How to play Roost Rows

Roost Rows is a logic puzzle played on a square board that is split into colored areas. Your job is to find the one cell in each area where an owl can roost. Every puzzle has exactly one answer, and you can always reach it by reasoning. You never have to guess.

The four rules

1. Every row holds exactly one owl.
2. Every column holds exactly one owl.
3. Every color holds exactly one owl.
4. Owls never touch, not even at the corners.

A 7 by 7 board has seven colors and needs seven owls. A 10 by 10 board needs ten.

Marking the board

Tap a cell once to mark it with an X. An X means "no owl can be here". Tap it again to place an owl, and a third time to clear the cell. You can also drag a finger across several cells to rule them all out in one stroke.

If you would rather place owls directly, flip the switch in the toolbar, or press and hold a cell for a moment.

With Auto-X on, which is the default, placing an owl rules out the rest of its row, column and color and the cells around it for you. You can turn it off in Settings or in the toolbar if you prefer to do that work yourself.

Undo has no limit and steps back one cell at a time.

Mistakes, stars and hints

An owl that breaks a rule or sits in the wrong cell turns red right away. You can remove it and carry on, but the slip is counted and the count never goes back down.

A solve with no mistakes and no hints earns three stars. A couple of slips or one hint still earns two stars, and any other solve earns one.

You get one free hint each day. A hint does not just hand you a cell. It lights up the cells involved, tells you why a move is forced, for example "only cell left in this color", and offers a button to carry it out. If one of your own marks is wrong, the hint points at that first.

Daily puzzle, archive and ladder

There is one new puzzle each day, the same for everyone. Boards start small on Monday at 7 by 7 and grow through the week to 10 by 10 on Sunday. Solving the daily puzzle on its own day keeps your streak going.

Missed a day? Every past puzzle stays in the archive. Archive solves are for fun and do not change your streak.

The endless ladder holds hundreds of extra levels, from 6 by 6 up to 11 by 11, and every one of them is open from the start.

Questions

Do I ever need to guess?

No. Every Roost Rows puzzle has a single answer that can be reached by logic alone. If you feel stuck, there is a forced move somewhere on the board, and a hint will show you one.

Is Roost Rows free?

Yes. The web game is free and needs no account. It is paid for by ads, which never appear on your first two puzzles and never interrupt a puzzle.

Where is my progress saved?

In your browser, on the device you play on. Clearing the browser's site data removes it.

Can I play in color-blind mode?

Yes. Turn on "Color-blind patterns" in Settings and every color also gets its own pattern.

Ready for more? Read the Roost Rows tips or go and play today's puzzle. Roost Rows is made by One Thumb Games.