How to play Loomlock

A free daily logic puzzle where you trace one closed loop from a grid of numbers — earned entirely by deduction, never by luck.

What Loomlock is

Loomlock is a free daily loop-deduction puzzle in the Nikoli slitherlink family. Every day you get one fresh board of numbered cells, and your job is to trace a single closed loop — one continuous woven cord that never branches, crosses, or splits into two — that satisfies every clue. What sets Loomlock apart is its no-guess promise: the board will not let you lock in an edge you cannot yet prove, so a finished solve is always earned by logic, never by luck. It runs entirely in your browser, needs no account, and is free.

How to play

Each numbered cell tells you exactly how many of its four sides the loop runs along: a 0 means the cord touches none of its edges, a 3 means it hugs three of them, and blank cells carry no constraint. Tap or click an edge to cycle it through three states — LINE (part of the loop), X (definitely not part of the loop), and blank. Build the loop edge by edge. If you try to mark an edge that would contradict the one true solution, Loomlock gently blocks it instead of letting you go wrong — that is the no-guess check at work. Stuck? A hint reveals the next forced edge, but each hint is counted on your final card, so “no hints” is the badge to beat. When your last edge closes the loop, the cord cinches tight and your spoiler-free solve card appears.

Five strategy tips

1. Start with the extremes. A 0 lets you X out all four of its edges at once, and two 3s side by side force the edges between and around them. These givens crack the board open.
2. Use the loop rule at every corner. Where grid lines meet, exactly zero or exactly two segments of the loop can pass through — never one or three. That parity alone forces dozens of Xs.
3. Mark X aggressively. Ruling an edge out is as much progress as drawing one in, and it often exposes the next forced line. The no-guess check guarantees every X you can prove is safe.
4. Learn the corner and wall patterns. A 1 tucked in a board corner, or a 3 along an outer edge, almost always resolves to a single forced shape — recognise these and you will fly.
5. Do not close the loop early. If a chain of lines is about to seal a small loop before every clue is satisfied, that closing edge must be an X — the answer is always one single loop.

Frequently asked

Want more?

Missed a day, or want to see how a solve really goes? The Loomlock archive keeps every past board and walks through each one’s finished loop step by step — a relaxed way to learn the method between dailies.