If you watched The Devil’s Plan and found yourself wanting to try the Knight’s Tour puzzle, you weren’t the only one.
Watching it, I thought it looked so simple. Move a knight around a board, visit every square once, and you’re done. How difficult could that be?
That was enough to make me want to build a version you could play yourself.
You can now play Knight’s Tour for free on Mathinar, on your phone, tablet or computer. There’s no account to create and no email address required.
What is Knight’s Tour?
Knight’s Tour is a chess puzzle with one aim: visit every square on the board exactly once, using only the moves a knight can make.
You don’t need to know how to play chess. A knight moves in an L-shape: two squares in one direction, then one square at a right angle.
Each move must land on a square you haven’t visited before. Keep going until you’ve covered the whole board—or find yourself stuck with no available moves.
The rules are easy to understand. Finding a route that works takes a little more thought.
Choose your board: 5×5 to 8×8
There are four board sizes, and you can choose any of them straight away:
- 5×5: 25 squares to visit.
- 6×6: 36 squares to visit.
- 7×7: 49 squares to visit.
- 8×8: 64 squares to visit.
I’ve completed the 5×5 and 6×6 boards so far. I think most people can manage the 5×5 after a few attempts, but the challenge really starts to grow from 6×6 onwards.
You don’t have to work through the boards in order. Start small or jump straight into a larger one—it’s up to you.
Practice mode or Challenge mode?
Both modes highlight the available moves, so you can see where your knight is allowed to go next.
Practice mode lets you undo moves. If you take a wrong turn or reach a dead end, you can go back and try a different route. It’s a useful way to get familiar with the puzzle.
Challenge mode has no undo. If you get stuck, you’ll need to restart. Complete the board, though, and you can save your time to the leaderboard using a nickname.
Can you make the leaderboard?
Challenge mode records how long you take to complete the puzzle. Each board size has its own daily and all-time leaderboards, so your time is compared with people playing the same size board.
The daily leaderboard resets at midnight UK time, while the all-time leaderboard keeps the fastest results across days.
You can play without submitting a time. But if you enjoy a little competition, completing a board gives you the chance to see where you stand.
Try Knight’s Tour yourself
Whether you’ve arrived here after watching The Devil’s Plan, want a puzzle to try with your family, or simply fancy a challenge, give it a go.
Start with 25 squares and one knight. Can you visit them all?
Play Knight’s Tour free—no sign-up needed
Created by Mathinar, an online maths tuition company. This is an independent version of the classic puzzle and is not affiliated with Netflix or The Devil’s Plan.
