How to play Queens

Queens is a logic puzzle played on a square grid split into coloured regions. It takes a minute to learn and a while to master. Here's everything you need for your first solve.

The rules

  1. Place exactly one queen in every row and one in every column.
  2. Each coloured region holds exactly one queen.
  3. Queens may not touch each other, not even diagonally.
An easy 7×7 Queens puzzle. 7 rows, 7 columns, 7 regions, so 7 queens.

Because there are as many regions as rows, every row, column and region ends up with exactly one queen. That's the heart of the game: every rule is a counting rule.

Marking the grid

You'll place a few queens, but most of your moves will be crosses: cells you've proved can't hold a queen. When you place a queen, cross out:

  • the rest of its row and its column,
  • the rest of its region,
  • the eight cells around it (queens can't touch, even corner to corner).

On Pencil Grids, tap once for a cross and twice for a queen, or drag a finger across cells to cross out a whole stretch. Queens that break a rule get a red outline straight away.

Your first solve, step by step

1. Start with the smallest region

Look for a region with only one or two cells. A one-cell region is a free queen. A two-cell region tells you the queen is in one of two spots, and often both spots rule out the same neighbouring cells, so you can cross those out right away.

2. Look for regions stuck in one row or column

If every cell of a region sits in the same row, that region's queen is that row's queen. So every other cell in the row can be crossed out. The same works for columns, and in reverse: if a row's open cells all belong to one region, the rest of that region is out.

3. Count down to the last cell

As crosses build up, some row, column or region will have just one open cell left. That's a queen. Place it, cross out around it, and look again.

4. Repeat

Those three ideas solve most easy puzzles from start to finish. When they stop working, the techniques guide covers the next level.

The finished grid: one queen in each row, column and region, and none touching.
Ready? Play today's Queens or warm up with an easy unlimited puzzle.

Where Queens comes from

Queens is a single-star version of Star Battle, a pencil puzzle invented by Hans Eendebak in 2003 and popular in puzzle championships. The bigger versions ask for two or three stars per row, column and region. LinkedIn brought the one-star version to millions of players as "Queens" in 2024. The name comes from the classic eight-queens chess problem, although here queens only attack the cells right next to them diagonally.