How to play
Every move follows from the last.
PonderBug is a small daily set of logic puzzles. They look different — boats, dogs, colours, stamps — but they share one promise: you never have to guess. If you can’t yet prove a move, the puzzle hasn’t told you enough. Keep reading the board; it always has.
- 1
Read the whole board first
Every clue you need is on screen from move one. Before touching anything, find the piece that can only go one way — there’s always at least one.
- 2
Make the move you can prove
Place it, and the board tightens: what was ambiguous a moment ago is now forced. Deduction cascades. Drag pieces in, drag them back out — nothing is locked until you say so.
- 3
Check when you’re sure
There’s no live “right/wrong” colouring to lean on — that would turn deduction into trial and error. When the whole board is filled, hit Check for a single yes-or-no verdict.
The house rules
No guessing, ever
A PonderBug puzzle has exactly one solution, and every step to it is deducible. That’s the design test each puzzle has to pass before it’s published: could a careful person reach the answer with reasons, not luck? If not, it doesn’t ship.
The verdict is binary
You submit a completed board and get one answer: solved, or not yet. We deliberately don’t highlight which specific piece is wrong — finding that is the puzzle. It keeps the satisfaction where it belongs: in the click of a proof, not in fishing for green squares.
Wrong guesses cost a little time
You can Check as many times as you like, but a wrong verdict adds a small, growing time penalty to your clock. It’s gentle at first and steeper the more you lean on it — just enough to reward thinking a move through over spraying and praying. Your time is only a personal best; there’s no losing.
One fresh puzzle a day, per game
Each game gets a new puzzle every day, the same one for everyone. Solve what you like, skip what you don’t. Come back tomorrow for the next clutch.
No account required
Play as a guest and your progress lives in your own browser — nothing about your guest games is stored on our servers. Sign in only if you want streaks, stats, and a spot on the leaderboard that follows you across devices.
That little jolt when the last piece is forced into place — that’s the whole point. See you at tomorrow’s.