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Nurikabe is a binary determination puzzle. The name is Japanese , in which it is written in Hiragana (ぬりかべ); a "nurikabe" in Japanese Folklore is an invisible wall that blocks roads and upon which delays in foot travel are blamed. ''Nurikabe'' was apparently invented and named by Nikoli ; other names (and attempts at localization) for the puzzle include ''Cell Structure'' and ''Islands in the Stream''. The puzzle is played on a grid, typically rectangular with no standard size. Some cells of the grid start containing numbers. The goal is to determine whether each of the cells of the grid is "black" or "white" (''Islands in the Stream'' calls these "water" and "land" respectively). The black cells form "the nurikabe" (''Islands in the Stream'' calls it "the stream"): they must all be orthogonally contiguous (form a single Polyomino ), number-free, and contain no 2x2 or larger solid rectangles (''Islands in the Stream'' calls such illegal blocks "pools"). The white cells form "islands" (which is where ''Islands in the Stream'' got its name): each number ''n'' must be part of an ''n''-omino composed only of white cells. All white cells must belong to exactly one island; islands must have exactly one numbered cell. Solvers will typically shade in cells they have deduced to be black and dot (non-numbered) cells deduced to be white. Like most any other pure- Logic Puzzle , a unique solution is expected; a grid containing random numbers is highly unlikely to provide a uniquely solvable ''Nurikabe'' puzzle. HISTORY ''Nurikabe'' was first developed by "reenin (れーにん)," whose pen name is the Japanese pronunciation of "Lenin" and whose autonym can be read as such, in the 33rd issue of (Puzzle Communication) Nikoli at March 1991. It soon created a sensation, and has appeared in all issues of that publication from the 38th to the present. As of 2005, seven books consisting entirely of ''Nurikabe'' puzzles have been published by Nikoli. (This paragraph mainly depends on "Nikoli complete works of interesting-puzzles(ニコリ オモロパズル大全集)." http://www.nikoli.co.jp/storage/addition/omopadaizen/) SOLUTION METHODS No blind guessing should be required to solve a ''Nurikabe'' puzzle. Rather, a series of simple procedures and rules can be developed and followed, assuming the solver is sufficiently observant to find where to apply them. The greatest mistake made by beginning solvers is to concentrate solely on determining black or white and not the other; most ''Nurikabe'' puzzles require going back and forth. Marking white cells may force other cells to be black lest a section of black be isolated, and vice versa. (Those familiar with Go can think of undetermined cells next to various regions as "liberties" and apply " Atari " logic to determine how they must grow.) Oddly, the easiest rule to forget is the most basic one: all cells must be either black or white, so if it can be proved a cell isn't one, it must be the other. Basic strategy
Advanced strategy
SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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