How to play Numerly

The one rule behind every puzzle

A Numerly puzzle is never a memory test and never a trick. It is a small drawing — a ring of numbers, a star, a grid, a chain, an hourglass — where every value follows a single arithmetic or alphabetical rule, and exactly one value has been removed. Your job is to prove the rule using the parts of the figure that are still filled in, then apply that proven rule to the gap. If two different rules would give two different answers, the puzzle is broken and we do not ship it, so you can always trust that a single answer exists.

That is also why guess-and-check is the slowest way to play. The numbers you can see are the evidence; the blank is the conclusion. Players who get fast are the ones who spend their first ten seconds looking rather than typing.

Step by step

1. 1. Read the whole figure before touching the keypad

   Every puzzle is a drawing with one blank marked by a question mark. Look at all the filled values first — around a circle, along a chain, down a column — before you try any arithmetic. The rule is always visible in the numbers you can already see.

2. 2. Find the rule from the numbers you can already see

   Compare neighbouring values. Ask whether the gaps between them are constant, whether one value is the sum or product of two others, or whether the outer values combine to make the centre. If a candidate rule works on every filled part of the figure, it is the rule.

3. 3. Apply the rule to the blank and enter your answer

   Type the missing value with the on-screen keypad. Number puzzles take digits; alphabet puzzles take letters. Nothing is deducted for a wrong answer, so a considered guess is always better than skipping.

4. 4. Use a hint only when you are genuinely stuck

   The bulb button spends 20 coins and tells you which family of rule is at work without giving the answer. Revealing the full explanation costs 50 coins. Solving a puzzle without spending anything is what keeps your balance growing.

5. 5. Launch the answer and move to the next planet

   A correct answer reveals the missing value in place, credits coins, and unlocks the next level. Packs open in order, so clearing one pack is what opens the next.

6. 6. Come back for the daily challenge

   The daily puzzle is one timed five-minute challenge that is the same for everyone on that UTC day. Finishing it extends your streak; the archive keeps the last thirty days available for practice.

Rules worth memorising

Most figures resolve to one of a handful of patterns. Constant difference: the values step up or down by the same amount as you go around or along. Pairwise combination: two outer values add, subtract, or multiply to give a third. Centre relationship: the middle value is the sum, product, or difference of everything on the outside. Positional alphabet: letters behave like their position numbers, so H is 8 and a "+3" chain turns H into K. Two-step rules mix any two of these and are what separate the hard packs from the easy ones.

When a figure resists you, count the elements. Three values around a triangle almost always combine pairwise; four in a square usually run around the perimeter; six in an hourglass usually mirror across the waist.

Coins, hints and streaks

You start with a coin balance on the device you play on, and every puzzle you solve unaided adds to it. A hint costs 20 coins and names the family of rule involved. The full explanation costs 50 and walks through the arithmetic. Puzzles solved with a hint do not pay out, which keeps the economy honest: coins measure what you worked out yourself. Coins also buy printable PDF packs if you want to play away from a screen.

The daily challenge is separate. It is the same puzzle for every player on a given UTC day, timed at five minutes, and finishing it extends your streak. Miss a day and the streak resets — there is no paid streak repair, because a streak you bought back is not information about anything.

Where to start

If you have never played, open the level map and clear the first Number Circles pack — it is deliberately gentle and teaches the reading habit. If you want a single puzzle a day instead, go straight to the daily challenge. Questions about accounts, coins or refunds are answered on the FAQ.