Nurikabe ✓ Solved

How to play Nurikabe

1. Each number belongs to one island: a group of white cells joined side by side, with exactly that many cells (counting the number).
2. Every island has exactly one number, and islands never touch side by side.
3. All shaded cells (the sea) are connected side by side.
4. The sea never has a 2×2 block of shaded cells.

Full guide with an animated example · Strategy guides · Printable Nurikabe

About Nurikabe (also called Islands in the stream)

A map puzzle. Every number is an island of that many white cells. Shade the rest as sea, keeping the sea in one piece with no 2×2 pools.

This page starts you on Medium. Choose another level above at any time; your game is saved after every move, so you can come back later, even offline.

Tips

• Count: the sea is every cell that isn’t part of an island. Add up the numbers to know how many white cells there are.
• Look for 2×2 squares with three shaded cells: the fourth must be land.
• Cells that no island can reach are always sea.

Questions

Do I have to dot the island cells?
No. Dots are just a memory aid; the puzzle is solved when exactly the sea cells are shaded.

Is every puzzle solvable without guessing?
Every puzzle has exactly one answer, checked by our solver. Easy and Medium can be solved with simple steps; Hard and Expert may need you to think a few moves ahead.