonals as its number, every remaining cell around it points away. When a point still needs every empty cell around it, each of those diagonals has to touch it.
If drawing one diagonal would close a loop, the cell takes the other diagonal.
If you are new to Slant, start with a 5×5 easy grid, or the daily 7×7 easy grid, and move up once the corners feel natural. Play runs from Easy → Medium on 5×5 through 10×10, and on 8×6 and 10×8.