Nikoli Puzzles

Here we show you some of the famous Nikoli puzzles. You can solve these puzzles without knowing Japanese or mathematical techniques. The Nikoli pages on Wikipedia are very useful to understand the rules of Nikoli puzzles for English speakers. Here on our homepage you get the basic rules at each puzzle.

Alphabetically list

Let's Begin Nikoli Puzzles!

What makes solving puzzles fun?

A lot of people enjoy solving puzzles every day to escape the pressures of the world. With Nikoli logic puzzles you need just paper, pencil, and an active mind, no expensive programs or training. You can even access Nikoli puzzles online at nikoli.com. It is our pleasure and delight to provide logic puzzles to solve and enjoy every day to people looking for a fun way to relax.

Why Nikoli puzzles?

We started the puzzle magazine Puzzle Communication Nikoli in 1980, and Nikoli has always specialized in logic puzzles. We don't have any wish or vision or policy to expand into other areas. We just wish to share the joy and excitement of puzzles with our puzzle creators and solvers.

Why are Nikoli puzzles special?

What makes Nikoli puzzles unique is that our editors collaborate with individual puzzle creators and fans. Puzzle authors submit puzzles and our experienced editors review each and every puzzle. We are very particular about the quality of the puzzles selected for publication. Even experienced puzzle creators get rejected through this reviewing process. Having a fan focused creation process makes Nikoli puzzles exciting and they have a totally different "flavor" and freshness. They are not computer generated clones.

You don't need any special talent to solve Nikoli puzzles, an interested active mind will do the trick.

Our carefully reviewed puzzles will not cause solvers unnecessary stress. They don't require high levels of knowledge or any complicated hypothesis. A special talent is not a requirement to find the answers. You just need an open mind, thinking for yourself that "Maybe this is the right way"

Both beginners and experts can enjoy Nikoli puzzles.

A unique aspect of Nikoli puzzles is that a puzzle that is challenging to a beginner and yet solvable, can also give the expert solver pleasure in solving it. The expert may think they have figured out a trick the puzzle creator has hidden in the puzzle, but then walk straight into a trap. This creates tension, a sort of mind game between the solver and the puzzle creator. Because there are unexpected tricks in Nikoli puzzles even experts can enjoy the easy ones.

The bond between puzzle creator and solver.

All our puzzle creators were once readers and fans. We have a long history of publishing high quality puzzles submitted by fans. Fans who wish to create puzzles will have puzzle models right in the Nikoli puzzles in front of them. Creating a puzzle does not necessarily require any special skill either. It is a process of expressing what you think would be enjoyable for a solver on the puzzle board. As a puzzle creator you get a chance to challenge other fans with puzzles you have created.

Outside Japan puzzle fan numbers are growing.

Sudoku was named by Nikoli and has spread around the globe. It is said that more than a hundred million people are solving sudoku puzzles every day. Other puzzles that matured in Japan are recognized by people all over the world. These puzzles with numbers and simple symbols do not depend on a particular language for solving. Anyone, anywhere in the world can enjoy Nikoli's puzzles, there are no borders in the world of Nikoli puzzles.

The world's attention is on Nikoli.

"What's next after the sudoku craze?" People are looking to Nikoli for answers. The publication of Nikoli original puzzles other than sudoku have been steadily increasing throughout North America and Europe.

Developing long-term relationships.

When readers learn the joy of solving puzzles, they keep coming back to Nikoli - even those who drift away for a while because of busy schedules. Then there is the new generation, young people becoming Nikoli fans by discovering the puzzles on the bookshelves of their parents. Nikoli puzzles appeal to all people, there are no restrictions by age or gender. The joy of solving puzzles is more than a passing fad, it enriches lives. We look forward to continuing building long-term relationships with our readers, the people who solve Nikoli puzzles.

Where can you find Nikoli puzzles?

We are based in Tokyo, Japan. We publish a quarterly magazine called Puzzle Communication Nikoli along with many other books. You can order Nikoli books from Nikoli formal web site, nikoli.co.jp. We also provide puzzles to major Japanese newspapers and magazines. We have another exciting puzzle site, nikoli.com, where anyone, anywhere can access and play our unique challenging puzzles. You also have a chance to see Nikoli puzzles through video games and books in your country.

When you see fantastic exceptional puzzles, please check who made them. We are confident it will be Nikoli puzzles.