How to Play Heyawake
Shade cells so that numbered rooms have exactly that many shaded cells, no two shaded cells are adjacent, and all white cells are connected.
Try it now — Easy 7x7 →The Rules
- Shade cells so each numbered room contains exactly that many shaded cells
- No two shaded cells may be horizontally or vertically adjacent
- All unshaded cells must form a single connected region
- A sequence of consecutive unshaded cells in a line cannot cross more than one room border
Available in 3 sizes (5x5, 7x7, 10x10) and 3 difficulty levels (easy, normal, hard).
See It in Action
Shade exactly as many cells as each room's number — shaded cells cannot be adjacent
How to Play
- Rooms numbered "0" are completely unshaded — mark all their cells as empty
- Rooms with a high number have limited ways to fill without creating adjacent shaded cells — enumerate options
- Ensure unshaded cells stay connected — avoid isolating pockets of unshaded cells in corners
- Apply the "no crossing two borders" rule to limit long horizontal or vertical unshaded runs
Pro Tips
Adjacent rooms with both high shading counts create mutual constraints at shared walls
A corner unshaded cell must connect to the rest of the white region — trace connectivity paths as you go
The connectivity rule for unshaded cells is often the hardest — verify it after every shading decision
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Heyawake?
Heyawake is a logic puzzle where you shade cells in a room-divided grid. Rooms with numbers must contain exactly that many shaded cells. No two shaded cells can be adjacent, and all white cells must form a single connected region.
Choose Your Challenge
Start with easy to learn the rules, then progress to harder difficulties.