Home » Play Games » Akari
Tap a cell: bulb → ✕ mark → clear • ✔ Check is free • 💡 3 hints per puzzle
Akari is a light-up logic puzzle. You place bulbs on a grid until every white cell glows. No bulb may shine on another bulb, and every numbered wall must touch exactly that many bulbs. That is the whole game, and it is deeper than it looks. This page gives you 40 set puzzles in four sizes plus a fresh Daily Akari every day. Every puzzle has exactly one solution, proven by a solver before it reaches you.
New to Akari? Start on the 7×7 Starter tier. The first puzzles teach you the whole game in a few minutes. Then climb to 8×8, 10×10 and the full 12×12 Expert grid.
🧩 Logic📅 Daily Puzzle🆓 Free📱 Mobile Friendly💡 7×7 to 12×12
💡 The Bulbs
A bulb lights its whole row and column until a black wall blocks the light. Every white cell must end up lit.
🔢 The Numbers
A numbered wall must touch exactly that many bulbs: above, below, left and right. A 0 wall touches none. A 4 wall touches four.
🚫 No Shared Shine
Two bulbs in one straight line with no wall between them is the one forbidden pattern. One bulb closes its whole line to the others.
⭐ One Solution
40 set puzzles plus a Daily. A solver proves each one has exactly one solution, so pure logic always gets you home.
In this guide
- How to play Akari
- The three rules, one by one
- The sizes on GameOLL
- Solving strategies that actually work
- The Daily Akari and your streak
- Stars, Check and hints
- 7 tips for faster solves
- Frequently asked questions
How to play Akari
Tap any white cell once to place a bulb. Tap it again to turn it into a pencil mark, an ✕ that means “no bulb goes here”. Tap a third time to clear the cell. Walls never move, and numbered walls change colour as you play: the number turns gold when its bulb count is exactly right, and red when you have placed one too many.
Nothing is enforced while you play, so a wrong bulb never breaks your grid quietly or loudly. When you want the truth, tap ✔ Check. It is free and unlimited. It counts your clashing bulbs, your wrong numbered walls and your dark cells, but it never marks which ones. Finding them is the game.
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Pick a puzzle, or tap 📅 Daily for today’s grid. |
| 2 | Tap a white cell to place a bulb. Tap again for a pencil mark, once more to clear. |
| 3 | Light every white cell with bulb rows and columns. |
| 4 | Never let two bulbs see each other in a straight line. |
| 5 | Match every numbered wall exactly: that many bulbs touch it, no more, no fewer. |
| 6 | Use ✔ Check to test your work, and 💡 Hint when stuck. Light the last dark cell to finish. |
The three rules, one by one
Light every cell
A bulb shines in four directions: up, down, left and right. The light runs until it hits a black wall or the edge of the grid. Walls are the only thing that stops it. A cell with a bulb on it counts as lit, and so does every cell its light touches. When no dark cell remains, the first rule is done.
Bulbs must not see each other
If two bulbs share a row or a column with no wall between them, each one shines on the other, and the puzzle is broken. This one rule shapes the whole game. Placing a bulb is never just about the cells it lights. It also closes that full cross of lines to every other bulb, which can strand a dark corner if you place too early.
Numbered walls are exact
Some black walls carry a number from 0 to 4. The number counts the bulbs in the four cells that touch the wall: directly above, below, left and right. Diagonal bulbs never count. Exact means exact. A 2 wall with three touching bulbs is just as wrong as a 2 wall with one. Plain walls with no number can touch any count at all.
The sizes on GameOLL
Four tiers, ten puzzles each. The grid grows, the walls multiply, and the dark pockets get harder to reach. Every tier is free, and your stars are saved per puzzle.
| Tier | Grid | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | 7×7 | Learning the light rules |
| Classic | 8×8 | The classic newspaper size |
| Daily | 9×9 | One fresh puzzle every day |
| Tough | 10×10 | Long lines, deep shadows |
| Expert | 12×12 | The full-size challenge |
Solving strategies that actually work
Start with 0 walls and 4 walls
A 0 wall is a free gift: mark all four of its neighbours, because none of them can hold a bulb. A 4 wall is the opposite gift: all four neighbours must hold bulbs, and those four bulbs light four long lines at once. Between them, 0 and 4 walls often crack a whole corner of the grid before you have made a single real decision.
Corner numbers hit above their weight
A numbered wall in a corner or on an edge has fewer neighbours, so its count squeezes harder. A 2 wall in a corner has only two white neighbours on many boards, and both are forced bulbs. A 1 wall on an edge rules out lines in the same way. Always read the border numbers first.
Close the lines of every bulb
The moment you place a bulb, pencil-mark every cell it lights. None of them can hold a bulb, ever. This one habit prevents almost every clash, and it shows you the true shape of the puzzle: what is left unmarked and dark is where the remaining bulbs must live.
Hunt the darkest cell
Every dark cell must be lit by a bulb in its own row or column segment. Find the dark cell with the fewest open places left to hold that bulb. If only one cell can still light it, the bulb is forced. If two cells can, note both and move on. The tightest dark cell is almost always the next real move.
Let walls cast your shadows
A wall splits a long line into two short ones, and each short line needs its own light. Short segments boxed in by walls are the easiest bulbs to force: a segment of one cell lights itself or stays dark forever. Scan for one-cell and two-cell pockets after every placement.
The Daily Akari and your streak
Every day brings one fresh 9×9 puzzle, built from the date itself, so every player in the world gets the same grid on the same day. Solve it to start or grow your streak. Miss a day and the streak restarts, but your stars and best times never reset.
Leave a puzzle half done and it waits for you. Your bulbs, your pencil marks and your remaining hints are saved in this browser and restored exactly where you left them, with a welcome-back line when you return.
Stars, Check and hints
Every set puzzle pays up to 3 stars. Finish with no hints used and no wrong Checks to earn all 3. Use one hint, or let one Check come back wrong, and the puzzle pays 2. Anything heavier pays 1, and a finished puzzle always pays at least 1.
Check is free and unlimited. It tells you how many bulbs are shining on each other, how many numbered walls cannot be right, and how many cells are still dark, but never which ones. Hints are the opposite trade: a hint fixes one cell the right way, removing a bulb that does not belong or placing one that does, and you get exactly 3 per puzzle.
7 tips for faster solves
- Mark every neighbour of a 0 wall before you place a single bulb.
- Fill all four neighbours of a 4 wall, then close their lines.
- Read border and corner numbers first. They squeeze the hardest.
- Pencil-mark the full cross of every bulb you place.
- Work the darkest cell: the one with the fewest places left to light it.
- Stuck? Press Check before you spend a hint. It is free.
- Climb one size at a time: 7×7 teaches light, 12×12 tests everything.
Frequently asked questions
What is Akari?
Akari is a Japanese logic puzzle, also known as Light Up. You place bulbs on a grid of white cells and black walls so every white cell is lit, no two bulbs shine on each other, and every numbered wall touches exactly that many bulbs.
Are Akari and Light Up the same puzzle?
Yes. Akari is the Japanese name and Light Up is the English name for the same puzzle. The rules are identical under both names: light every cell, keep bulbs out of each other’s shine, and match every numbered wall exactly.
How do the numbers on the walls work?
The number counts the bulbs in the four cells that touch the wall: directly above, below, left and right. Diagonal cells never count. The count must match exactly, so a 2 wall needs two touching bulbs, no more and no fewer.
Does every puzzle have exactly one solution?
Yes. Every puzzle on this page, set and Daily alike, was generated and then proven by a solver to have exactly one solution. If your grid lights every cell, has no clashing bulbs and matches every number, it is the solution.
How does the Daily Akari work?
A new 9×9 puzzle is generated from the date every day, the same for every player. Solve it to build your daily streak. Your streak, stars and best times are saved in your browser.
Can I play Akari on my phone?
Yes. The game runs in your browser with no download and no sign-up. Tap a cell to place a bulb, tap again for a pencil mark. Check and hints work with touch, and even the 12×12 Expert grid is sized to fit your screen.
🏆 Final Verdict
Akari is the warmest logic workout on GameOLL. Three rules, zero luck, and every puzzle proven to have exactly one answer. Start with the 7×7 tier, earn your stars, keep the Daily streak alive, and take on the 12×12 Expert boards when the light starts talking to you.
A note on the name: Akari is the Japanese light-up puzzle style popularised by Nikoli, and it is also widely known as Light Up. This page is an independent GameOLL implementation. Every grid, wall layout and line of code here is original to GameOLL, and the puzzle format itself is a classic logic format anyone may implement.
Last updated: November 8, 2026
