Fire Wardens is a free daily logic puzzle. The office floor is a grid, and each color is a department. Your job is to name the fire wardens: exactly one in every row, one in every column and one in every department. Two wardens never stand on squares that touch, not even corner to corner. Every puzzle has one answer, and you can reach it by reasoning alone. Monday is a floor of 5 by 5. Friday is 8 by 8.
No sign-up and nothing to install. It runs in your browser on a computer or a phone, and your progress is saved on your device.
- Tap to place. One tap places a warden. A second tap turns it into a cross, your own note for “not here”. A third tap clears the square.
- The floor helps you. When you place a warden, every square that it rules out gets a dot: its row, its column, its department and the squares around it.
- Mistakes show at once. Two wardens that break a rule turn red, and the checklist beside the floor shows which rule is broken.
- Stuck? The lightbulb takes away a wrong warden or places the next one, and tells you when it was the only square left in a row, a column or a color.
How to play Fire Wardens
- Look for a department with very few squares. A department of one square is a sure place for a warden.
- Tap a square to place a warden. Dots appear on the squares that are now ruled out.
- Find a row, a column or a color with only one open square left, and place the next warden there.
- You win when every row, every column and every color has exactly one warden and no two wardens touch.
What you see on the floor
| Part | What it means |
|---|---|
| Colored area | One department. It needs exactly one warden. Thick lines mark its border. |
| Warden | A person with a red helmet. Tap a square to place one. |
| Cross | Your own note that no warden goes here. Tap a warden once more to get it. |
| Dot | The square is ruled out by a warden you placed. The game adds and removes dots by itself. |
| Red square | This warden breaks a rule together with another one. |
| Checklist | How many rows, columns and colors already have their warden, and whether any two wardens touch. |
Tips for solving without guessing
- Start small. The smallest departments have the fewest choices. Check them first.
- Count the open squares. After each warden, look for a row, a column or a color with a single open square.
- Use a department that fits in one row. If all open squares of a department lie in the same row, that row’s warden is in this department. Cross out the rest of the row.
- Ask “what if”. If a warden on a square would leave some other department with no open square, that square is wrong. Mark it with a cross.
- Look at two departments together. If two departments fit inside the same two columns, they take both wardens of those columns. Cross out the other squares of the two columns.
- Mind the corners. A warden also rules out the four squares at its corners. This is the rule that is easiest to forget.
How the week gets harder
| Day | Floor | Wardens | What it takes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 5 by 5 | 5 | Small departments show the way |
| Tuesday | 6 by 6 | 6 | Rows, columns and colors with one open square |
| Wednesday | 6 by 6 | 6 | At least one “what if” step |
| Thursday | 7 by 7 | 7 | Several “what if” steps |
| Friday | 8 by 8 | 8 | Long chains of reasoning |
Saturday plays like a Wednesday and Sunday like a Tuesday. On every day the puzzle has exactly one answer.
Frequently asked questions
Is Fire Wardens free?
Yes. There is no account, no download and no paywall.
Do I ever have to guess?
No. Every puzzle was checked by a program that solves it step by step, using only the kinds of reasoning described in the tips. If you feel stuck, there is always a square that can be ruled out.
Is there more than one answer?
No. Each floor has exactly one arrangement of wardens that follows all the rules.
What do the dots mean?
A dot marks a square where no warden can go because of a warden you already placed. The dots are only a help. They change by themselves when you move a warden.
What is the cross for?
It is your own note. Use it when you have worked out that a square cannot hold a warden, for example after a “what if” step.
When does the new puzzle appear?
At midnight in your local time.
Can I play earlier puzzles?
Yes. Open the calendar button at the top of the game and pick any day from the past eight weeks.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. Tap a square to place a warden, and tap again to change it.
More to play on WiseChecker
- Browser Games: every WiseChecker game in one place.
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- No Blind Spots: place cameras so that no square is a blind spot.
- Cell Value: find the number behind every letter.
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