Suguru Rules and Strategy: How to Solve Number Regions
Complete Suguru game guide. Learn the rules for number regions, avoid adjacent duplicates, master diagonal elimination, and solve without guessing.
Suguru is a number placement puzzle where you fill irregular regions with digits. Unlike Sudoku, Suguru uses regions of varying sizes — and diagonal adjacency matters.
1Suguru Rules
1. **Fill each region**: A region with N cells must contain the numbers 1 through N exactly once each 2. **No adjacent duplicates**: No two adjacent cells (including diagonally adjacent) can contain the same number The diagonal constraint is what makes Suguru different from Sudoku.
💡Pro Tips
- ✓A 1-cell region always contains 1 — find these first
- ✓A 2-cell region contains 1 and 2 — easy to fill once neighbors are known
- ✓Diagonal adjacency means each cell has up to 8 neighbors to check
- ✓Larger regions are more constrained and often easier to solve first
2Getting Started: Small Regions First
Begin with the most constrained regions: **Size-1 regions**: Must be 1. Fill immediately. **Size-2 regions**: Must be {1, 2}. Check neighbors. **Regions near filled cells**: Use elimination to fill.
💡Pro Tips
- ✓Scan the entire grid for size-1 regions first — they are free answers
- ✓Size-2 regions need only simple elimination between {1, 2}
- ✓Look for regions where most cells are already filled by neighbor constraints
- ✓Work from the most constrained areas outward
3Diagonal Elimination
The diagonal constraint is what makes Suguru unique. When placing a number, check all 8 neighbors: **Corner cells**: Only 3 neighbors — least constrained **Edge cells**: 5 neighbors — moderately constrained **Center cells**: 8 neighbors — most constrained
💡Pro Tips
- ✓Always check diagonals — forgetting them is the most common mistake
- ✓A cell with many filled neighbors has fewer candidates — focus on these
- ✓Mark pencil candidates in cells with 2-3 possible values
- ✓When a cell has only one candidate, fill it immediately and update neighbors
4Advanced Techniques
**Candidate elimination**: Write all possible values for each empty cell. When a candidate appears in only one cell of a region, that cell must be that value. **Neighbor chaining**: A value placed in one cell eliminates it from all neighbors, which may force values in those neighbors. **Region interaction**: Two adjacent regions share constraints at their boundary.
💡Pro Tips
- ✓Pencil marks are essential for medium and hard puzzles
- ✓Update all affected candidates after every placement
- ✓Look for chains of deductions that start from a single placement
- ✓If stuck, re-scan all regions for cells with only one candidate
❓Frequently Asked Questions
How is Suguru different from Sudoku?
Do I need to be good at math for Suguru?
Can Suguru be solved without guessing?
Where can I play Suguru free online?
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