What is Tents and Trees?
Tents and Trees is a grid logic puzzle where every tree needs exactly one tent in a neighbouring square. The tent must be directly above, below, left or right of its tree, never diagonal.
The row and column numbers tell you how many tents belong in each line. Tents are not allowed to touch one another, even at a corner, so every placement changes the choices around it.
- Place one tent for every tree.
- Each tent must sit orthogonally next to a tree.
- No two tents may touch horizontally, vertically or diagonally.
- The numbers outside the grid show how many tents go in each row and column.
- The puzzles on this page are generated with a uniqueness check, so each accepted puzzle has one solution.
How to play Tents and Trees online
Click or tap an empty square to cycle through tent, grass and blank. Use grass when a square cannot contain a tent; it is optional, but it helps you keep deductions tidy on larger boards.
Use Check when you want feedback without revealing the answer. Hint fixes one useful square, and Solution shows the complete unique answer if you want to study the logic.
- Start with rows or columns that already have a count of zero.
- Mark grass around every tent you place, including diagonals.
- Look for trees that have only one possible adjacent square.
- Use full rows and columns to eliminate the remaining spaces in that line.
- When a row or column still needs every remaining candidate, those candidates become tents.
Tents and Trees rules
The central rule is pairing: every tree gets one tent, and every tent belongs to one tree. In this online version, accepted puzzles avoid ambiguous tent squares so every placed tent has one clear neighbouring tree.
The no-touching rule is what gives the game its bite. Once a tent is placed, every surrounding square becomes impossible for another tent, which can force counts and tree pairings several steps away.
- Trees are fixed clues and never move.
- Tents only go in empty cells.
- A tent must share an edge with at least one tree.
- Tent totals must match every row clue and every column clue.
- A finished puzzle has exactly as many tents as trees.
Tents and Trees strategy tips
Good Tents and Trees strategy is mostly candidate management. For each tree, look at the neighbouring cells that could hold its tent, then cross off any cell blocked by counts or by another tent.
Harder puzzles ask you to combine local tree logic with global row and column totals. If a row needs two tents and only two legal cells remain, both cells are tents, even if neither tree looked forced on its own.
- Treat zero rows and zero columns as immediate grass.
- Use the corners and edges because trees there have fewer neighbours.
- After placing a tent, block all eight surrounding cells.
- Compare a tree's candidates with the counts in those rows and columns.
- Scan for lines where the number of candidates equals the clue.
Grid sizes and difficulty
The 6x6 Tents and Trees board is a friendly first step because there are fewer tree pairings to compare. The 8x8 board gives a balanced daily-style puzzle, while 10x10 creates more interaction between distant row and column clues.
Easy puzzles use lighter tent density and more direct forced moves. Medium puzzles add more competing candidates. Hard puzzles use denser layouts where row totals, column totals and no-touching logic have to work together.
- Choose 6x6 to learn the rules quickly.
- Choose 8x8 for a compact but satisfying logic puzzle.
- Choose 10x10 for a larger Trees and Tents challenge.
- Easy, medium and hard change tent density and solving pressure.
- New puzzle creates another checked puzzle for the chosen setting.