Free · Offline · No daily limit

Unruly: two colours, never three in a row

Fill the grid with blue and orange so that no three of a colour line up and every row and column is half and half. A calm binary puzzle — also known as Takuzu or Binairo — with 1,600 puzzles from 6×6 to 12×12, no ads and no sign-up.

Play Unruly How to play

How to play Unruly

The board is a square grid with an even number of rows. A few cells start filled in; colour every other cell blue or orange so that:

No three cells in a row — across or down — have the same colour.
Every row and every column has as many blue cells as orange ones.

That's all. Every puzzle has exactly one solution and can be solved by logic alone, no guessing. The rules come from Simon Tatham's Unruly; the same idea is known as Takuzu, Binairo or simply the binary puzzle.

Controls

Pick a colour at the bottom of the screen, then tap a cell to fill it. Tap it again to clear it.
Press and hold a cell to fill it with the other colour — no need to switch.
Drag across empty cells to fill a whole run at once.
Cells with a small dot were given and can't change. Turn on line counters in the game settings to see how many of each colour every row and column still needs.

Unruly strategy: six techniques

These are the techniques our hints use, from easiest to hardest, each on a real position from the game. The ringed cells are the pattern; the green ring is the cell it fills.

1. Pair

Two cells of the same colour side by side: the cells at both ends must be the other colour, or there would be three in a row.

Pair example: Row 3 has two orange cells side by side, so the cells next to them must be blue — three orange in a row aren't allowed. — **Real example from a Gooby game.** Row 3 has two orange cells side by side, so the cells next to them must be blue — three orange in a row aren't allowed.▢ pattern▢ filled now

2. Sandwich

Two cells of the same colour with one gap between them: the gap must be the other colour.

Sandwich example: In column 6 the gap between two orange cells must be blue, or there would be three orange in a row. — **Real example from a Gooby game.** In column 6 the gap between two orange cells must be blue, or there would be three orange in a row.▢ pattern▢ filled now

3. Half Full

Once a row or column has half its cells in one colour — three on a 6×6, four on an 8×8 — every other cell in it is the other colour.

Half Full example: Row 3 already has all 3 of its blue cells, so the rest must be orange. — **Real example from a Gooby game.** Row 3 already has all 3 of its blue cells, so the rest must be orange.▢ pattern▢ filled now

4. Last One

When a line needs just one more of a colour, try each open spot for it. Some spots would leave three of the other colour together somewhere else in the line — so the last one can't go there, and those cells take the other colour.

Last One example: Row 3 needs just one more blue cell. Putting it in some of the open spots would leave three orange cells in a row, so row 3 column 3 must be orange. — **Real example from a Gooby game.** Row 3 needs just one more blue cell. Putting it in some of the open spots would leave three orange cells in a row, so row 3 column 3 must be orange.▢ pattern▢ filled now

5. Line Scan

The general form of Last One. Count what a line still needs and list the ways to fit it without three in a row. If every way agrees on a cell, that cell is decided. On harder boards this is the workhorse.

Line Scan example: Column 3 still needs 3 blue and 2 orange. Of the ways to fit them without three in a row, every one makes row 1 column 3 blue. — **Real example from a Gooby game.** Column 3 still needs 3 blue and 2 orange. Of the ways to fit them without three in a row, every one makes row 1 column 3 blue.▢ pattern▢ filled now

6. Contradiction

Pick a cell and imagine it one colour. Follow the simple techniques from there; if some line ends up impossible to fill, the cell must be the other colour. Expert puzzles need a few of these, Extreme ones many.

Contradiction example: Suppose row 1 column 6 were blue. Following the simple rules from there, row 10 could no longer be filled correctly. So it must be orange. — **Real example from a Gooby game.** Suppose row 1 column 6 were blue. Following the simple rules from there, row 10 could no longer be filled correctly. So it must be orange.▢ pattern▢ filled now

Difficulty that adapts to you

There are no levels to unlock. Every finished puzzle updates your rating — clean, hint-free wins count most and a lost game lowers it — and the next puzzle is chosen around your rating, with the odd easier breather and harder stretch.

Tier	Boards	What it takes
Easy	6×6 – 8×8	Pairs, Sandwiches and Half Full lines
Medium	8×8 – 10×10	A few Last One or Line Scan steps
Hard	10×10 – 12×12	Many Line Scans
Expert	10×10 – 12×12	One to three Contradictions
Master	12×12	Four to eight Contradictions
Extreme	12×12	Long runs of what-ifs

Unruly questions

Is Unruly the same as Takuzu or Binairo?

Nearly. Takuzu and Binairo use the same two rules — no three in a row, and every row and column half one colour, half the other — and usually add a third rule that no two rows or columns may be identical. Unruly, like Simon Tatham's puzzle of the same name, leaves that third rule out, and every puzzle still has exactly one solution.

Is there a daily limit?

No. There are 1,600 puzzles and you can play as many as you like, whenever you like, for free.

Can I play Unruly offline?

Yes. After the first visit all puzzles are stored on your device, so it works with no connection. Add it to your home screen to use it like an app — here's how.

How does the difficulty work?

Unruly adapts to you. Each finished puzzle updates a skill rating, and the next puzzle is picked around it, from Easy 6×6 boards up to Extreme 12×12 boards that need several what-if deductions.