Game guide: Rules and useful first moves

Minesweeper: Combine neighboring clues

Reveal every safe square without opening a mine. A number counts the mines in the eight surrounding squares, including diagonals. In this version, your first square and its neighbors are safe; later moves require deduction from the numbers.

If a revealed 1 has only one unopened neighbor, that neighbor must be a mine. Once its mine is correctly flagged, the remaining neighbors are safe. A flag records your judgement; it does not confirm it. Opening a number's neighbors together can hit a mine if your flags are wrong.

Right-click on a computer, long-press on a phone, or enable flag mode. Work through certain deductions first. If several mine arrangements still fit the clues, the next move may involve uncertainty. Play Minesweeper →

2048: Leave room for the next move

Use arrow keys, WASD or a swipe to slide the 4 × 4 board. Equal tiles merge: two 2s make 4, and two 4s make 8. A newly merged tile cannot merge again during that move. Sliding 2, 2, 2, 2 left therefore produces 4, 4, empty, empty, rather than a single 8.

A new tile appears after each move that changes the board. Keeping your largest tile near a corner and arranging large values along one edge can help you plan. Consider how many empty squares a move leaves, not just its immediate score. The game ends when the board is full and no matching neighboring tiles remain. Play 2048 →

Sudoku: Eliminate candidates

Each row, column and 3 × 3 box must contain the digits 1–9 exactly once. Check all three groups when filling a cell. If a row only lacks 2 and 7, and the cell's column already contains 7, the cell must be 2.

Note possible candidates before committing. Look first for cells with a single candidate, then for a digit that can fit in only one position within a box. Two cells sharing a candidate does not by itself tell you which cell contains it. Use the explanatory hints to understand the rule behind a step. Play Sudoku →

Tower Master: Move the smaller tower first

Move all disks from the left tower to tower C on the right. Only the top disk of a tower may move, and a larger disk cannot sit on a smaller one. Drag a disk, or tap its source and destination towers in order.

The shortest solution for three disks has seven moves: A→C, A→B, C→B, A→C, B→A, B→C, A→C. First move the smaller two-disk tower aside, move the largest disk to the target, then rebuild the small tower on top. Repeat that idea for more disks; n disks require at least 2ⁿ − 1 moves. Play Tower Master →

Word Journey: Track positions as well as letters

Choose a word length from 4 to 9 and find the hidden Turkish word in six guesses. Keep correctly positioned letters in place. Move a letter that is present but misplaced to another position. Reusing eliminated letters usually gives you less new information.

Repeated copies of a letter can receive different feedback: if the answer contains that letter only once, an extra copy may be marked absent. Try varied letters early, then combine the accumulated clues. Guesses must be real Turkish words; pay attention to dotted and dotless letters. Play Word Journey →