How to play
Three rules, and every board can be finished without guessing. If you have never played Star Battle before, this page is the whole game.
The three rules
One hamster per colour
Each coloured region holds exactly one hamster. Not none, not two.
One per row and column
Every row holds exactly one, and so does every column.
No hamsters touching
No two hamsters may sit side by side, and not diagonally either.
Playing a square
- Tap once
- Marks the square with a cross — your note that a hamster cannot go here.
- Tap again
- Places a hamster.
- Tap a third time
- Clears the square.
Crosses are only notes. They never cost you anything, and the board does not check them. Most solvers spend far more taps on crosses than on hamsters.
How a board is solved
Start with what is forced rather than what looks likely. A row with only one free square must hold its hamster there. A region squeezed into a single row means the rest of that row is out. Place a hamster and every square touching it is out too, which usually forces the next one.
You never need to guess. Every board ships only after a solver has finished it by deduction alone. If a board could not be solved that way, it was thrown away before you ever saw it.
When you are stuck
- The magnifier
- Checks the board as it stands and points at a hamster that is in the wrong place.
- The hint
- Finds the next square that logic forces, tells you which rule forces it and why, then places it for you.
Both are limited, and both come back through the daily gift — finish a board on consecutive days and your stock goes up. Every third day gives more.
Lives
Placing a hamster where one cannot go costs a heart. Run out and the board ends, and you can start it again from the beginning. Crosses are free; only hamsters can be wrong.
Score
Finishing faster and using fewer helping items scores higher. Your score is ranked against your own best days, not against strangers — the game has no server and no other players in it.