How to Play Kakuro

THE PLAYBOOK · GYHUAXIANG

How to play Kakuro

Take a moment with Kakuro before moving to another game. Complete a 4×4 sum grid with digits 1–9, no repeats in any row or column, and the displayed totals. Look at what changes after your first action. Read the objective before making your first input. Look at what changes after your first action.

Practise sums on twelve small, unblocked 4×4 grids. These teaching boards use whole-row and whole-column totals rather than the blocked runs of classic Kakuro.

Review a difficult moment

When a decision goes wrong, compare it with the common mistake described below. Start again only when you intend to leave the current round. Notice the feedback after each input.

Your goal

Complete a 4×4 sum grid with digits 1–9, no repeats in any row or column, and the displayed totals. Keep that objective in view throughout the round. Notice how the game responds to your input.

Step by step

1. Compare a row total with its fixed entries.
2. Use the column total for the same blank.
3. Enter digits 1–9.
4. Check puzzle verifies totals and non-repetition.

Controls

Click or tap squares or graph edges. Number boards include a digit pad. Undo reverses the previous change; Check puzzle validates the solution. Use the control method described here for this activity. Avoid pressing the same control repeatedly while a move is being processed.

A useful example

A row total 18 with fixed values 2, 4 and 7 requires 5 in the remaining cell. Focus on why the action is allowed, not only its outcome. Consider the next action carefully.

Watch out for this

Repeated digits in a run are forbidden even when the sum matches. A different version of the game may use a different rule. Before your first action, say what you are trying to achieve. Then compare the result with the goal.

Common questions