Magic Square Game
Create a valid 3 by 3 square with equal row, column and diagonal totals.
Math puzzle challenges
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Help, keyboard and saved progress
Tap tiles or number boxes. Tab moves between fields and buttons; Enter in a field checks the current answer. Undo restores the most recent edit. Hints and Undo mark assistance.
Puzzle progress saves in your browser when available.
Daily puzzles switch at midnight UTC. Best scores are recorded separately for each difficulty.
How to Play Magic Square
Complete a 3 by 3 grid using each number in the displayed pool exactly once. The numbers in every horizontal row, vertical column and the two long diagonals must add to the target shown above the board. Given entries are fixed. Enter numbers in the blank boxes and choose Check answer to validate all eight required lines.
This is a numerical arrangement challenge, not a word puzzle. Easy mode starts with more known positions and consecutive values from 1 through 9. Normal offers fewer fixed placements and may shift the value set. Hard uses a spaced arithmetic progression and fewer clues, so working backward from the sum becomes especially useful.
A mathematically valid alternative arrangement counts as correct. You do not have to reproduce a hidden picture or remember a particular orientation. The checker independently verifies that every supplied number appears once, no fixed position changes and all eight sums equal the target.
Worked Magic Square Example
A famous example using the digits 1 through 9 is the layout 8, 1, 6 in the first row; 3, 5, 7 in the second; and 4, 9, 2 in the third. Each row and column adds to 15. The diagonals do too: 8 + 5 + 2 = 15 and 6 + 5 + 4 = 15. Each digit is used only once.
Why is the center often a powerful clue? In a 1-to-9 square the center is 5, half of every opposing pair total of 10. More generally, when the number pool follows an arithmetic progression, opposite positions balance around the middle value. Use that property to position values systematically rather than trying all permutations.
The line target follows from the pool. Since every square belongs to one of the three rows, the total of the nine available numbers must equal three times the target. For 1 through 9 the total is 45, so the row target is 15. When the pool shifts or skips by a constant step, compute the new total and divide by three.
How Hints and Records Work
A hint reveals one cell from a valid completed square and marks the puzzle assisted. Undo recovers your last edit. You can play using a physical keyboard or tap number fields on a phone. A successful check records the solved task in your local progress and can update the practice calendar.
Do repeated numbers count? No. Every supplied number must appear exactly once. Are the diagonals optional? No. The two main diagonals are part of the definition of a magic square and are checked just as strictly as the six horizontal and vertical lines.
If your rows balance but a diagonal fails, examine corner pairs and the center. A square can satisfy three row totals while still being wrong. Daily mode uses the same seeded puzzle for a particular date and difficulty; Practice mode creates a new arrangement each time you request it.