How to Play Cagey

Cagey is a daily math puzzle where you fill cages with numbers to hit a target. Think of it as a fresh take on KenKen — with progressive difficulty that grows with you. No sign-up, no downloads, just pure puzzle fun.

Basic Rules

Every Cagey puzzle is a grid divided into groups of cells called cages. Each cage has a target number and an operation (like 6+ or 12×).

• Fill every cell in the grid with a number.
• The numbers inside each cage must combine — using the given operation — to produce the target.
• At higher difficulties, numbers cannot repeat in any row or column (just like Sudoku).

Operations

• + (Addition) — The numbers in the cage add up to the target. Example: 7+ in a 3-cell cage could be 1 + 2 + 4.
• × (Multiplication) — The numbers multiply to the target. Example: 12× in a 2-cell cage could be 3 × 4.
• − (Subtraction) — The difference between the two numbers equals the target (2-cell cages only). Example: 2− could be 5 − 3.
• ÷ (Division) — The quotient of the two numbers equals the target (2-cell cages only). Example: 3÷ could be 6 ÷ 2.

Difficulty Levels

Start with Easy to learn the mechanics, then work your way up. Each level introduces a new twist that makes you think differently.

Strategy Tips

1. Start with single-cell cages. They give you a freebie — the target is the answer.
2. Look for cages with only one possible combination. A 1÷ cage on a 4×4 grid? Only a few pairs work.
3. Use row/column constraints to eliminate. On Hard and Expert, if a row already has a 3, no other cell in that row can be 3.
4. Work the corners and edges. Cells that belong to multiple constrained areas give you the most information.

Example

┌───────┬───┐
│ 3+    │   │
│  1    │ 2 │  ← Cage "3+" = 1 + 2 ✓
├───┬───┤   │
│   │ 4×│───┘
│ 2 │ 1 │     ← Cage "4×" would be elsewhere
└───┴───┘

A simple 2×2 area: the cage marked "3+"
contains 1 and 2, because 1 + 2 = 3.

Frequently Asked Questions