Statedoku

Statedoku is a daily logic-grid puzzle that mixes sudoku with US geography. Each cell in the grid has to be filled with a state that satisfies both its row and its column constraint, and no state can be used twice. The site's tagline sums it up: Sudoku Meets American Geography.

What is Statedoku?

The core of Statedoku is a grid where every row carries one category and every column carries another. Your job is to find the single US state that fits the pair of constraints where a row and a column cross. The site's own example puts it plainly: if the row says West Region and the column says Borders Mexico, valid answers include Arizona, California, or New Mexico. Because each state can be placed only once, filling one cell tightens the options for the rest, which is where the sudoku-style deduction comes in.

Statedoku differs from most geography games because it is a logic puzzle rather than a guess-the-location game. You are not pinning a spot on a map or naming a hidden country. You are reasoning about categories such as region and borders, and working out which state uniquely satisfies two conditions at once. That mix of categorical knowledge and grid deduction gives it a feel closer to number sudoku than to map trivia, and it rewards knowing your regions and neighbors as much as it rewards careful elimination.

The site presents one grid per day, and a new puzzle drops at midnight. It is free to play and needs no account, though you can subscribe by email to have the next puzzle delivered. The game keeps stats for you, tracking games played, win rate, and streak, with a best marker on the streak, and there is an archive link in the footer if you want to work through earlier grids. No creator or author name is listed on the site. The copyright notice reads Statedoku 2026.

As you place states, the grid gives immediate color feedback: green means a correct placement and red means an incorrect one, so you always know where you stand. The interface shows a 0 / 9 counter for the cells and an Out of tries message when your attempts run out, which points to a limited number of guesses. Beyond the daily grid, the site bundles extra geography tools, including a ten-question US states quiz with four modes, a state-capitals memorizer, region breakdowns covering four regions and nine subregions, a crossword helper, a facts section with more than 200 facts, printable US maps, and a public JSON API for developers.

How to play Statedoku

1. Open Statedoku at statedoku.com to load the day's grid.
2. Read the category on each row and the category on each column so you know the two constraints that meet in every cell.
3. Pick a cell and work out which US state satisfies both its row constraint and its column constraint.
4. Place that state, remembering that each state can be used only once across the whole grid.
5. Use the color feedback, green for correct and red for incorrect, to confirm placements and rework the ones that are wrong.
6. Fill all the cells to finish the puzzle, and come back after midnight for a new one.

Tips and strategy

• Learn the region groupings first, since a row category is often a region and knowing which states belong to it narrows every cell in that row.
• Keep the four states that border Mexico in mind (California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas), because border rules show up as column categories.
• Start with the most constrained cell, the one whose two categories overlap in the fewest states, and place it before the looser cells.
• Track which states you have already used, since the no-repeat rule quietly removes options from the remaining cells.
• Treat a red result as information: rule that state out for the cell and reconsider what else fits both constraints.
• Watch the 0 / 9 counter and avoid guessing, because attempts are limited and an Out of tries result ends the puzzle.

Good to know

Category

Geography

Resets

Daily at midnight

Cost

Free, no account required

Guesses

Limited attempts; Out of tries message when they run out

Cells

Tracked by a 0 / 9 counter

Extras

States quiz (10 questions, 4 modes), capitals memorizer, region breakdowns, crossword helper, 200+ facts, printable maps, JSON API

Archive

Yes, past puzzles via a footer link

Feedback

Green correct, red incorrect; stats for games played, win rate, and streak

Languages

English, French, Spanish

Publisher

Not listed; copyright reads Statedoku 2026

Statedoku FAQ

Is Statedoku free?

Yes. Statedoku is free to play and does not require an account. You can optionally subscribe by email to receive the next puzzle.

How do you play Statedoku?

Fill each cell of the grid with the US state that satisfies both its row category and its column category, such as a region and a border rule. Each state can be used only once, and the grid shows green for correct placements and red for incorrect ones.

When does Statedoku reset, and is there an archive?

A new puzzle drops daily at midnight. Past puzzles are available through an archive link in the footer.

Is Statedoku like Wordle?

It shares the daily-puzzle habit and per-cell color feedback, but it is a logic grid rather than a word guess. It is closer to sudoku, using US states as the answers instead of numbers.

Who made Statedoku?

The site does not list a creator or author name. The only attribution shown is the copyright notice, Statedoku 2026.