Daily sudoku: play free sudoku online, with hints
Today’s Nineward Daily and free Easy and Medium boards run right here in your browser, on Classic 9×9 and the Mini 6×6 and 4×4 boards, with no sign-up, no ads and nothing to install. Stuck? The hint names the technique. This is a gameplay preview: the Nineward Sudoku app for iPhone and Android looks and sounds better.
Get Nineward Sudoku on iPhone and Android. The ranked Daily, your streak, Killer and Arcade Sprint go with it.
Keep going in the Nineward Sudoku app. The ranked Daily and three new puzzles a day across Classic, Killer and Arcade are free there, with no ads. One $4.99 unlock or the StackForge Play Pass adds Hard and Expert boards.
Nineward Sudoku is free to start, with no ads: Get it on iPhone · Get it on Android
Today’s board is the same Hard 9×9 puzzle the Nineward Sudoku app deals for its Daily. Retry it as often as you like.
This is a gameplay preview, and browser play is unranked practice. The Nineward Sudoku app looks and sounds better, with its full visuals, animation, sound and haptics. The ranked Daily, its leaderboard, your streak, Killer, Arcade Sprint and the archive live there too, and it is free to start.
Keep playing on your phone: scan to get Nineward Sudoku
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This game sends nothing about your play anywhere. Your best times stay in this browser.
How to play sudoku here
- Tap a cell to select it. Its row, column and box light up, and so does every copy of its digit.
- Tap a number to place it. Each number shows how many are still to place.
- Fill the grid so every row, column and box holds each digit exactly once.
Turn on Notes to pencil in candidates instead; placing a correct digit clears it from the notes around it. Erase clears a cell, and Undo takes back the last change. A correct digit locks in place.
With a keyboard, the arrow keys move around the board, number keys place a digit, Backspace or Delete erases, N switches Notes on and off, U undoes and H asks for a hint.
Sudoku with hints that teach
Nineward’s hint looks for the next step a person can actually see, with no chain of hidden eliminations behind it. It names the technique, from naked and hidden singles to pairs, pointing pairs and X-Wing, explains it in one sentence, tints the house it works in and circles the digits doing the work. Then it leaves the move to you.
Each practice board has one hint, the same as the app’s free tier. Hints are off on today’s Daily, as they are in the app. More technique is in the Nineward sudoku guide.
Mistakes, made visible
A wrong digit turns coral with a wavy underline, and the digits it clashes with are circled, so you see why it is wrong, not only where. Three mistakes end the board, as in the app’s Challenge play; start it again from its clues. Notes never count.
Today’s daily sudoku and the practice boards
The Daily is seeded by the UTC date, so everyone gets the same clues, and it is the same Hard 9×9 board the app deals for its Daily. A fresh one arrives at 00:00 UTC. Here you can retry it freely, which makes it a good warm-up before your ranked attempt in the app, where only a clean win ranks.
The practice boards are the app’s free difficulties, Easy and Medium, five boards each on Classic 9×9, Mini 6×6 and Mini 4×4. The Classic ones are the first boards the app deals a new player. Your best time on each is remembered on this device only.
What the Nineward Sudoku app adds
The app keeps the ranked side: one ranked Daily attempt a day against a leaderboard, a streak, Killer cages, Arcade Sprint and a Daily archive, with sound and haptics. It is free to start with no ads: the shared Daily, three new puzzles a day and one teaching hint per puzzle. The Nineward Full Game Unlock ($4.99 one-time) or the StackForge Play Pass adds Hard and Expert boards, no daily puzzle cap and up to 99 hints per puzzle.
Free sudoku online: questions
Is this daily sudoku the same puzzle as in the app?
Yes. The Daily here is dealt by the same generator and the same date seed as the Daily in the Nineward Sudoku app for iPhone and Android, so the clues are identical. It is always a Hard 9×9 puzzle, and a new one arrives at 00:00 UTC. A browser solve is never ranked; the ranked attempt and the leaderboard live in the app.
How do the sudoku hints work?
A hint names the technique for the next step, such as a naked single or a hidden single, explains it in one sentence and marks the cells it uses. It never fills the digit in for you. Each practice board has one hint, the same as the app's free tier; Pro in the app gives up to 99 hints per puzzle. Hints are off on today's Daily, as in the app.
What happens when I make a mistake?
A wrong digit turns coral with a wavy underline, and the digits that clash with it are circled, so you can see why it is wrong. As in the app's Challenge play, three mistakes end the board, and you can start it again from its clues. Pencil marks never count as mistakes, and undo takes back any change, though a mistake already made still counts.
Which puzzles are free to play here?
Today's Daily plus five boards each at Easy and Medium on Classic 9×9, Mini 6×6 and Mini 4×4, the difficulties the app gives free. The Classic boards are the first ones the app deals a new player. Hard and Expert boards and Killer are in the app, where the Nineward Full Game Unlock is $4.99 one-time.
Do I need an account, and is anything tracked?
Neither an account nor an install. The puzzle runs in this page, you can retry as often as you like, and nothing about your play is sent anywhere. Your best times are kept only in this browser.