Shikaku — Daily rectangle puzzle
Split a 6x6 grid into rectangles, one clue inside each, matching its shape and its size. The Shikaku puzzle LinkedIn calls Patches. Daily plus unlimited.
How to Play Shikaku
Shikaku is a daily rectangle puzzle on a 6x6 grid. A handful of cells carry a clue, and the job is to split the whole board into rectangles so that every rectangle holds exactly one clue and matches it. The chip's shape fixes the shape — a square, wider than tall, or taller than wide — and the number fixes how many cells the rectangle covers. A chip with a dashed rim leaves the shape open, and that is what makes a board hard: a dashed "6" still pins one rectangle once the rest of the board closes in on it. Draw a rectangle by dragging across it, by tapping two opposite corners, or with the keyboard; the outline turns green the moment it is legal and stays dashed while it is not, so nothing is ever guessed at. Every board is run through a solver before it ships and only boards with exactly one tiling are published. Free, no account, and the same board worldwide.
How Shikaku works
Shikaku is a rectangle puzzle on a 6x6 grid. Seven to nine cells carry a clue; every other cell is blank. The whole grid has to end up divided into rectangles, with exactly one clue inside each rectangle.
A clue says two things about its rectangle. The chip's shape is the shape family — square, wider than tall, or taller than wide — and a chip with a dashed rim names no shape at all. The number is the exact cell count, and every clue shows it. How many clues leave their shape open is the difficulty dial, and it is set by a solver rather than by feel.
You draw a rectangle by dragging across it, by tapping two opposite corners, or from the keyboard — arrow to a corner, Enter to anchor, arrows to extend, Enter to close. The outline reads solid when the rectangle is legal and dashed when it is not, so an illegal shape is never committed and never costs anything.
There is no fail state and no guess counter. Tapping a rectangle you already drew takes it back, and Undo walks the whole board backwards. The only measurement is the clock, the same as Queens and Binary.
Every board served here is run through an exact-cover solver first, and only boards with exactly one possible tiling are published — so a board that looks ambiguous never is.
Tips & Strategy
A clue with a dashed rim is not a free choice. Its rectangle still has to fit between its neighbours, and on a 6x6 board that usually leaves one or two candidates once the surrounding patches are placed.
Any rectangle you draw must contain exactly one clue. That rules out a great many shapes instantly: if a candidate would swallow a second clue, it is dead, whatever its size.
A six-cell rectangle is 6x1, 3x2, 2x3 or 1x6, and the shape icon usually eliminates half of those. A five-cell rectangle only has 5x1 and 1x5 — prime numbers are the easiest clues on the board.
If a cell cannot be covered by any rectangle from any remaining clue, one of the patches you already placed is wrong. Back that one out rather than forcing the rest around it.
Every clue shows its number, so the numbers always add up to exactly 36. Use that as a check: once most rectangles are down, the cells left over must match the numbers of the clues still waiting.
Tapping a drawn rectangle removes it and costs nothing but a move. Shikaku has no fail state and no life counter — the only thing being measured is the clock.
More Game Modes
One word per day. 6 guesses. The classic.
2 boards, 1 keyboard, 7 guesses.
4 boards, 1 keyboard, 9 guesses.
8 boards, 1 keyboard, 13 guesses.
16 boards, 1 keyboard, 21 guesses.
32 boards, 1 keyboard, 37 guesses.
Race the clock. Solve as many words as you can before time runs out.
Navigate meaning space. 30 guesses.
Find the mystery country. 6 guesses on a paper globe.
Guess the daily math equation in 6 tries.
Find every word hidden in seven letters. New puzzle daily.
Swap the 21 tiles so every row and column spells a word. 15 swaps, par 10.
Trace hidden theme words on a 6×8 grid. New puzzle daily.
Trace adjacent letters to find every word in the grid.
Crown each region — one queen per row, column, and colored area.
A chess puzzle a day. Drag your moves, submit when ready, learn from the colours.
Sixteen words, four hidden groups. Find what connects them.
Fill a 6x6 grid with suns and moons — balanced lines, never three in a row.
Read the clues, rule out the impossible, find the only grid that fits.
Lay every domino so each outlined region satisfies its rule.
Trace four hidden words through a 5x5 grid
Draw one line through every cell — numbers in order, walls in the way.
Turn one word into another, changing a single letter at a time.
Fill a 6x6 grid so every row, column and 2x3 box holds 1 to 6 once.
A five by five crossword in your own language, every day.
The day’s letters, jumbled. Put the word back together in six tries.
Spell your way around the box and use all twelve letters.
Name the country from its flag. 6 guesses, one tile at a time.
Name the countries that link two places by land.
Name the country from its shape alone. 6 guesses.
A secret thing. Ask twenty yes-or-no questions and name it.
Think of anything. It asks up to twenty questions and tries to name it.
One letter, five categories, sixty seconds. A fair judge scores every answer.
You give the clues, the judge guesses. Lead it to your eight cards.
Guess what the crowd answered. Three strikes.
A spectrum and a target: name something that sits right there.
Play in 90+ Languages
Every language is free. No account needed.
Why Wordle Global
From Arabic to Yoruba. The largest multilingual Wordle.
Learn the meaning of every word after you play. Expand your vocabulary.
Every word comes with a custom illustration. Collect them all.
Light, dark, and high-contrast modes for comfortable play.
PWA — install on any device. Works offline. No download needed.
No account required. No paywall. Just play.