The fastest way to get better at Star Battle is to work from the smallest regions outward, cross squares out as eagerly as you place stars, and look straight at the rows, columns and regions your last move touched. We measured these tips on all 150 of the game’s levels, and the numbers below come from those tests.
These build on how to solve Star Battle. If you haven’t played before, start with the rules.
Solving tips
1. Start with the smallest regions
Small regions have the fewest places for their stars, so they give up their secrets first. On the game’s levels, the first move is about the smallest region on 31 of the 50 Easy levels, 37 Medium and 29 Hard. A region of one square is a free star; a short region inside one row or column clears the rest of that line.
2. Cross out more than you place
Most moves don’t place a star: they rule squares out. Of all the squares settled on the game’s levels, 83% are crosses on Easy, 88% on Medium and 75% on Hard. Every cross makes the remaining places easier to see, so mark them as you go.
3. Follow what you just changed
Every move changes some rows, columns and regions, and that’s usually where the next move is. On the game’s levels, the next move is in a row, column or region the last one touched 74% of the time on Easy, 75% on Medium and 71% on Hard.
4. Look for regions inside lines
When a region’s open squares all fall in one row or column, the rest of that line is empty. It’s needed on 48 of the 50 Easy levels, 48 Medium and 36 Hard. Check again whenever squares in a region are crossed out: a region shrinks into a line as you go.
5. Then look for pairs
The same idea works with two regions and two lines: if two regions fit inside two rows, those rows have no room for anything else. It’s rarer, and it grows with the grid: 6 Easy levels need it, 17 Medium and 31 Hard.
6. On two-star grids, list the ways
With two stars to a line, the quick moves run out sooner. When a row, column or region has only a few places left, list every way its two stars could fit without touching, and cross out whatever every way rules out. Every one of the game’s Hard levels needs it, about 6 times each.
Tips for playing on PeerPuzzles
7. Tap for a star, again to cross out
A tap places a star, a second tap crosses the square out, and a third clears it. On a computer, right-click goes the other way, straight to a cross. Undo (or Ctrl/Cmd + Z) takes back a move.
8. Let the red marks and Stuck? help
Stars that touch, or that crowd a row, column or region, get a red ring. A row, column or region with no room left for its stars turns red. And if you’re stuck, Stuck? (or H) highlights where to look and names the technique, without filling anything in for you. If one of your squares is wrong, it rings that square first.