Easy Number Match

How to play

Tap two numbers that are equal, such as 6 and 6, or add up to ten, such as 3 and 7. Each digit must still be live. The goal is to clear the whole board.

Pairs connect horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Neighbours connect immediately; more distant numbers connect only when every cell between them on that straight line has been cleared. A live number blocks the line, even if it would match one of the endpoints.

The last live number of a row also connects to the first live number of the next row in reading order, skipping cleared cells. This wrap joins two neighbouring rows; it does not join the first and last numbers of the whole board.

Cleared digits stay faded in place while their row has other live numbers. When a whole row is cleared, it disappears and the rows below move up. Look again after a row disappears: vertical and diagonal connections may have changed.

Add numbers copies every remaining digit, in reading order, to the end of the board. It leaves existing gaps in place and continues a partial final row before starting another. You have three adds per game; the button shows how many remain.

Hint outlines one legal pair, with three hints per game. Undo restores the board before a pair removal or an add. Used adds and hints stay spent when you undo. Restart resets the same starting board, timer and allowances.

If no legal pair exists and all three adds are spent, the game is over. Restart or undo to try another route. Clear every digit to win, stop the timer and share your time and adds used. Only clearing a daily board counts toward your consecutive UTC-day streak.

Choose easy, medium or hard for three, four or five starting rows. These names describe board size, not a measured solving difficulty. Easy and hard end with eight digits in the last row so the starting number of digits is even. Practice pages start with the same fixed seed; New puzzle changes your client-side game.

A short history

This pair-clearing puzzle belongs to a pen-and-paper game family known by names such as Take Ten, Numberama and Seeds. Players cross out matching numbers or pairs that total ten. The names and small rule variations travel between paper play and digital versions; no single origin date is claimed here.

Code constructs each starting board by reversing legal pair removals from an empty board, then replays its recorded pair sequence with whole-row removal. Every board can be cleared without Add numbers. We do not claim a unique solution. Starts contain all nine digits, no reading-order run of more than three identical digits, and at least two non-adjacent opening pairs; at most 90% of opening pairs are immediate grid neighbours. Like our Mahjong deals, the winning sequence is regenerated in the client rather than served in HTML or puzzle JSON. The served puzzle data contains only the starting cells, size and seed.

Solving tips

Clear pairs that unlock rows. A nearly empty row may be worth finishing before a tempting match elsewhere, because removing it brings the surrounding rows together and opens fresh straight lines.

Save adds while a useful legal pair remains. Copying numbers creates more choices, but also more digits to clear. If you do add, scan the join between the old bottom row and the new digits.

Work the bottom rows as well as the top. There are fewer numbers below them to block diagonals, and shortening the bottom can make an added copy easier to manage.

Check the row wrap when nearby digits look stuck. The last live number of one row and the first live number of the next can match across the edge of the grid.

Use a hint to learn a connection, then trace why it works. If another route runs out of pairs, undo a removal and compare what each choice opens. The recorded winning path proves a clear exists at the start; a different sequence can still leave you stuck.