Gruzzler

FactsheetAt a glance

DescriptionThe pitch

Gruzzler is a self-setting puzzle. You begin with an empty grid and no clues at all — then you make your own. Select a cell, select a number, and a clue appears in that cell reporting on that number. You decide where your clues go and which numbers they are about.

Each clue points toward the nearest instance of that number along the row or column, never diagonally. Enter a 5 and an arrow points to the closest 5. If two are equally close, you get two arrows. If the number belongs in that very cell, you get a target instead — a direct hit.

What makes Gruzzler different is that deduction comes from exploration rather than from a path laid down by a setter. There is no predetermined route through the grid, so no two solves look alike. A 9×9 board can yield up to 81 clues; a strong player on a good day needs around thirty. That range is the difficulty dial — on your worst day you can still finish, and on your best you can go lean.

The set of clues you discover can be shared. Everyone gets to be a setter.

How It PlaysClues & modes

The three clues

The three modes

The rules of the grid

• Each number appears once per column.
• Each number appears once per row.
• Each number appears once per house.

Board SizesThree boards

FeaturesWhat ships

• Self-setting clues. The player generates every clue. Nothing is pre-placed by a setter.
• Exploration-based deduction. You choose your own route through the grid, so each solve is unique.
• Adaptive difficulty. Up to 81 clues on a 9×9 means the game meets you where you are, from brain-burner to wind-down.
• Three board sizes. 6×6, 8×8 and 9×9 — the 8×8 with irregular, interlocking houses.
• Three modes. Search to discover, Scratch to eliminate, Solve to commit.
• Puzzle sharing. The clue set you discovered can be passed to another player, who solves the board you effectively set.
• Three themes. Bright, Paper and Dark — Paper being a newsprint treatment, the one this site borrows.
• Colour-blind support. An alternate palette drawn from the IBM Design Language colour-blind-safe set.
• Nine languages at launch.

Fruit tokens

Gruzzler is free to play with ads, and the ads can be spent away. Fruit tokens are the game's currency: spending one skips the day's ads, or saves a streak by crediting a day you missed. Tokens are earned by playing — a welcome grant, streak milestones, days played, and finishing the tutorial — and can also be bought outright.

US pricing; storefronts localise. There is no subscription — tokens are bought once and spent as you like.

HistoryThe origin

During the pandemic, Bridget N was watching a great deal of the YouTube channel Cracking The Cryptic. She fell asleep during one of Simon's solves and had a fever dream about puzzles — a Sudoku in which you discovered all the clues yourself.

She took the idea to one of her game-design friends and asked whether he thought he could build it. They worked through prototypes together: she would suggest a change, he would find a way to make it work, back and forth until the thing was genuinely fun to play. It was built alongside her dissertation over a couple of years.

Many clue types were trialled along the way, since finding a self-setting clue that was fun proved to be the hard part — the balance between information gained and discovery preserved. Some of the discarded clue types may appear in future updates.

Bridget N is the founder and creative director of Gruzzler, a graduate student with a particular interest in grid logic.

Future PlansWhat's next

The biggest evolution ahead is more gameplay modes. Gruzzler's discovery mechanic has already been shown to work with other clue types, which opens up a good deal of puzzle design. There is also interest in guest setters — a Sunday puzzle, or something along those lines. Hand-set puzzles command a lot of respect here.

AudienceWho it's for

Gruzzler works as a relaxing fixture for hard-core enthusiasts and as a stepping stone into alternative logic for players new to grid puzzles. The clue budget is what lets both hold the same board.

Playing StrategiesFrom the setter

“My favorite approach is to really exploit strong placement in the beginning. My programmers play these wild completely random openings and go from there — I think it's a culture thing.”

Bridget N, Founder

Logo & IconBrand assets

ImagesScreenshots

TK — gameplay screenshots still to be supplied. Board-layout diagrams above are press-usable as they stand. For screenshots of the three themes, the three modes, or a solved board, please get in touch.

Selected QuotesOn the record

“The eureka moment was the first time we found a self-setting clue that was fun. It's hard to balance information gain and discovery to make ‘fun’.”

Bridget N, Founder

“Gruzzler is a little dry, but not as dry as traditional number puzzles. We wanted to give players 50% of the discovery fun from a game like Wordle, 50% of the accomplishment feeling you get from traditional grid logic, and 50% of the cleverness I get from solving alternative logic puzzles — which is 150% if things work out!”

Bridget N, Founder

“Playing Gruzzler has been the most rewarding part of making it, which is why I want to share it.”

Bridget N, Founder

Additional LinksElsewhere

TeamCredits

ContactGet in touch