KenKen Puzzle Generator

This KenKen puzzle generator makes new KenKen-style puzzles, also called calcudoku, mathdoku or kendoku, right in your web browser. It is free, needs no sign-up, and nothing needs to be installed. Puzzles are made on your device, and nothing is uploaded. You choose the grid size, difficulty and operations, then get a set of puzzles to play on screen, download as SVG or print.

Every puzzle the site makes has exactly one solution, and the built-in solver checks this before a puzzle is shown. If you searched for a kenken puzzle generator, a kenerator or a way to make your own KenKen, this page does all three.

How to use the KenKen Generator

1. Choose a grid size from 3x3 to 9x9.
2. Pick a difficulty: Easy, Medium, Hard, Expert or Mixed.
3. Under operations, choose All four, Addition only, Addition and subtraction, or Multiplication and division.
4. Set Largest cage to Automatic, or to a fixed size from 2 to 6 cells.
5. Turn on Hide the operations if you want only the targets shown.
6. Set How many puzzles, from 1 to 50. Optionally enter a Seed, then choose a paper size and whether to Add answer pages.
7. Click Make new puzzles. Each puzzle appears as a card showing its size and difficulty.
8. On a card, click Play to open the puzzle on this page, Copy link to share it, or Download SVG to save it.
9. Click Same seed again to repeat the set with the same settings.

Click Print / Save as PDF to print the whole set with answers, or save it as a PDF file: in the print dialog choose Save as PDF as the destination. Answer pages come after the puzzle pages, and each puzzle is numbered so it matches its answer. Copy link to this set saves the settings and the seed in a link, so you or a colleague can make exactly the same puzzles again later.

What are the rules of a KenKen-style puzzle?

Fill an N x N grid with the digits 1 to N so that each digit appears once in every row and once in every column. This is a Latin square, like sudoku without the boxes. The grid is divided into cages, marked by heavy outlines. Each cage shows a target and an operation in its top-left corner, such as 12+ or 6×. The digits in the cage must produce that target using that operation.

Subtraction and division cages always have exactly two cells. You take the larger number minus the smaller, or the larger divided by the smaller. For example, 3− can be 4 and 1, and 2÷ can be 4 and 2. The order of the two cells does not matter.

How does a KenKen generator make sure there is only one answer?

The generator checks each puzzle with a built-in solver that counts how many solutions it has. It keeps changing the cages until exactly one solution remains. The steps are: it makes a random Latin square, splits it into connected cages, gives each cage an operation from your chosen set, and computes each target from the hidden answer.

Can I choose only addition?

Yes. Set operations to Addition only: every cage of two or more cells then uses +, and single cells simply show their digit. Addition and subtraction, or Multiplication and division, give you other mixes, which suits practice of one skill at a time. Largest cage still applies to the cage sizes.

Can I share a puzzle?

Yes. Copy link on a card shares that single puzzle. Copy link to this set shares the settings and seed, so the other person gets the same set of puzzles. A seed works because the same settings and seed always produce the same puzzles. Download SVG gives you a file you can send.

What does hide the operations do?

Hide the operations removes the +, −, ×, and ÷ symbols and shows only the target numbers. The player must work out which operation each cage uses. A target of 6 could be a sum, a product or, on a 7x7 or larger grid, a difference, so the puzzle takes more reasoning to solve.

How is the difficulty of a puzzle decided?

The site rates difficulty by the solving steps a puzzle needs, not by its size. Easy puzzles can be solved with single-cell cages, “only one digit fits” and cage combinations. Medium adds pairs and forced digits on a line. Hard needs a triple or one round of trial and error, and Expert needs deeper trial and error. The generator tries again until the rating matches your choice. On 3x3 grids, medium and harder levels are often impossible, so the generator returns the closest level and labels it “closest match”.

Frequently asked questions

How does a KenKen generator make sure there is only one answer?

You do not need to check this yourself. The solver runs before any puzzle is shown, so every puzzle you play or print has one solution.

Can I print the puzzles with answers?

Yes. Print / Save as PDF prints the whole set, and answer pages follow the puzzles when Add answer pages is ticked.

Can I share a puzzle?

Yes. Copy link on a card shares that puzzle, and Copy link to this set shares the settings and seed so the other person gets the same set.

What does hide the operations do?

It shows only the target numbers in the cages, so the player has to work out which operation each cage uses.

Why does a card say closest match?

On a 3x3 grid there are too few cells for medium or harder logic, so the generator returns the nearest level it can make and labels it closest match instead of pretending.

Is there a limit on how many puzzles I can make?

No. Each run makes 1 to 50 puzzles, and you can run it as often as you like.

Is this the official KenKen?

No. KenKen is a registered trademark of Nextoy, LLC. This site makes KenKen-style puzzles and is not the official KenKen.

Related tools

• KenKen puzzles online: play KenKen-style puzzles in your browser without making settings.
• Printable KenKen: use this when you want paper puzzles to solve by hand.
• KenKen solver: use this when you are stuck on a puzzle and want to check your answer.
• 4x4 KenKen: use this for small grids, good for beginners.
• 6x6 KenKen: use this for a medium-sized grid with a good balance of challenge.
• 7x7, 8x8 and 9x9 KenKen: use this for the largest grids and the hardest puzzles.
• KenKen rules: read this if you want a full guide to the rules before you start.