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About star battle
Star battle is a logic puzzle played on a square grid divided into regions. You place stars so that every row, every column and every region holds the same number of stars, usually one or two, and no two stars touch, not even diagonally. A good star battle has exactly one solution, and you can reach it by logic alone.
How to play star battle
The daily puzzles have two stars in every row, column and region, but the rules are easiest to see with one. Here’s a small one-star puzzle to try in your head. Each row, column and region needs exactly one star, and stars can’t touch, not even at a corner.
Start with the two small regions at the top left. The top one is two cells in row 1. The one under it is two cells in row 2, shifted one step to the right. Wherever that lower region puts its star, it touches the right-hand cell of the top region. So that cell is out, and the top region’s star goes in the corner.
The corner star touches the left cell of the lower region diagonally. That pushes the lower region’s star into row 2, column 3.
Now row 3. Columns 1 and 3 are taken, and the cells touching the row 2 star are out. Only column 5 is left. In row 4 only column 2 survives, and row 5 takes the last star in column 4. Check the regions: each one got its star.
Three beginner techniques
You’ll use these on every grid, from the smallest to the weekend 10×10.
Cross out around every star
When you place a star, rule out everything it blocks: the rest of its row, the rest of its column, the rest of its region and the eight cells around it. It feels slow, but it’s what makes the next step visible. If you’re stuck, check you didn’t skip a cell.
A region inside one row
If all of a region’s cells sit in one row, that row’s star has to come from that region. So every other cell in the row is empty. The same works for a region that sits inside one column.
Two regions in two rows
This is the same idea, stretched. When two regions fit entirely inside two rows, they use up both of those rows’ stars. Every other cell in those two rows is empty. It works for three regions in three rows too, and for columns.
Grid sizes by weekday
A new star battle comes out every day at midnight in your time zone. The puzzles get bigger through the week:
| Days | Level | Grid | Stars in each row, column and region |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday and Tuesday | Easy | 8×8 | 2 |
| Wednesday and Thursday | Medium | 9×9 | 2 |
| Friday to Sunday | Hard | 10×10 | 2 |
The techniques step up too. Easy grids need the beginner techniques above and testing a cell. Medium grids need a harder step, such as three regions inside three rows. Hard grids can ask you to follow a “what if” a few moves to rule a cell out.
The two-star 10×10 is the most common star battle format. For one star per row, play the queens puzzle. The archive has the last 30 days.
Origin and other names
Dutch puzzle designer Hans Eendebak created star battle for the 2003 World Puzzle Championship in Arnhem, the Netherlands. The New York Times publishes it as Two Not Touch. Since 2024 the one-star version has found a much bigger audience: LinkedIn’s daily Queens game uses the same rules, with crowns in place of stars, and many sites now call it the queens game.
Common questions
What are some tips for solving star battle puzzles?
Start with the smallest regions and any region that sits in a single row or column. Cross out around every star as soon as you place it. When nothing is obvious, count: if some regions fit inside the same number of rows, the rest of those rows is empty.
Is star battle the same as the queens game?
Yes. The queens game is star battle with one star per row, column and region. There’s a page for it here too: queens puzzle.
What is Two Not Touch?
It’s the name The New York Times uses for star battle. Its puzzles have two stars in every row, column and region, like every daily puzzle here.
How do you solve a 10×10 two-star star battle?
Use the same techniques, plus one extra fact: a 2×2 block can never hold two stars, because they would touch. Two neighbouring rows need four stars between them and split into five 2×2 blocks, so exactly one of those blocks stays empty.
Is there a daily star battle?
Yes. A new one comes out every day, free to play online without an account, and the last 30 days stay open in the archive.
Similar puzzles
Like dividing a grid into regions? Try shikaku. For a picture that appears as you solve, try a nonogram.