Two kinds of line and two rules, yet this grid can keep you thinking for a long time. In Slant Diagonals unblocked, every square needs a single diagonal, leaning one way or the other.
Circled numbers sit on the corners where squares meet, and they say how many lines touch that point. The puzzle is Slant, by Simon Tatham, from his Portable Puzzle Collection.
How to play Slant Diagonals
A backslash runs from a square's top-left corner down to its bottom-right. A forward slash runs from top-right down to bottom-left. A solved grid has one of these in every square, with none left blank.
Each circled clue counts the lines that end at its corner, from the squares that share it (four in the middle, fewer at the edges). A 4 means all four lines meet there in an X. A 0 says no line touches it.
The second rule: lines may never form a closed loop of any size. The game colors any loop you make, and any clue that has become impossible, so mistakes stand out. Left-click places a backslash, right-click a forward slash, and more clicks cycle through the options.
Controls
| To… | Keyboard | Mouse | Touch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place or cycle a \ line | Arrow keys to move, then Enter | Left-click a square | Tap a square with Tap set to "\ first" |
| Place or cycle a / line | Space | Right-click a square | Press and hold, or set Tap to "/ first" and tap |
| Set a square to one direction directly / empty it | Type / or \ / Backspace | — | — |
| New game, undo, redo | N, U, R | Menu buttons above the grid | Menu buttons above the grid |
Tips
- Start with 0s and 4s. They settle every square around them in one step.
- Use the edges. Border clues have just two squares to worry about, and a clue in a grid corner has one, so they are easy to finish.
- Check both ends. Every line you draw touches two corners. Look at both clues after each move.
- Spot almost-diamonds. If three squares already outline most of a tiny diamond, the last one has to tilt the opposite way.
- Full clues push away. Once a clue has its count, the rest of its squares must slant away from it.
Slant Diagonals questions
Why are 0 clues only on the border?
If all four squares around an inner point tilted away, they would draw a small diamond, which is a loop. Since loops are banned, a 0 can only appear on the edge.
Can I play using just one mouse button?
Yes. Repeated clicks on a square cycle through both slants and back to empty. The two buttons just start the cycle from opposite directions.
How do I place the other slant on a phone?
Each tap cycles the square. A long press begins with the opposite slant, and a toggle beneath the grid flips which slant a tap gives first.
