Shikaku of the Day: daily logic game

Shikaku of the day is a daily version of the classic Shikaku logic puzzle, where you split a numbered grid into rectangles and squares. Every region you draw must contain exactly one number, and that number tells you the region's area. A fresh puzzle arrives each day, and you can pick from five difficulty levels ranging from Easy to Master.

What is Shikaku of the Day?

Shikaku, which means "divide into rectangles," is a grid-partition puzzle in the Nikoli tradition. You start with a grid where some cells hold numbers, and your job is to break the whole grid into rectangular and square blocks. The rule is short: each block must cover exactly one numbered cell, and the number in that cell must equal how many cells the block covers. A 4, for example, can only be a 1x4, 4x1, or 2x2 block, and often only one of those placements fits without colliding with its neighbors. Solve the whole grid and every cell belongs to exactly one region.

On desktop you click and drag to draw a rectangle, and right-click a rectangle to remove one you no longer want. On mobile you tap the first and last cell to draw a rectangle, and press and hold to delete. An on-page timer runs while you work, so you can see how long each solve takes. The daily puzzle shown by default is a 5x5 grid, and the same day is available at harder tiers. Because the answer is fully determined by logic, there is no guessing step and no fixed number of attempts. You draw, adjust, and redraw until the grid is correctly split.

The site offers a spread of difficulty. Five graded tiers are listed: Easy, Medium, Hard, Expert, and Master, so the same daily concept scales from a quick warm-up to a longer sitting. There is also an archive of past dailies at /archive, reachable from the site navigation, which lets you catch up on puzzles you missed or replay ones you liked. Each archived day shows its date, a puzzle ID, a completion count, and links to all five levels.

The site is made by a solo creator credited as Ciesukki. It is free to play, with an optional "Buy me a coffee" support link for anyone who wants to chip in. If you hit a problem or want to reach the creator, there is an email link, a contact link, and a Bluesky link. Compared with word-guessing games in the -dle family, this is a pure deductive puzzle with no letters and no hidden answer. The whole solution is present from the start, and you draw it out region by region.

How to play Shikaku of the Day

Open Shikaku of the day at shikakuofthe.day.
Pick a difficulty level from Easy, Medium, Hard, Expert, or Master.
On desktop, click and drag across cells to draw a rectangle around a single number.
Size each rectangle so it covers exactly as many cells as the number inside it, with one number per region.
Right-click a region to remove it (or press and hold on mobile) if you need to redraw.
Keep filling the grid until every cell belongs to exactly one region and the timer stops.

Tips and strategy

Start with the numbers that have only one possible shape, such as a 2 (only 1x2 or 2x1) hemmed in by grid edges or other clues.
Remember that a number equals its region's area, so list the rectangle shapes that multiply to that number and rule out any that overlap another clue.
Use grid edges and corners as anchors, since a clue in or near a corner often has very few legal placements.
Watch for cells that can only be reached by one clue's region, then extend that clue to claim them.
When two clues compete for the same cells, place the one whose alternatives are more constrained first.
Since higher tiers reuse the same rules on tougher grids, build the habit on Easy before moving up to Expert and Master.

Good to know

Category: Logic puzzle
Resets: Daily (reset time not stated)
Cost: Free, with optional donation link
Guesses: No guessing; deductive solve
Modes: Five levels: Easy, Medium, Hard, Expert, Master
Archive: Yes, past dailies at /archive
Creator: Ciesukki
Feedback: Email, contact link, and Bluesky

Shikaku of the Day FAQ

Is Shikaku of the day free?

Yes, it is free to play. The creator offers an optional "Buy me a coffee" link for anyone who wants to support the site, but nothing is required to play.

How do you play Shikaku of the day?

Split the numbered grid into rectangles and squares so each region contains exactly one number and covers that many cells. On desktop you click and drag to draw a rectangle and right-click a rectangle to remove it; on mobile you tap the first and last cell to draw and press and hold to delete.

When does Shikaku of the day reset, and is there an archive?

A new puzzle is released each day. The exact reset time and timezone are not stated on the page, but an archive of past dailies is available through the site navigation at /archive.

Is Shikaku of the day like Wordle?

No. Wordle is a word-guessing game, while this is a Nikoli-style logic puzzle with no letters and no guessing. You deduce the full grid partition by drawing regions rather than making a limited number of guesses.

Who made Shikaku of the day?

It is credited to a solo creator named Ciesukki, who can be reached through the email, contact, and Bluesky links on the site.