Yes — you can play Hidato on a phone with touch controls or entirely by keyboard in any modern browser, with no download, account, or external dependency required. The board is a compact 4 by 4 grid with six given clues (1, 2, 6, 10, 12, and 16) that stay locked, and ten editable cells that you fill with the integers from 1 through 16. Every consecutive pair must touch horizontally, vertically, or diagonally — that's eight allowed directions in total — so the path winds through the small grid using king-move steps. Because the entire board fits inside a 390-pixel-wide viewport with native touch targets, phone players tap cells directly and use an on-screen number pad, while keyboard players move with arrow keys, type values, and press Enter to check. Nothing is uploaded, and there is no timer: the only goal is to land the unique solution for exactly 1,000 points.
Phone Play: Tap, Select, and Enter Values
Touch controls work because each cell is a large native button, status text wraps cleanly, and the layout is constrained to roughly 390 pixels wide so it avoids horizontal scrolling on most modern phones. Tap any non-clue cell to select it; the visible cursor moves to the new cell without altering any other entry. The on-screen number pad shows every integer from 1 through 16, and a single tap places that exact value into the selected cell. To remove an entered number, tap the Clear button — shaded clue cells never respond to Clear, so the six givens stay put regardless of how many times you tap.
The board intentionally allows a temporary duplicate while you reason; the validator only diagnoses duplicates once you press Check on a fully populated board, which keeps every edit explicit and predictable. Color is supplemented by text and accessible labels, so clue and entry status do not depend on appearance alone. For a quick run on a phone, use the dedicated link to play Hidato by touch and start with the cells around the locked 1 and 2 first.
Keyboard Play: Arrow Keys, Digits, and Enter
The keyboard layer covers the entire game, including checking, clearing, and restarting. Use the arrow keys to move the selection one cell at a time in any direction. Type a one- or two-digit value from 1 through 16 to place it; the short entry buffer lets "1" followed by "4" become 14, and "1" then "6" become 16. Moving the cursor with an arrow key, or pressing any number button on the on-screen pad, starts a fresh entry, so the buffer never bleeds across moves.
Press Delete or Backspace to clear the selected editable cell, and press Enter to check the full board. Restart is reachable through its on-screen control, which restores all six givens, clears every player entry, and resets the cursor, score, mistakes, and feedback for a clean run. The double-Escape gesture opens a spreadsheet-style boss screen, and another double Escape returns to the puzzle — a quick privacy shield during shared or office spaces.
| Action | Phone (touch) | Keyboard |
|---|---|---|
| Move selection | Tap any editable cell | Arrow keys |
| Place a value | Tap a number 1-16 on the pad | Type one or two digits |
| Clear selected | Tap Clear | Delete or Backspace |
| Check full board | Tap Check | Enter |
| Privacy screen | Open boss key via control | Double Escape |
| Restart run | Tap Restart | Click Restart |
How to Solve the Hidato Puzzle
- Open Hidato in your browser. The board appears as a 4 by 4 grid with the six shaded clue cells holding 1, 2, 6, 10, 12, and 16.
- Select an unshaded cell by tapping it on a phone or by pressing an arrow key to move the cursor on a keyboard.
- Enter an exact integer from 1 through 16 using the on-screen number pad or by typing the digits. The buffer accepts two-digit numbers like 14 and 16.
- Plan the path so every consecutive pair — 1 to 2, 2 to 3, and so on up to 15 to 16 — touches horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Eight directions are allowed.
- Use each value exactly once across the 16 cells. Temporary duplicates are allowed while you reason; resolve them before you check.
- Press Enter (or tap the Check button) once every cell contains a deliberate value. An incomplete check costs nothing and records no mistake.
- If the validator reports a single wrong attempt, repair the editable entries and check again — this is allowed once. A second incorrect check deadlocks the run until you Restart.
- A correct full board awards exactly 1,000 points. The run is then terminal: selection, entry, clearing, and further checks cannot change the result.
Rules, Scoring, and Terminal States
The rules are the standard Hidato number-path rules (see the official Hidato introduction for the original rules): fill every active cell with the consecutive range exactly once, and let each number touch the next one horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. The published board fixes six clue cells holding 1, 2, 6, 10, 12, and 16. An independent backtracking oracle has confirmed that with all six clues the board has exactly one solution, and that removing any single clue produces at least two valid paths — so every clue is necessary for uniqueness rather than a decorative hint.
The disclosed solution places 2, 4, 5, 6 across the first row; 3, 1, 8, 7 across the second; 15, 9, 10, 11 across the third; and 16, 14, 13, 12 across the fourth. The scoring formula is fixed: exactly 1,000 points for a valid complete board, no added points for incomplete checks, and a one-mistake allowance before deadlock. Completion and deadlock both freeze the run, so the result is locked until Restart. Because the fixture is fixed, replay becomes easier through memory, and elapsed time does not affect the score.
Strategy Tips for a 1,000-Point Run
Treat the first attempt as a real puzzle rather than a memorized route. Start by inspecting the forced links around 1 and 2, since those cells anchor the only legal neighbours for the smallest values. Work backward from 16 toward 12 next, because the bottom-right corner is the other tight constraint on the path. Before committing a number to a far cell, count how many moves are still available between distant clues — if a candidate value would strand the rest of the path, back it out.
Use temporary duplicates when exploring a branch, but clear them explicitly before you check. Finally, only press Check after every cell contains a deliberate value, because the validator distinguishes an unfinished reason from a genuine mistake, and you do not want to spend the one allowed repair on an accidental early submission. With those habits, the keyboard or the touch pad will both carry you to the same unique 1,000-point finish.