Related papers: Wataridori is NP-Complete
In the Nikoli pencil-and-paper game Tatamibari, a puzzle consists of an $m \times n$ grid of cells, where each cell possibly contains a clue among +, -, |. The goal is to partition the grid into disjoint rectangles, where every rectangle…
Nondango is a pencil puzzle consisting of a rectangular grid partitioned into regions, with some cells containing a white circle. The player has to color some circles black such that every region contains exactly one black circle, and there…
We prove NP-completeness of Yin-Yang / Shiromaru-Kuromaru pencil-and-paper puzzles. Viewed as a graph partitioning problem, we prove NP-completeness of partitioning a rectangular grid graph into two induced trees (normal Yin-Yang), or into…
Evolomino is a pencil-and-paper logic puzzle popularized by the Japanese publisher Nikoli (like Sudoku, Kakuro, Slitherlink, Masyu, and Fillomino). The puzzle's name reflects its core mechanic: the shapes of polyomino-like blocks that…
Rikudo is a number-placement puzzle, where the player is asked to complete a Hamiltonian path on a hexagonal grid, given some clues (numbers already placed and edges of the path). We prove that the game is complete for NP, even if the…
While logic puzzles have engaged individuals through problem-solving and critical thinking, the creation of new puzzle rules has largely relied on ad-hoc processes. Pencil puzzles, such as Slitherlink and Sudoku, represent a prominent…
Oredango puzzle, one of the pencil puzzles, was originally created by Kanaiboshi and published in the popular puzzle magazine Nikoli. In this paper, we show NP- and ASP-completeness of Oredango by constructing a reduction from the 1-in-3SAT…
Pencil puzzles are puzzles that can be solved by writing down solutions on a paper, using only logical reasoning. In this paper, we utilize the "T-metacell" framework developed by Tang and the MIT Hardness Group to prove the NP-completeness…
Spiral Galaxies is a pencil-and-paper puzzle played on a grid of unit squares: given a set of points called centers, the goal is to partition the grid into polyominoes such that each polyomino contains exactly one center and is 180{\deg}…
All or Nothing, Water Walk, and Remembered Length are pencil puzzles that involve constructing a continuous loop on a rectangular grid under specific constraints. In this paper, we analyze their computational complexity using the T-metacell…
When can $t$ terminal pairs in an $m \times n$ grid be connected by $t$ vertex-disjoint paths that cover all vertices of the grid? We prove that this problem is NP-complete. Our hardness result can be compared to two previous NP-hardness…
We prove that path puzzles with complete row and column information--or equivalently, 2D orthogonal discrete tomography with Hamiltonicity constraint--are strongly NP-complete, ASP-complete, and #P-complete. Along the way, we newly…
In this paper we show that a generalized version of the Nikoli puzzle Slant is NP-complete. We also give polynomial time algorithms for versions of the puzzle where some constraints are omitted. These problems correspond to simultaneously…
Sumplete is a logic puzzle famous for being developed by ChatGPT. The puzzle consists of a rectangular grid, with each cell containing a number. The player has to cross out some numbers such that the sum of uncrossed numbers in each row and…
A covering with dominoes of a rectilinear region is called \emph{tatami} if no four dominoes meet at any point. We describe a reduction from planar 3SAT to Domino Tatami Covering. As a consequence it is NP-complete to decide whether there…
In the Nikoli pencil-and-paper game Double Choco, a puzzle consists of an m $\times$ n grid of cells of white or gray color, separated by dotted lines where each cell possibly contains an integer. The goal is to partition the grid into…
Proving the NP-completeness of pencil-and-paper puzzles typically relies on reductions from combinatorial problems such as the satisfiability problem (SAT). Although the properties of these problems are well studied, their purely…
The generalised Sudoku problem with $N$ symbols is known to be NP-complete, and hence is equivalent to any other NP-complete problem, even for the standard restricted version where $N$ is a perfect square. In particular, generalised Sudoku…
We prove that it is NP-complete to decide whether a given string can be factored into palindromes that are each unique in the factorization.
Sudoku grids can be thought of as graphs where the vertices are the squares of the grid, and edges join vertices in the same row, column, or sub-grid. A Sudoku puzzle corresponds to a partial proper coloring of the Sudoku graph. We provide…