How to Play Eitanium

The goal

Twenty-five numbers, one right place for each.

Eitanium gives you a 5×5 grid and 25 numbers.
Every number has exactly one correct cell.
Your job is to find it, using the clues on the side.

There is no guessing and no luck.
Every puzzle has exactly one solution, and you can always reach it by pure deduction.
That is a promise the puzzle generator keeps on every single board.

The numbers

A number's first digit is its column.

Every number has three digits, from 101 up to 525.
The first digit tells you the column.
Numbers starting with 1 live in column 1, numbers starting with 2 in column 2, and so on up to column 5.

That one rule does a lot of work.
A number like 324 can only be in column 3, so instead of 25 possible cells it has just 5.
The last two digits run from 01 to 25, and each of them appears exactly once on the whole board.

Row totals

The number on the left is the row's sum.

On the left of each row you'll see a total, like 64=.
Drop the hundreds digit from each number in that row and add up what's left.
The five values always add up to the total.

In row 2 of the example further down, 115 + 201 + 324 + 406 + 518 becomes 15 + 1 + 24 + 6 + 18, which is 64.
You don't need to do this arithmetic to play.
It's a self-check, and at the higher levels it becomes a real weapon.

Anchor clues

An anchor pins a number to one exact cell.

An anchor tells you a number's row.
324 is in Row 2 means 324 sits in column 3, from its first digit, and row 2, from the clue.
One clue, one cell.

Anchors are the easiest clues, so start with them.
There are never more than three anchors per column, so no column is ever handed to you for free.

Direction clues

A direction describes two numbers that touch.

"Touch" means directly next to each other.
Same row and one column apart, or same column and one row apart.
Never diagonal, never two cells away.

• 212 is Above 201 - both in column 2, 212 one row higher than 201.
• 414 is Under 406 - both in column 4, 414 one row lower than 406.
• 324 is on the Left of 406 - same row, 324 in column 3 and 406 in column 4.
• 518 is on the Right of 406 - same row, 518 in column 5 and 406 in column 4.

A direction on its own doesn't place anything.
A direction that touches a number you've already placed does.
That's how you chain your way across the board.

Worked example

Three anchors, six directions, one row total.

1. Three anchors go straight in.
   324 is in Row 2, 509 is in Row 1 and 208 is in Row 4.
2. 324 is on the Left of 406 puts 406 right beside it, in column 4, row 2.
3. 518 is on the Right of 406 fills column 5, row 2.
4. 414 is Under 406 drops 414 into column 4, row 3.
5. 311 is on the Left of 414 fills column 3, row 3.
6. 201 is on the Left of 324 and then 212 is Above 201 fill column 2, rows 2 and 1.
7. Now the row total.
   Row 2 must add up to 64, and it already holds 201, 324, 406 and 518.
   1 + 24 + 6 + 18 is 49, so the missing column-1 number ends in 15.
   There is only one such number: 115.
   No clue ever mentioned it. The total found it.

On the phone

Tap a number, tap a cell.

The Numbers panel shows every number you haven't placed yet, lowest first.
Tap a number, then tap a cell.
Or tap the cell first and then the number.
Both work.

Placed something wrong?
Switch to the Erase tool and tap the cell.
Used a clue?
Tap it to mark it, so your eyes skip it next time.

When the last cell is filled, the game checks the board.
Any wrong cells flash red, and you see your result.

Hints, Solve and Gold

Help costs Gold. Winning earns it.

Gold is the game's only currency.
You earn it by winning, and you spend it on help.

• Hint - fills one correct cell, chosen at random.
  Costs 5 Gold.
• Solve - fills the whole board and fixes any mistakes.
  Costs 30 Gold, and rules out a five-star finish.

Out of Gold?
Watch a short ad for 5 Gold, or buy a pack in the shop.
And just for opening the game each day, you get a small Gold gift.
No strings attached.

Stars

Fewer mistakes, more stars.

• ★★★★★ Perfect - no mistakes, no Hints, no Solve.
  5 Gold and 5 XP.
• ★★★ Win - no mistakes, but you used some help.
  5 Gold and 3 XP.
• ★★ Well Done - one or two mistakes.
  2 Gold and 2 XP.
• ★ Not Bad - three or four mistakes.
  1 Gold and 1 XP.
• ☆ Game Over - five or more mistakes.
  No reward this time.

Every Hint you use also trims the Gold a win pays out.
Perfect games are the fastest way up.

Levels

Thirty levels, and the clues thin out as you climb.

Level 1 starts gentle, with 12 anchors and 27 directions, so you learn the rules on easy boards.
Every level after that takes away one direction clue, and every third level takes away an anchor.
By the top levels you're down to 3 anchors and 10 directions, and the row totals do the heavy lifting.

Stars turn into XP.
Fill the XP bar and you move up a level.

The four modes

One game, four ways to play it.

• Play - the main mode.
  Your level sets the difficulty. Wins earn XP and Gold and count in your Stats.
• Daily Puzzle - one puzzle a day, the same for every player in the world.
  Build a streak. No XP or Gold, just bragging rights.
• Free Play - choose your own number of anchors and directions and play as much as you like.
  Nothing is recorded, nothing is earned.
• Random Level - every game rolls a level between 1 and 30.
  A short ad opens the door. No XP or Gold.

Leaving a puzzle

Pausing is free. Giving up costs 2 Gold.

Need to stop?
Save & Quit is free and brings back the same puzzle next time.
Quit costs 2 Gold and gives you a fresh puzzle instead.
In Play mode a Quit also counts as a loss.

That small cost is deliberate.
It means nobody can shuffle through puzzles for free until an easy one turns up.
Everyone plays the board they were dealt.

Five tips

How I play it myself.

1. Place every anchor before you read a single direction.
2. Then read the directions looking only for numbers already on the board.
3. When a row has one empty cell, the total tells you what goes there.
4. Stuck?
   Pick a column. Only five numbers belong in it, and some are already placed.
5. Never guess.
   If you can't prove it, you don't know it yet.