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Divide by Box 7×7

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Also known as Shikaku

Divide by Box

Box up the grid: every box holds exactly one number, and the number is the box's area. Play a board above.

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Divide by Box, decoded

Divide by Box is the name several puzzle apps use for the Japanese classic Shikaku (Nikoli, 1989) — the same game English publishers also call Rectangles. Whatever the label, you're doing one thing: dividing a grid into boxes so that each box contains a single number, and that number equals exactly how many cells the box covers.

The board above is the real thing, not a screenshot — drag from one corner to the opposite corner and the box snaps to the grid, with a live count of the cells you've enclosed. Draw a box with the wrong area and it turns red until you fix it; get it right and its number dims. Fill the whole grid with correct boxes and the puzzle is solved.

The thinking behind the boxes

Good Divide by Box play is about asking, for each number, "where can this box go?" — and noticing when the answer is "only one place." The number 9 in a corner might allow just a 3×3 square. A 2 wedged between two other numbers may have a single free neighbor. On our medium and hard tiers you'll also use overlap logic: when every possible box for a number covers some particular cell, that cell is spoken for, and every other number must plan around it.

Each of our boards — the shared daily, the archive, and the 600-plus puzzle collection from 5×5 to 20×20 — is machine-verified to have exactly one solution, so a forced move always exists and guessing is never required.

Divide by Box FAQ

What is the Divide by Box puzzle?
Divide by Box is a grid logic puzzle where you draw boxes (rectangles) that carve up the entire grid. Each box must contain exactly one number, and that number equals the box’s area in cells. It’s the same game as Nikoli’s Shikaku, also published as Rectangles.
What’s a good first move in Divide by Box?
Scan for numbers with only one possible box. A 1 is its own box. A prime like 5 or 7 must be a straight strip, which walls and other numbers often pin to a single position. Each placed box shrinks the options for every number around it, so the solve snowballs.
Can I play Divide by Box on my phone for free?
Yes — the board on this page plays free in any mobile browser, no app or account needed. Drag corner to corner to draw a box, or tap one corner then the other. There’s also a new shared daily board every midnight Eastern, plus 600+ puzzles in the collection.