New Game: This is a new game. The gray tiles hide squares which are either blue (filled) or white (empty). The object of the game is to guess where the blue tiles are on the board. When you have marked every tile correctly, you win.
Reading Clues: The numbers above each column and beside each row are the clues you will need to guess where the blue tiles are. For example, the "1, 1, 1" hint shown here tells you that the top row contains 3 single blue tiles and 2 white tiles. Each blue tile must be separated by one or more of the white tiles. From the "4" clue, you also know that the second column contains a single group of 4 consecutive blue tiles, and 1 white tile (which must be either above or below the group of 4, but you don't know which... yet.)
Marking Guesses: The "4" clue shown above gives you enough information to start making some marks. To mark a tile blue, left-click it. To remove a mark that you have placed on a tile, shift-click it. To mark a tile white, right-click it.
Further Deductions: Since the second column must contain 4 consecutive blue squares, there are only 2 possible ways that the it can look: Either the top tile is white, or the bottom tile is white. Either way, you know that the middle three tiles must be blue, so you can mark them. This is the most common type of deduction you will make when playing this game.
Complete Rows: From the first row of clues you already have enough information to know what the first row is. Since you know there are 3 blue tiles that cannot touch each other in the first row, there must be at least one white tile between each. But since the board is only 5 across, the only possibility is that each blue tile has exactly one white tile between it. Blue, white, blue, white, blue.
More Marking: Here you can see the markings that indicate what you deduced from the 3 clues above.
Finished Clues: Since the top row is now uncovered, you should consider those clues "finished". You can mark them as finished by clicking the clue number. It will turn gray to indicate that it is finished. You can remove the gray mark by clicking the clue again.
Finishing the Game: This is what the board will look like when you have finished. Although you do not need to mark out the hints in order to win, it is helpful to do so as you play.
Winning and Scoring: If your marks match the hidden pattern, you will see the "You win!" message. If you do not see this message, then you have not completed the puzzle correctly. Your score is based on the attempted difficulty, and the speed with which you completed the puzzle.
Now that you know how to play, try the Beginner Puzzle. It shouldn't take you more than 10 or 20 minutes to complete. The Difficult Puzzle is not difficult because it is bigger (it is 20x20, just like the easy and medium puzzles). It is harder because the solution contains fewer blue tiles, which makes the hints less helpful. I have never heard of anyone completing the Ridiculous Puzzle. You should email me if you finish it.