How to solve Mini Sudoku
Digits 1 to 6 in every row, column and box.
Mini Sudoku is the fast 6×6 take on the world's favorite number puzzle, popularized as one of LinkedIn's daily games. Play unlimited free grids here: every row, column and 2×3 box must contain the digits 1 to 6, and every board has exactly one solution.
How to play Mini Sudoku
- Fill the grid so every row, column and 2×3 box contains the digits 1 to 6 exactly once.
- Tap a cell, then tap a digit to place it. Grayed digits are fixed.
- Conflicts are highlighted in red.
How to solve 6×6 sudoku: techniques that work
The 6×6 grid uses 2×3 boxes, and that box shape is the key difference from classic sudoku. Each box spans two rows and three columns, so a digit placed in a box immediately constrains two full rows. "Box-line" reasoning — if a digit's only spots in a box share a row, erase it from that row elsewhere — fires far more often than in 9×9.
Scan for naked singles first: cells whose row, column and box already contain five of the six digits. On easy boards these chain from start to finish. When they dry up, pick a digit and sweep it: find the boxes where it's missing and intersect rows and columns to see where it can still go.
With only six digits, counting is fast. A row missing 2, 5 and 6 with three empty cells is a small puzzle on its own — check which of the three cells' boxes already contain which digit and the row usually resolves at once.
Common mistakes
Treating the boxes as 3×3 out of habit — in 6×6 they are 2 rows by 3 columns, and half of your eliminations come from that shape. If a deduction feels impossible, re-check which box a cell actually belongs to.
Pencil-marking everything from the start. On a 6×6 it's faster to scan digits systematically; full pencil marks are only worth it on the last few cells of hard boards.
From easy to hard
Easy boards fall to naked singles alone. Hard boards demand box-line eliminations and occasionally a naked pair, but never guessing — like every puzzle on the site, each board is verified to have a single, logically reachable solution.
FAQ
- Is Mini Sudoku free and unlimited on LinkMyPzzl?
- Yes. Every Mini Sudoku board is generated on demand in your browser — play as many as you want, for free, with no account.
- How is this different from the daily Mini Sudoku puzzle?
- The daily version made popular by LinkedIn offers one grid per day. LinkMyPzzl generates unlimited boards and lets you choose the difficulty, so you can actually train.
- Does every Mini Sudoku board have a unique solution?
- Yes. A solver verifies every generated board before you see it: there is always exactly one solution.
- Why are the boxes 2×3 instead of 3×3?
- A sudoku box must hold each digit exactly once. With 6 digits the box needs 6 cells, and 2 rows × 3 columns is the shape that fits a 6×6 grid — this shape is what makes 6×6 deductions feel different from the classic 9×9.
- Is 6×6 sudoku easier than 9×9?
- Boards are faster (2–6 minutes rather than 10–30) but hard 6×6 boards still require box-line techniques. It's the ideal format for a quick daily training session.