Paint the sea, leave the islands

Nurikabe

The puzzle is made the moment you press. Nothing is recorded. Play full screen

Leave the numbered islands and paint the black sea. Islands and sea fight for space until the board takes shape.

Play one now How to play

Made by the same generator as the app: one answer, reachable by logic alone. Hints come in three steps.

What makes it fun

Islands and sea compete for space
Grow a numbered island too far, and the sea splits in two.
A sea path cut by an island
Where an island sits decides whether the black sea stays connected.
Black can't bulge into a square
Black cells that would form a 2×2 block cannot be painted.

Try one on the board above

Rules

Each island has exactly one number, equal to its number of cells.
All black cells connect up, down, left and right.
Black cells must never form a 2×2 square.

SOLVED WHENSolved when every cell that should be black is shaded. White dots are optional.

Your first move

Look for a 1 first. Its island is just that cell, so every cell around it is black.

When you get stuck

Hints come in three steps: where to look, why it works, then the answer. The first step only shows the place, so you can still find the rest yourself.

Controls

Tap for black: Press and let go right away to shade a cell black.
Long-press for a white dot: Long-press a cell you know is white to leave a dot. Dots never count as mistakes, and a stray tap will not shade a dotted cell.
Tap again to clear: Tap a black cell again to make it undecided. Long-press a black cell to turn it straight into a white dot.
Undo: Undo steps back one move at a time. The mistake count stays.
Big boards: On boards 10×10 and up, spread two fingers to zoom in and drag with one finger to reach the edges.