Play Slant (Gokigen Naname) Online

One diagonal can join two numbered dots, but it can also close a forbidden cycle. Slant, also known as Gokigen Naname, asks you to route a diagonal through each square while matching the numbers at grid intersections. Watch the dots and the emerging network at the same time. Start with a 0 dot: every surrounding diagonal must turn away from it.

1. Look at the numbers beside grid intersections. Each gives the number of diagonals that must touch that vertex.
2. Click a square to place a backslash, click again to make a slash and once more to erase it.
3. Use 0 clues to rule out nearby connections and larger clues to force them.
4. Continue until every square contains a diagonal.
5. Avoid closing a loop anywhere, including around unnumbered vertices.
6. The board announces a win when every shown number and the no-loop condition hold.
7. Take a moment to locate numbered dots at the outer corners. They have fewer neighboring squares than dots in the middle, which makes their demands easier to resolve. Every click cycles a square through two diagonal directions and empty. Do not treat the two diagonal symbols as arrows; each one is an undirected connection between a pair of vertices.
8. When the last few diagonals remain, inspect the path endpoints rather than only the nearest dots. A square might satisfy two numbered intersections but join a path back to itself through unnumbered dots. Cycle detection considers all 25 vertices. If the board stays unsolved after every square is filled, revisit a diagonal near a tight loop and recount both of its endpoints.

• Every square must contain exactly one diagonal.
• A numbered dot must meet exactly the stated number of diagonal endpoints.
• The complete diagonal network must contain no cycles.
• Dots without numbers still take part in the no-loop rule.
• The no-loop condition applies to every vertex, whether or not it displays a clue. Imagine that each existing diagonal forms part of a chain. If a proposed new diagonal joins two vertices already connected by that chain, it closes a cycle and cannot be part of a valid finished board. A collection of disconnected chains is fine until all squares are filled.

• A corner 0 forces its only adjacent square to use the opposite diagonal.
• At a corner 1, the neighboring square has exactly one useful orientation.
• Count confirmed endpoints first, then count remaining squares around a 2 or 3.
• When a diagonal would join two ends of the same existing path, choose its other direction to avoid a loop.
• Check the four cells around an interior dot together. Local counts matter more than the appearance of a single line.

• Slitherlink: Compare how a related puzzle uses regions, paths or tile placement.
• Numberlink: Compare how a related puzzle uses regions, paths or tile placement.
• Hashi Single Bridge: Compare how a related puzzle uses regions, paths or tile placement.

• Every new line changes the count at two dots.
• The cycle restriction creates deductions far from numbered clues.
• Slant rewards tracing paths as well as counting. A dot clue offers a local calculation, while a potential cycle requires a whole-network check. When a path curls back toward itself, you can often decide a distant square before its nearby numbers are complete. Reset restores the fixed clue layout for another try without a new download.

Play Slant free in your browser. Start the interactive board above, use its on-screen controls and check the rules below when a deduction gets stuck. No download or account is needed.

Try another round of Slant on the board above. Start with the most constrained part of the grid, test each move against the stated rules, and use the reset control to try a new approach.

• Slant (Gokigen Naname) complexity and rules