Best –
How to play
Goal
Fill every circle with one of two colours, brown or peach, so that all three rules are met.
The rules
- No three in a row. Never more than two circles of the same colour next to each other, across or down.
- Half and half. Every row and every column has as many brown circles as peach ones.
- No twins. No two rows are exactly the same, and no two columns are exactly the same.
How it works
- Tap an empty circle to make it brown, tap again for peach, and once more to empty it.
- Circles with a small white dot are given and can't be changed.
- A red ring warns you about a broken rule: three in a row, or too many of one colour in a line.
- Every puzzle has exactly one solution.
Tips
- Pairs: two of the same colour side by side must have the other colour on both ends.
- Gaps: two of the same colour with one space between them must have the other colour in the gap.
- Counting: once a row has its half of one colour, every empty circle in it takes the other colour.
- Use the twins rule last, when a row is nearly full and looks like a finished one.
The history of Binary
Belgian puzzle makers Peter De Schepper and Frank Coussement created this puzzle in 2009, using 0s and 1s, which is why it is often called a binary puzzle. It is also known as Takuzu and Binairo, and it is popular in newspapers across the Netherlands and Belgium.