Skyscrapers

What is Skyscrapers?

Skyscrapers is a logic puzzle about a city seen from above. Every square of the grid is a plot with one building, and each row and each column holds one building of every height, from 1 up to the size of the city. The numbers around the edge tell how many buildings can be seen from there, looking along the row or column: a taller building hides every shorter one behind it.

Every city has exactly one answer, and it can always be reached by reasoning, never by guessing. Cities come in three sizes, 4 by 4, 5 by 5 and 6 by 6, and a new city, the same for everyone, arrives every day.

How to play

Tap a plot to pick it, then tap a height on the pad; tap the same height again to take it off.

• Heights. Every row and every column holds each height exactly once.
• Edge numbers. Each number counts the buildings seen from there, looking in; a taller building hides the shorter ones behind it. A number dims when its line is full and right, and turns red when it can no longer come right.
• Notes. Turn on Notes to jot small digits in a plot; placing a height rubs it out of the notes in its row and column. On a computer keyboard, digits, arrow keys and N for notes all work.
• Score. Your score is the time to solve the city, plus 30 seconds for every hint. Every city size has its own leaderboard.

Strategy tips

1. Start with the 1s and the big numbers. A 1 puts the tallest building right beside it, and a number equal to the size of the city lines the heights up from lowest to tallest.
2. Big numbers keep tall buildings away. Beside a 4 on a line of 6, no building is taller than 3, and every step further in raises that limit by one.
3. The tallest is seen from both ends. The two numbers of a line add up to at most one more than its length, and the tallest building stands where both can see it.
4. Notes do the bookkeeping. Note the heights a plot can still take; when a height has only one place left in a row or column, it goes there.
5. Try the line. When a line has few open plots, try the ways its heights could fit the numbers; a height that every way puts in the same plot belongs there.

FAQ

Is Skyscrapers free to play?

Yes. Like every game on Play, it runs free in your browser, with no download and no account needed.

Why do some plots start filled?

Some large cities need a building or two given from the start, so that reasoning alone can reach the answer. Given buildings cannot be changed.

What does a hint do?

It fixes a wrong building first if there is one, otherwise it places the building that reasoning reaches soonest. Each hint adds 30 seconds to your time.

What is the daily city?

Every day everyone plays the same medium 5 by 5 city, so times compare directly on the leaderboard.

How is my score counted?

Your score is the time from the first look at the city to the last building placed, plus 30 seconds for every hint. Lower is better.