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How to Play Queens Puzzles

Queens Rules

Queens puzzles (the one-star form of Star Battle, popularized as LinkedIn Queens) are played on an n×n grid divided into n color regions of irregular connected shapes. You must place exactly n queens so that four rules hold at once: one queen per row, one queen per column, one queen per color region, and no two queens touching, where touching includes all eight directions, diagonals included.

This is a Star Battle at heart. The regions are the puzzle: because each color may only contribute one queen, a color squeezed into two rows tells you immediately that its queen lives there, which eliminates that row for every other color. Solving is a conversation between two counting systems, the rows and columns on one side and the colors on the other, and every elimination in one system echoes through the other.

The method is reservation and elimination: when a line (row or column) or a color has only one cell left that can hold its queen, that cell is forced. When a set of k lines can only be served by k specific colors, those lines belong to those colors exclusively. Every board on this site is machine-verified to be completable by exactly this kind of reasoning, with no guessing at any step.

Step-by-Step: Solving a Queens

  1. Scan the colors for tight ones. A color confined to a single row (or column) immediately claims that line’s queen.
  2. Mark eliminations as crosses. Every placed queen crosses out its row, column, color and all eight neighboring cells.
  3. Hunt for pairs and triples of colors trapped in the same small set of lines; matching counts (two colors, two lines) reserve those lines completely.
  4. After every placement, re-scan lines and colors with exactly one open cell; those cells are forced queens.
  5. Repeat until every line and color is satisfied. The finished board has one queen per row, column and color, none of them touching.

Queens Tips & Techniques

  • Count colors before rows. If every remaining cell of a color sits inside one row, that row’s queen must be that color, and the color can be crossed out everywhere else.
  • Watch for color pairs. When two colors can only live in two particular rows, those rows are spoken for; every other color’s cells in those two rows can be crossed out.
  • Use the no-touch rule aggressively. A queen knocks out its eight neighboring cells immediately, so a queen near the middle claims far more territory than an edge queen.
  • Think in reservations. A row with a queen is done: cross out all of its remaining cells, then re-check every color that appeared there.
  • Never place a queen to "try it out". Every board here is forced step by step; if no line or color argument moves you forward, look at the intersections you have not re-checked yet.

Ready to practice on a real puzzle?

Play today’s queens puzzles Unlimited queens puzzles

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a queens puzzle?

A queens puzzle is a logic puzzle on a grid divided into colored regions. You place queens so that each row, each column and each color region contains exactly one queen, and no two queens touch, including diagonally. It is the one-star version of the classic Star Battle format.

Is this the same as LinkedIn Queens?

Same rules. LinkedIn Queens popularized the format as a daily game; the underlying puzzle type is older and is known as Star Battle (one-star variant). Our boards are independently generated and, unlike most clones, machine-verified to be solvable by pure logic.

What is Star Battle?

Star Battle is a paper puzzle format dating back to 2011 puzzle magazines: place stars in a region-divided grid under line and region quotas, with no two stars adjacent. The one-star version with queens instead of stars is exactly the queens puzzle played here.

Why can’t two queens touch diagonally?

The no-touch rule is what gives the puzzle its bite. A queen occupies its row, column and region and also silences all eight neighboring cells, so every placement eliminates a large cross of territory and forces the remaining deductions.

Do I ever need to guess?

Never. Every queens board on this site is accepted only if a constraint solver can force the unique placement step by step from the region map alone. If you are stuck, look for a color whose remaining cells all sit in one line, or two colors squeezed into the same two lines.

Can I print queens puzzles?

Yes. Every daily queens puzzle has a print sheet with the regions as labeled shades and the solution at the bottom, and any archived date prints the same way.

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