Mini Sudoku: The Four-by-Four Warm-Up
All the logic of Sudoku in a pocket-sized four-by-four grid. Tap cells to cycle numbers, avoid clashes, and solve in under two minutes.
Keyboard works too Everything runs inside your browser. Nothing is installed on your phone.
Controls
Tap a cell to cycle its number, tap past 4 to clear. Red cells clash with something.
How to play
- Scan for the row, column or box that is already most complete.
- Tap an empty cell to cycle through 1 to 4.
- Red highlighting means the digit clashes â cycle to another value.
- Fill every cell without any red to finish the board.
- Beat your move counter for a cleaner solve.
About this game
Mini Sudoku keeps everything that makes Sudoku satisfying and throws away the parts that make it a weekend project. The board is four-by-four instead of nine-by-nine, the digits run from one to four, and every row, column and two-by-two box still has to contain each digit exactly once. A full puzzle takes most players between forty seconds and three minutes, which makes it an ideal commute companion.
Playing is deliberately simple: tap any empty cell and it cycles through the candidate numbers, tap past four to clear it again. Any digit that clashes with its row, column or box lights the cell up in a soft red, so mistakes are instantly visible and never hidden in the notes. There is no pencil-mark system to learn â the board is small enough to hold in your head.
Every board is generated fresh with a random permutation and mirrored layouts, so you are never memorising solutions. Around six to eight givens are revealed, which is enough to force real deduction on most boards. The move counter records how efficient you were, and your best result is stored on the device.
If the classic nine-by-nine grid has always felt like too much commitment, this is the version that teaches the scanning habit: check the row, check the column, check the box. Master it here and the newspaper puzzle becomes a gentle stroll.
Frequently asked questions
Is mini Sudoku easier than normal Sudoku?
Yes, mostly because the board is smaller and the digit pool is only four. The logic rules are identical, so it is perfect practice.
Are the puzzles always unique?
Each board is generated with a full valid solution and six to eight givens, which keeps every puzzle solvable by logic.
Can I undo a mistake?
You never need to. Tap the same cell again to keep cycling, and past 4 the cell clears back to empty.
Does it cost anything?
No. Mini Sudoku is completely free, runs in the browser and stores your best score on your own device.
