What is Deduce?
Deduce is a geometric logic puzzle that hides two unknowns at once: a four-step path drawn on a 4×4 grid labeled A1 through D4, and one of seven possible transformations applied to that path. Each daily challenge asks you to identify both the original path and the rule that changed it. The game offers five difficulty levels from Easy to Master.
How to play Deduce
- Enter grid squares in order to build a path. The counter shows the required length. Use Undo to remove the last step or Clear to start over.
- Submit the path. Each submission uses one attempt from the counter at the top.
- Check both scoring lines. Your guess is scored against the original path and the transformed path.
- Compare the feedback across attempts. Differences point to the transformation; matching feedback helps narrow the path.
- When you are confident, open Submit Answer and enter the original path and the transformation rule.
You are solving two puzzles in one submission.
Most dot-matching puzzles hide one object. Deduce hides two, so you reason about how one became the other. The seven candidate rules appear on the help panel with illustrations. Each guess returns two lines of colored dots, and the gap between them carries more information than either line alone. A square that is green on one line but gray on the other signals the transformation at work. The format stays compact, but each guess demands more reasoning than a single-target game.
Reading the feedback
Three colors apply to both lines. Green marks a correctly placed square, yellow a square that belongs to the target but in the wrong position, gray a square not part of that target. Because scoring runs separately against the original and the transformed path, the same square can be green on one line and gray on the other. This disagreement between the two lines is the signal that identifies the transformation, while their agreement helps pin down the path itself.
Modes and levels
The Daily Challenge presents one dated puzzle per day with a visible attempt counter. A selector offers Easy, Medium, Hard, Expert, and Master difficulty.
Tips for solving
The rules panel is a reference, not decoration. It draws all seven transformations side by side using the same example path. Keeping it open saves attempts.
The Classic rule reproduces the path exactly. If your two scoring lines match across multiple guesses, you already know something about the transformation before locating the path.
The Reverse rule keeps the same squares but changes their order. Under this rule, a square that is gray against the original cannot turn green or yellow against the transformed. A single contradiction rules it out.
Popular questions
Do I have to guess the path or the rule?
Both, and in the same submission. The help panel indicates that Submit Answer requires choosing the original path and the transformation rule. Intermediate trials only gather evidence for that final decision.
How many transformations can you encounter?
The panel illustrates seven: identical repetition, left-right mirror, top-bottom mirror, diagonal mirror, 90-degree rotation, 180-degree rotation, and reverse order. The list does not claim to be exhaustive.