ProPuz Easy Futoshiki uses a 4×4 grid with digits 1–4. Every generated board differs, so this guide teaches a procedure you can run on any Easy puzzle: survey, force, propagate, verify. Pair it with the rules if any term feels fuzzy. Open a live board from the Futoshiki hub and follow along with a pencil or the on-screen numpad.
Step 0: set the stage
Note the grid size chip (4×4) and difficulty (Easy). Glance at how many givens you have and roughly how dense the inequality signs look. You are not judging hardness yet—you are loading the visual map. Decide that you will not guess on this board. Four digits is small enough that logic should finish the job if you stay organized.
If you use notes, reserve space for candidate digits 1–4 in empty cells. If you prefer mental play, commit to re-scanning rows after every placement so memory does not invent ghosts.
Step 1: full inequality sweep
Traverse the board left to right, top to bottom, and silently translate every sign into a sentence: “this cell is greater than that cell.” Mark mentally (or on paper) any cell that sits on the large side of multiple edges—it may be a home for 4. Mark cells that sit on the small side of multiple edges—they may be a home for 1.
Do not place yet unless a cell is forced by a given plus a sign. The goal of the sweep is awareness. Most Easy mistakes happen because a player never performed this pass.
Step 2: place forced extremes
Ask: where can 4 live? Any cell that is less than a neighbor cannot hold 4. Any cell that must be less than two different neighbors is especially weak for high digits. Often a corner or end of a greater-than chain claims 4 immediately. Place it when only one legal cell remains in a row or column for that digit, or when inequality logic collapses the options to one square.
Repeat for 1 on the opposite end of the spectrum. Placing 1 and 4 early shrinks the middle digits 2 and 3 into a much smaller dance. Resist filling a random 2 just because a cell “looks lonely.”
Step 3: apply Latin-square uniqueness
After each extreme placement, scan its row and column: that digit is now banned elsewhere in those lines. Look for naked singles—cells whose remaining candidate set has length one. Look for hidden singles—digits that can fit in only one empty cell of a line even if that cell still shows other pencil marks.
Remember there are no boxes. If you catch yourself thinking “this 3 points into the box,” smile and return to rows and columns only.
Step 4: re-check inequalities after every fill
A legal uniqueness placement can still break a sign. Immediately test every inequality touching the cell you just filled. If A is now 3 and A > B, then B ∈ {1, 2}. Update candidates. If B was already forced to 3 by another idea, you have a contradiction—back up to the last uncertain choice (which, on a good Easy run, should not have been a guess).
Propagation is the heart of Futoshiki. Digits and signs take turns tightening the grid. When both go quiet, you missed a constraint; restart the inequality sweep on unfinished edges.
Step 5: resolve the middle digits
With 1 and 4 often placed, many rows become two-cell puzzles for {2, 3}. Inequalities between those cells usually decide the order. If two cells in a row need {2, 3} and the left must be greater, left is 3 and right is 2. That single comparison finishes the line and cascades into the columns.
When two lines both need the same resolution, pick the one with an explicit inequality first. Pure uniqueness swaps without signs are rarer on Easy but still appear—use column leftovers when the row is decided.
Step 6: endgame hygiene
Before you celebrate, perform a closing audit: each row contains 1–4 once; each column contains 1–4 once; every printed inequality is true. Only then press Check grid on ProPuz. If Check fails, the audit found a human miss—or you drifted from the intended unique solution. Fix from the error’s neighborhood outward rather than clearing the whole board in frustration.
Note elapsed time only as curiosity. The win condition for learning is a clean explanation of your first five fills, not a personal best.
Illustrative mini-story
Imagine row 1 has a given 1 at the right end and a > between cells 1 and 2. Cell 1 cannot be 1. After a board-wide sweep you discover column 1 forbids 4 elsewhere, and cell 1 sits on the large side of a vertical sign as well—so cell 1 claims 4. Column 1 now needs {2, 3} in the remaining blanks with their own signs. One vertical < forces the order; uniqueness finishes row 2; the rest of the grid collapses in three fills. That story is generic on purpose: your Easy board will rhyme even when the digits differ.
If your board does not collapse, you are not “bad at Futoshiki”—you skipped a sign or a leftover digit. Return to Step 1.
When to level up
Graduate to Medium 5×5 when you can finish several Easy puzzles without Check-driven thrashing and can narrate inequality reasons for early placements. Until then, repeat Easy with variety via daily challenges or Generate in the play sidebar.
Print a sheet if you prefer paper pacing; the same six steps apply with a physical pencil.
Checklist you can reuse
Sweep signs → force 4 and 1 → uniqueness singles → re-test edges → resolve {2, 3} pairs → full audit → Check. Tape that sequence near your monitor for a week. Habit beats inspiration.
Next reading: beginner tips, common mistakes, and the comparison piece Futoshiki vs Sudoku. More guides live on the articles hub.