Free tool

Star Battle Solver

Paint the regions of any Star Battle or Two Not Touch puzzle, then watch it solved one logical step at a time, with every move explained.Paint your puzzle's regions, press Solve, and step through every move.

  1. 1Paint
  2. 2Solve

Pick a color, then drag across one region of your puzzle.

Regions

1–9 colorE eraser⌘Z undo

No puzzle to hand? Try one:

How to use the Star Battle solver

  1. Pick the size Count the rows of your puzzle. Inkwell Stars runs from 8×8 to 11×11; Two Not Touch is 10×10.
  2. Paint each region Choose a color and drag across one region's cells, then the next color for the next region. Thick borders appear wherever two colors meet, so the board ends up looking like your puzzle.
  3. Solve and step through Press Solve, then Play, or tap Next to go one deduction at a time. Each step says what was found and why.

How the solver works

The solver doesn't search for the answer and show it to you. It solves the board the way a person does, one deduction at a time. It crosses out the cells around each star, counts the stars still needed in a row, column or region, and spots where a small region pins two stars into the same lines. When those run out it uses the advanced patterns from our Star Battle strategy guide, and every step is written out in plain words.

It's the engine behind our daily Star Battle solutions and the Inkwell Stars walkthroughs. Before it explains anything it checks that your board has exactly one answer. If it doesn't, the solver says so instead of explaining a solve that isn't real.

What it can solve

Any two-star Star Battle from 8×8 to 11×11: Two Not Touch from the New York Times, Inkwell's Stars, puzzle books, and our own daily boards. New to the rules? Here's how Star Battle works.

Solver questions

Is the Star Battle solver free?

Yes. Paint a board, press Solve, and step through the whole solution. There is no account, no limit and no app to install.

Can it solve Two Not Touch and Inkwell Stars puzzles?

Yes. Two Not Touch (the New York Times name) and Inkwell's Stars are both two-star Star Battle, which is exactly what the solver handles, on boards from 8×8 to 11×11. One-star boards like Netflix Starstruck and LinkedIn Queens follow different counts and aren't supported yet.

Does the solver guess?

Only when logic runs out, and it tells you. It works the way a strong solver does: crossing out cells next to stars, counting stars in rows and regions, and the advanced patterns in our strategy guide. Well-made puzzles never need a guess, so nearly every solve is pure deduction from first step to last.

Why does it say my board has more than one solution?

A real Star Battle has exactly one answer. If the solver finds two, a region was almost certainly painted a cell off from the original. The cells where the two answers disagree are outlined on the board, so check the regions around them against your puzzle.

Can I share a board?

Yes. Once a board is solved, Share puzzle copies a link that opens it as a puzzle to play. Your friend can try it first, and the solution has its own page.

How is this different from your daily solutions?

It is the same engine. Our daily walkthroughs explain the boards we publish; the solver explains any board you bring, from a newspaper, a puzzle book or an app.

Keep playing Star Battle

No app and no account needed — pick your next board and go.

Cleared these? Every board we've ever published is still playable in the archive.