Star Battle, Two Not Touch & Stars: A Puzzle With Many Names

Go looking for this star-placement puzzle and you'll quickly run into a small identity crisis. One app calls it Two Not Touch. A puzzle book calls it Star Battle. Somewhere else it's just Stars. And if you arrived through LinkedIn, you might know it as the cousin of Queens. Here's the reassuring news: most of these are the same puzzle, with the same rules and the same satisfying logic — just dressed in different names. This guide untangles the aliases, explains which name is used where, and helps you recognise the puzzle no matter what the title says. Whatever you call it, you can play it here.

One puzzle, several labels

Before the names, the puzzle. Whatever it's called, the game is the same: you place stars on a grid divided into irregular regions so that each row, column, and region has the right number of stars, and no two stars ever touch — not even diagonally. Every name below points to that one idea. (If the rules are new, our how-to-play guide walks through them.)

So why the pile-up of names? Because this puzzle was published and branded independently by different apps, books, and puzzle communities, and none of them agreed on a single title.

Star Battle: the standard name

Star Battle is the established name in the logic-puzzle world, the one used by puzzle championships, dedicated puzzle sites, and most enthusiast communities. It's the name we use here, and the one you'll see attached to the puzzle's competitive and "official" history. If you want the canonical term, this is it. The name nods to the stars you place and the way the regions seem to compete for them across the grid.

Two Not Touch: the popular app name

Two Not Touch is the name that introduced the puzzle to a huge mainstream audience, thanks to widely-downloaded mobile apps and puzzle books using the title. It's a wonderfully literal name: it describes the two stars per region of the classic format and the no-touching rule in four short words. If you met the puzzle on your phone and knew it as Two Not Touch, you were playing Star Battle all along — specifically the 2-star version.

The name is so descriptive that many people find it more intuitive than "Star Battle." It tells you the goal (two stars) and the key constraint (they can't touch) right in the title.

Stars: the short version

Some sites and apps simply call it Stars, or Stars puzzle. It's the plainest possible name — you're placing stars, after all — and it's common in casual puzzle collections. The downside is that "stars" is a generic word, so searches for it turn up everything from astronomy to celebrity news, which is partly why the more distinctive "Star Battle" remains the preferred term among enthusiasts.

And then there's Queens

Slightly different, but worth mentioning: LinkedIn's Queens game is a very close relative. It uses crowns instead of stars and sticks to one marker per region, which makes it essentially a 1-star Star Battle with a royal theme. It's not strictly the same product, but the rules overlap so heavily that Queens players can pick up Star Battle instantly. We cover the relationship in detail in our Star Battle vs Queens comparison.

How to recognise it, whatever it's called

Spotting this puzzle in the wild is easy once you know the tell. Look for:

• A grid divided into irregular regions (bold borders or colours),
• Stars (or crowns) to place rather than numbers to write, and
• A rule that no two markers may touch, including diagonally.

If a puzzle has those three features, it's this one — whether the title says Star Battle, Two Not Touch, Stars, or Queens. You already know how to play it.

The tangle of names is really a sign of how widely this puzzle has spread — reinvented and rebranded by app makers, publishers, and puzzle communities because the core idea is so good. Now that you can see through the aliases, there's only one thing left to do: solve one. Play Star Battle now, or learn the rules first.

Frequently asked questions

Is Two Not Touch the same as Star Battle?

Yes. Two Not Touch is the same puzzle as Star Battle, popularised under that name by mobile apps and puzzle books. The name describes the classic 2-star format (two stars per region) and the no-touching rule. "Star Battle" is the more established name in the puzzle community, while "Two Not Touch" is common on apps.

What is the Two Not Touch puzzle?

Two Not Touch is a star-placement logic puzzle — the same as Star Battle. You place stars on a grid divided into regions so that each row, column, and region contains two stars, and no two stars touch in any direction, including diagonally. It's solved by pure logic with a single solution.

Why does Star Battle have so many names?

The puzzle was published and branded independently by different apps, books, and puzzle communities, none of which agreed on a single name. "Star Battle" is the enthusiast and competition term, "Two Not Touch" is the popular app name, and "Stars" is a casual label. LinkedIn's closely related game adds the name "Queens."

Is the Stars puzzle the same as Star Battle?

Yes, "Stars" or "Stars puzzle" is simply a plainer name for Star Battle. The rules are identical — place non-touching stars so each row, column, and region has the right count. The name "Star Battle" is usually preferred because "stars" alone is a generic search term.