How to Play Hitori
Hitori ("alone" in Japanese) starts full and asks you to cross things out. Shade the repeats, keep the rest connected.
The rules
- Shade some cells so that no number appears more than once among the unshaded cells of any row or any column.
- Shaded cells never touch side by side. Corners are fine.
- The unshaded cells form one connected area: you can walk from any white cell to any other through white cells.
- You may only shade a cell whose number appears again in its row or column. A number that's already alone stays white.
Every puzzle on kawu has exactly one answer.
Playing on kawu
- Click a cell to shade it, click again to circle it (a note that it's white), click again to clear it. On the keyboard: arrows move, X shades, O circles, Backspace clears.
- Shaded cells that touch, and circled repeats, are marked in red.
- The status line counts how many cells are still to shade.
- Hint fixes a mistake or shades the next cell.
- Sizes 5×5, 6×6 and 8×8; the daily puzzle is the same for everyone.
Next, read the Hitori techniques. Like it? Try Light Up or Star Battle.
Frequently asked questions
Can shaded cells touch diagonally?
Yes. Only side-by-side (orthogonal) contact is forbidden.
Do I have to mark the white cells?
No. The puzzle is solved when the right cells are shaded. Circling a cell is a note to yourself that it's certainly white; it also makes the rule about neighbours of shaded cells easy to see.
Last updated 2026-10-20