Queens puzzles look simple: a small square grid split into colored regions. Your job is to place one piece in every row, every column and every color, without any two pieces touching. In Waddzle Queens, those pieces are penguins, and each color is an ice floe that needs exactly one of them.
This guide covers the rules, the controls and a simple way to work through your first board.
The four rules
- One penguin per row. Every row holds exactly one penguin.
- One penguin per column. Every column holds exactly one penguin.
- One penguin per color. Every colored region holds exactly one penguin.
- No touching. Penguins never sit next to each other, including diagonally at the corners.
A 6×6 board has six rows, six columns and six colors, so a finished board always has six penguins. There is exactly one correct answer, and you can always reach it with logic alone.
Marking cells
Most of solving is ruling cells out. In Waddzle, tap a cell once to leave a footprint. A footprint means “no penguin can go here”. Tap again to place a penguin, and a third time to clear the cell. You can also drag across the board to leave a trail of footprints in one go.
Good solvers place far more footprints than penguins. Every footprint narrows the options until only one cell is left for a penguin.
Solving your first board
1. Find the smallest region
Look for a color with only one or two cells. A one cell region is a free penguin. A two cell region narrows things fast.
2. Place the penguin and clear its space
When you are sure where a penguin goes, place it. Then add footprints to the rest of its row, the rest of its column, the rest of its color and all eight cells around it.
3. Look for forced cells
After clearing, some row, column or color will often have just one open cell left. That cell must hold a penguin. Place it and clear its space again.
4. Repeat
Keep going until every row has a penguin. When the board is solved, the colony cheers.
If you get stuck
- Scan each color and count its open cells. The color with the fewest options is usually the next move.
- Check whether a whole color sits inside a single row or column. If it does, that row or column belongs to that color, so footprint the rest of it.
- Use a hint. In Waddzle, hints place one correct penguin for you and are always free.
Ready to try? Play today’s daily puzzle, or read our queens puzzle strategies for the techniques that crack harder boards.