The daily case follows the week. Monday and Tuesday are Easy, Wednesday and Thursday are Medium, Friday and Sunday are Hard, and Saturday is Expert. If Saturday beats you, the archive keeps every past case with a step-by-step solution, so you can see the one move you missed.
Difficulty levels and hints
Every case has a level, Easy, Medium, Hard or Expert, and a board size. The level tells you which techniques the case needs. This page explains what changes between the levels, how hints work and what to try when you are stuck.
In one line: the level is set by the hardest technique a case needs, not by the size of the board.
The four levels at a glance
The daily case through the week
- Mon Easy
- Tue Easy
- Wed Medium
- Thu Medium
- Fri Hard
- Sat Expert
- Sun Hard
Hints in three steps
In the app, a hint teaches instead of just answering. It comes in three steps, and you can stop at any of them.
1
Name the technique
A nudge says which technique to look for and who it concerns. If your board already contradicts the clues, it points to the mistake first.
2
Point at the cells
The cells that matter light up on the board, with the reason why.
3
Make the move
Only the last step places the person, and the case goes on. Free hints refill every day.
On this site the hint tool does one thing: pick a person, tap Hint, and that person goes to their correct cell. Your result counts the hints you used, so a clean solve still shows.
When you are stuck
- Cross out more. Go through every person and every clue again. One missed cross is the most common reason a case stalls. See reading clues.
- Look at lines, not people. For each row and column, ask who can still reach it. One name means a placement. See only one fits.
- Count the victim's room. If only one person can still reach it, that person is the killer and is in it. See room counting.
- List rows per person. Two people sharing the same two rows close those rows for everyone else. See shared rows.
- Try one cell. Pick a person with two open cells, assume one and follow it. If a rule breaks, cross it out. See contradiction.
If none of that moves anything, an earlier cross is probably wrong. Undo back to the last step you are sure of, or use a hint.
What sets the level
Our solver works through every case the way a careful player would, always taking the easiest move that still makes progress. The level is the hardest move it was forced to use. So "Medium" does not mean a medium-sized board. It means you will reach a point where reading clues is not enough and you have to count who can still get into a room.
Each level also asks for its technique more than once, so the step shapes the whole case instead of turning up once at the end. A Hard case needs shared rows and room counting at least three times between them, and an Expert case needs at least two contradictions.
What changes from level to level
Easy cases are about reading. Every step is one of three things: a person has one cell left, a person is stuck in one row or column, or only one person can reach a row. Easy cases never use the trickier negative clues ("not on a sofa", "not beside a plant", "not in a corner"), so every clue points somewhere.
Medium cases bring in counting. The victim was alone with exactly one other person, "alone" means nobody else, and "with another man" means exactly one other man. You will need those facts at least twice.
Hard cases hide pairs: two people who between them can only use the same two rows, so everyone else is shut out of both. They usually turn up after the easy crossings are done, which is why a Hard case can feel stuck halfway.
Expert cases run out of direct moves at least twice. You pick a cell, follow it, watch a rule break, and cross the cell out. It is still logic, not guessing, because you only keep what you proved.
Board size is separate
The size is shown next to the level, such as Medium 6×6. Daily cases run from 5×5 to 8×8, and Easy and Medium cases tend to be the smaller ones. A bigger board means more people, more clues and more to keep track of, but not harder logic. A 7×7 Easy case takes longer than a 5×5 Easy one and is still solved with the same three moves. If you want a gentle start, the printable sets come in Easy 5×5, Medium 6×6 and Hard 7×7.
Today's case
Put it to work on a real case
A new murder at midnight UTC, free in the browser, with one arrangement that fits every clue.
Questions
Which level should I start with?
Easy. Play the practice case on the how to play page, then Monday's daily case. Move up when Easy cases take you less than five minutes.
Is a bigger board always harder?
No. Size adds people and clues, but the level is set by the techniques a case needs. A 7×7 Easy case uses the same moves as a 5×5 one.
Do Expert cases need guessing?
No. They need contradictions: you assume a cell, follow the logic until a rule breaks, and keep only what you proved.
Do hints spoil the case?
Only if you want them to. The app's first hint step names the technique and the person and leaves the move to you.