How to play Knight’s Tour
- Tap the board to open the game. This does not make a move.
- Choose your starting square with the next tap.
- Move two squares in one direction and one across: an L-shape.
- Visit each square once. You do not need to return to the start.
- Use Undo to rethink a move. New Game and Difficulty ask before replacing a started route.
Free to play, with no ads
No download, account or payment is needed. Easy is 5×5, Medium is 7×7 and Hard is 10×10. Impossible is a separate 4×4 challenge: a full tour cannot be completed on that board.
Knight’s Tour strategy
See the L-shaped move
Rows count down from the top; columns count across from the left. From row 3, column 3, a knight can reach the eight marked squares. It jumps over the squares in between.
Compare two possible moves
Start at (1,1), then move to (2,3). Both A at (1,5) and B at (3,5) are legal next moves. Count where you could go after choosing each one, leaving out visited squares.
A is worth considering first: it has fewer ways out and may become difficult to reach later. B leaves more choices. Looking for the destination with the fewest free onward moves is called Warnsdorff’s rule.
This is a useful heuristic, not a guarantee. Avoid a move with no exit while other squares remain. If your route reaches a dead end, use Undo and compare a different continuation.
One complete 5×5 solution
Prefer to solve it yourself? Leave the answer closed. This example begins in the top-left corner and visits all 25 squares once. It is one valid route, not the only solution.
Show the 5×5 solution
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 12 | 25 | 18 | 3 |
| 2 | 22 | 17 | 2 | 13 | 24 |
| 3 | 11 | 8 | 23 | 4 | 19 |
| 4 | 16 | 21 | 6 | 9 | 14 |
| 5 | 7 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 5 |
The numbers are the visit order. Start at 1, jump to 2, then follow the sequence through 25. Row and column numbers sit outside the board.
First moves: (1,1) → (2,3) → (1,5) → (3,4) → (5,5). The last square is (1,3).
Does every starting square work?
The game lets you start anywhere, but some starts cannot lead to a complete tour. Imagine colouring the 5×5 board like a chessboard: 13 squares share the top-left square’s colour, and 12 have the other colour.
Every knight move switches colour. To visit all 25 squares, your route must start and end on the colour with 13 squares. Starting on that colour is necessary, but it does not guarantee a solution.
FAQ
What is Knight's Tour?
Knight's Tour is a classic chess puzzle. The goal is to move the knight so it lands on every square of the board exactly once.
How does the knight move?
The knight moves in an L shape: two squares in one direction and then one square perpendicular to that direction.
Can I start from any square?
You can choose any starting square, but not every start allows a full tour. On 5×5, a complete route must start and end on the colour with 13 squares; this condition alone does not guarantee a solution.
Why do dead ends happen?
Dead ends happen when the knight leaves an unvisited square with no legal move back into it.
Is Knight's Tour a logic game?
Yes. It is a classic logic puzzle built around planning, spatial reasoning, and legal chess knight moves.
What makes the Impossible board impossible?
A complete Knight's Tour on a 4×4 board is mathematically impossible. A knight on a 4×4 grid cannot visit all 16 squares without revisiting one — this has been proven exhaustively. It is included as a challenge to explore: you can still make progress and see how far the route extends before hitting a dead end.