How to Play Gauntle

Gauntle is a daily back-to-back puzzle gauntlet: 11 different mini-games, one overall timer. Every player gets the same puzzles each day. The lower your total time, the better.

Some games give bonuses which lower your time (e.g. -10s) if you do well. Others give penalties which increase your time (e.g. +10s) if you skip or fail. Green is a bonus, red is a penalty. The clock keeps running across the whole gauntlet.

Where practical, games are hand authored. Because I don't have infinite free time, Wordy, Chromal, Sudoku, Minesweeper, and Queens are algorithmically generated. While I have tried my best to ensure these generate fairly, bugs/issues may occur. No game content will ever be produced with Generative AI.

As Gauntle is currently in a testing state, if/when you find bugs or any areas for improvement, please let me know on the about page. <3

What it is: Guess the secret 5-letter word in 6 tries.

How to play: Type a 5-letter word, hit Enter. Letters turn green if they're in the right spot, orange if they're in the word but wrong spot, and grey if they're not in the word at all. Keep guessing.

Scoring:

• Solved in 1–3 guesses: −15s bonus
• Solved in 4: −5s
• Solved in 5: +5s
• Solved in 6: +15s
• Failed: +60s

You can skip after 45 seconds for +90s.

What it is: A small crossword puzzle (between 4×4 and 6×6 in size).

How to play: Click a square, type letters, fill it all in. Tab moves to the next clue. The board auto-checks when complete; if anything's wrong, you can use the "Check & highlight wrong letters" button for +30s, or just guess again.

Scoring:

• Solved: -10s bonus
• Used reveal letter button: +8s
• Used check board button: +30s
• Skip: +90s (after 45s)

What it is: Classic Takuzu. A 6×6 grid that you fill with two symbols — stars and circles. There are three of each in every row and every column, and no three of the same kind ever next to each other. Markers between some neighbouring cells lock those pairs together.

How to play: Tap a cell to cycle empty → star → circle → empty. Cells that break a rule turn red as you go. Watch for the markers sitting on the lines between cells: "=" means the two cells it touches must be the same symbol, "×" means they must be different. The grid auto-finishes once every cell is filled with no conflicts.

Use the "Reveal wrong" button (+30s) if you're stuck.

Scoring:

• Solved: -10s bonus
• Used reveal: +30s
• Skip: +90s (after 45s)

What it is: 6×6 Sudoku with 2×3 subgrids. Fill in digits 1–6 so every row, column, and subgrid contains each digit once.

How to play: Click a cell, type a number. If you put a digit somewhere it conflicts with another in the same row/column/subgrid, both cells turn red. The game auto-finishes when you've placed all digits correctly. Use the "Reveal wrong answers" button (+30s) if you're stuck.

Scoring:

• Solved: -10s bonus
• Used reveal: +30s
• Skip: +90s (after 45s)

What it is: Place 6 queens on a 6×6 colored grid so that no two are in the same row, column, color region, or diagonally adjacent.

How to play: Click a cell to cycle through: empty → X (marked as "no queen") → queen → empty. Conflicts are shown with red diagonal stripes. The game auto-finishes when 6 queens are placed with no conflicts. "Reveal wrong" gives you a +30s hint.

Scoring:

• Solved: -5s bonus
• Used reveal: +30s
• Skip: +90s (after 45s)

What it is: Classic Minesweeper. 12×12 grid, 20 mines. The puzzles are designed so no guessing is needed (every move can be deduced).

How to play: Left-click any cell to reveal it. If it's a mine, you lose. If it's safe, you'll see a number: that's how many mines are in the 8 cells touching it (including diagonals). A blank cell means zero adjacent mines, so all its neighbors auto-reveal as well. Use the numbers to work out where the mines must be, then right-click (or long-press on mobile) to flag each one. Once a number has the right count of flags around it, left-click that number to "chord", instantly revealing all its remaining safe neighbors. Start with the green X - it's a guaranteed safe cell that opens a large area.

Note: You do not need to flag every mine. If you clear every cell that isn't a mine, the game will autocomplete flagging the mines. This makes playing on mobile potentially easier.

Scoring:

• Won: -15s bonus
• Hit a mine: +60s (-2s per mine correctly flagged prior to failing)
• Skip: +90s (after 45s)

What it is: A picture puzzle. Clues tell you how many consecutive filled cells are in each row and column. Reveal the picture.

How to play: Each number is the length of a run of consecutive filled cells in that row or column. Multiple numbers mean multiple runs, in order, separated by at least one empty cell. So "2 1" in a row means a run of two filled cells, then a gap, then one more filled cell. Click a cell to fill it; click again to mark it × (definitely empty); click once more to clear. Drag across cells to fill a whole run at once. Clue numbers fade as you place their run correctly; a row or column border turns red if you've over-filled it. "Reveal incorrect" (+30s) marks any wrongly filled cells with ×.

Scoring:

• Solved: -10s bonus if no hints used
• Used reveal: +30s
• Skip: +90s (after 45s)

What it is: A weirdly-shaped blob (with a hole inside it) needs to be cut. You draw a single straight cut from outside the shape to outside, aiming for a target ratio.

How to play: Hold and drag to draw your cut line, starting outside the shape. The line must enter and exit the shape. Release to commit. Your score is based on how close to the target ratio you got.

Scoring:

• Perfect (0% off): −21s
• 1–6% off: −18s to −3s (bonus zone)
• 7% off: 0s (neutral)
• 8% off and up: +3s and worse, capped at +45s

No skip (one cut, one attempt). Scoring is 3s per percentage point off target.

What it is: Six letters appear one by one, then disappear. Figure out a word that uses them all.

How to play: Watch the letters. Once they're all gone, the typing field unlocks. Type any valid English word that uses exactly those letters (any anagram counts). Hints: Show letters again (+10s, multiple uses) or Reveal letters permanently (+30s, one-time).

Scoring:

• Solved: -8s bonus
• Each wrong guess: +10s
• Skip: +90s (after 45s)

What it is: 10 levels of color discrimination. Six squares, one is slightly different. Click the odd one out.

How to play: Click on the one square that doesn't match. Levels get progressively harder. Wrong click = game over.

Scoring:

• Cleared all 10 levels: −15s
• Level 9: −10s
• Level 8: −5s
• Level 7: 0s (neutral)
• Level 6 down to 1: +5s to +30s
• Failed level 1: +35s

Skip: +60s (after 30s)

Note: Game generation is designed to not penalise colorblind players, as it only changes value (lightness).

What it is: Trace the target shape. Hold down and draw a closed path around the center.

How to play: Look at the target shape at the top. Hold your mouse (or finger) and draw the shape on the canvas below (must start outside the small no-go circle in the center). Release to submit. One attempt only.

Scoring:

• 100% accurate: −40s
• 95–99% accurate: −20s to −36s (steep bonus zone)
• 90%: 0s (neutral)
• Below 90%: +1s per percentage point off
• 0% accurate: +90s

Hit ✨ FLAWLESS! ✨ status by:

• Completing the entire Gauntle in under 5 minutes
• Getting bonus time from Wordy, Ratiole, Chromal, and Shapeup
• Never skipping, failing, or taking any penalty in any game
• Never using any optional hints

It's hard. That's the point. 🧡

The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a person's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.

How to play: It's the Gauntle you know and begrudgingly play, but far more of a challenge. Penalties are harsher, the games are harder, skipping adds ridiculous time, and you get a single shot per week. Make it count!

Hardmode gameplay changes:

• Wordy: Words are now hand picked to wind you up ensure high quality. You must use green letters in the same spot, as well as all of your yellow letters, in all your subsequent guesses.
• Mini Crossword: I think it's funnier to just not change the name. Grids go up to 10x10, for 4 times the area fun!
• Paire: Despite harder generation I still find this one fun. Obviously that can't stand.
• Mini Sudoku: It's Sudoku but 9x9 now and harder. Lifetime ban for anyone caught saying "wheel" or "reinventing". Patent pending.
• Queens: Slay Queens on a larger 9x9 grid with 3 more sections. Lazy pun? Maybe. Don't care.
• Minesweeper: “Make Minesweeper harder!!” everyone always tells me. 16x16 grid, 65 mines. With a whopping 25.39% mine density, it's a wonder it's solvable without guessing. There’s no need to thank me for that (but you should).
• Nonogram: Embiggened and more annoying drawings, because how else could I possibly make this harder otherwise? If you know please tell me. Genuinely. Please.
• Ratiole: Not a single real way to make this harder, so the scoring band is just halved. We'll give it to the next person.
• Clambers: More letters. 7-10 now. You just can't get this level of innovation anywhere else.
• Chromal: Twice the levels I guess, there's not much else I can do. Complain and I'll make them all identical for you.
• Shapeup: I myself gave up on shapes when the sweats at school started adding more than 4 sides to them. Maybe I've made them complicated now out of spite, who's to say?

Hardmode scoring changes:

• Wordy: ≤3: -25s, in 4: +5s, in 5: +15s, in 6: +30s.
• Mini Crossword: Clean is -75s, otherwise unchanged.
• Paire: Clean is -45s, reveal wrong is +45s.
• Mini Sudoku: Clean is -75s, otherwise unchanged.
• Queens: Clean is -30s, otherwise unchanged.
• Minesweeper: Clean is -60s, fail is +90s with -0.5s credit per correctly flagged mine.
• Nonogram: Clean is -60s, reveal incorrect is +90s
• Ratiole: Bonuses and penalties doubled, neutral band halved.
• Clambers: Clean is -30s, otherwise unchanged.
• Chromal: Level 12 is neutral. -6s per level over, +5s per level under
• Shapeup: Bonuses/penalties are doubled.

You can skip any game after 60 seconds for +300s.

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A few notes on the beta:

Difficulty/scoring in Hardmode is not currently balanced (sorry). They'll be changed based on average player scoring metrics over the course of the beta as changes are made and things are tweaked or overhauled completely. Give it at least a few weeks before it's anywhere near a balanced brutal difficulty. You can complain at me all you like about the balancing once it's out of beta, but for now trust the process 🙏

The full version of Hardmode (when ready) will contain better metrics, be generally more polished, have rebalanced achievements/badges, and will contain an archive. There may also be Hardmode-only games in the full release, dunno at this time really. Vagueposting award goes to me.

You'll get a badge for having played during the beta. (That's right folks! It's the gamemode so great I have to bribe you to use it!), but beta times will not count towards profile metrics post full-launch, so don't sweat it if times aren't great. They'll probably still be visible on your profile in the previous plays list for nostalgia, assuming I don't break it at some point accidentally.

Bugs or gamebreaking issues may or will almost certainly show up, if you find any, please do let me know on the about page or in the Discord server 🧡