Tents

How to play Tents

Tents is a logic puzzle for one player. You see a square field with some trees on it. A number sits next to every row and above every column. Your job is to pitch the tents for a campsite, and each tree must get its own tent.

Goal

Place tents in empty squares so that all of these rules are true:

• Every tree has exactly one tent next to it, up, down, left or right. Each tent belongs to one tree only, so there are as many tents as trees.
• A tent must stand next to its tree, never only on a corner.
• Tents never touch each other, not even on a corner.
• The number beside a row or above a column tells you how many tents are in that line.

Every puzzle here has exactly one answer, so you can always find it by logic.

Step by step

1. Tap an empty square once to place a tent. Tap again to turn it into grass, a mark that means “no tent here”. Tap a third time to clear it. On a computer you can also right-click to mark grass.
2. With a keyboard, move with the arrow keys. Press T for a tent, G for grass and Backspace to clear. Space cycles through the three.
3. Fill lines with zero first. A row or column marked 0 holds only grass.
4. When a line has all its tents, its number fades. Tap that number to fill the rest of the line with grass.
5. Tents that touch light up red. A number turns red when its line has too many tents.
6. Press Undo to take back a move.

Levels

Easy uses a 6×6 field that you can solve with the simple rules above. Medium uses an 8×8 field and sometimes needs you to think one step ahead. Hard uses a 10×10 field with more trees and longer chains of logic.

End of the game

The puzzle is solved when every tree has its tent and all the numbers match. The timer stops and shows your time. Your game is saved in this browser, so you can leave and come back later. If you like this kind of grid, try Star Battle next.

Strategy tips

• Grass first. Every square that is not next to a tree can never hold a tent. Mark those, and all lines with a 0, as grass right away.
• Count the free squares. If a row needs 2 tents and has exactly 2 free squares left, both are tents.
• Mind the gaps. Tents cannot touch, so a run of 3 free squares in a row holds at most 2 tents, and a run of 2 holds only 1.
• Clear around each tent. When you place a tent, all 8 squares around it become grass. This often settles the next tree.
• Lonely trees. A tree with only one free square beside it must put its tent there.
• Think one step ahead. On hard puzzles, ask “what if a tent goes here?” If that leaves another tree with no room, the square must be grass.