Skyscrapers
About easy Skyscrapers (5×5)
Easy Skyscrapers uses a 5×5 grid solved from border clues alone — no given cells, so it is a little challenging rather than trivial. A border clue of 1 means the tallest building (height 5) sits in the first position, blocking everything behind it. A clue of 5 means the row or column climbs in order: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. These extreme clues give you free placements to build from.
From there, lean on Latin-square elimination — a height used once in a row or column cannot repeat — and read each clue against the cells it can still reach. When a clue and the heights already placed leave only one arrangement for a line, fill it in. On a 5×5 board these deductions chain together quickly.
Easy puzzles are the place to learn the visibility mechanic. Try the buildings-mode toggle (B key) to see proportional height bars, which makes it obvious which towers are “blocked” by a taller neighbor. Every board is uniquely solvable by logic with no guessing. Comfortable here? Step up to medium (6×6).
How to play Skyscrapers
- Every cell holds a building. On a 4×4 the heights are 1 to 4, on a 7×7 they are 1 to 7.
- Each height appears once in every row and once in every column.
- A number outside the grid counts the buildings you can SEE from there.
- A taller building hides every shorter one behind it, so only the ones that rise above everything before them are seen.
- A 1 means the tallest building is nearest you. A number as big as the grid means the heights climb all the way up.
- Easy and medium start with a building or two already placed. Every puzzle has one solution, reachable by logic alone.