Number Crunch gives you a handful of numbers and one target. You combine them two at a time with plus, minus, times and divide until a result lands exactly on the target. Nothing punishes a wrong turn — you can undo or reset as often as you like — so the puzzle is about finding the route rather than surviving it.
How to play Number Crunch
Tap a number, tap an operator, then tap a second number; the sum resolves immediately.
Both numbers you used are consumed and the answer appears as a new tile you can use again, so the board shrinks by one tile with every step.
Subtraction must leave a positive number, which means you tap the larger number first — and you cannot make zero.
Division must come out exactly, with no remainder, and the number you divide goes first.
An illegal operation is refused with a short message and costs you nothing; only legal steps change the board.
The hint spells out the next step of the published solution as text, for example "Try: 25 × 4 = 100" — it does not play it for you, and you get one per puzzle.
You win the moment any tile equals the target exactly, and the step list below the board is your working.
Get close with a product, then adjust with a pair
Target 621, with 100, 25, 6, 4, 3 and 2 on the board. Start with the biggest multiplication you can control: 100 × 6 = 600, which leaves 25, 4, 3, 2 and the new 600. You now need 21, and 25 − 4 = 21 gives it to you exactly. Then 600 + 21 = 621 and the puzzle is done in three steps with 3 and 2 never used. Note two refusals along the way: 100 ÷ 6 is rejected because it is not exact, and tapping 4 before 25 is rejected because subtraction has to stay positive.
Number Crunch strategy
Work out the gap before you touch a number
Find the largest easy product that sits below the target, then subtract to see what is missing. If the target is 621 and 100 × 6 = 600 is obvious, the real puzzle is making 21 from what is left over, which is a much smaller question than making 621. Solving the remainder is nearly always the part that decides whether a board works.
Spend your small numbers building the adjustment
Two small tiles combined make the awkward numbers a single tile cannot: 25 − 4 = 21, 6 × 3 = 18, 4 × 3 + 2 = 14. Keep at least two of your smallest numbers back for this. Multiplying everything together early feels productive but leaves you with one huge tile and nothing to fine-tune it with.
Check divisibility from the target's side
Division only works when it is exact, so look at what actually divides the target rather than trying divisions and being refused. If the target ends in 5 or 0 there is probably a 5 in its factors; if the digits sum to a multiple of 3, a 3 or 6 will go in. Factoring the target often reveals the intended route in one glance.
Undo is free, so explore the expensive branch first
There is no mistake limit, no step limit and no penalty for wandering, so there is never a reason to play cautiously. Try the multiplication you are unsure about, look at the numbers it leaves you with, and undo if it is a dead end. The step list keeps a record of everything you have tried so far.
Take the hint at the start of a step, not the middle
The hint reveals the published solution's next step counted from how many steps you have already made, so it is most useful right after an undo or a reset, when your board matches the solution's own starting point. Ask for it deep inside a line of your own invention and it can describe numbers you no longer have.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to use all the numbers?
No. You only need one result to equal the target — leftover tiles are fine, and most solutions leave one or two untouched.
Can I get a negative number or a fraction?
No. Subtraction is refused unless the first number is the larger one, and division is refused unless it divides exactly, so every tile on the board is a positive whole number.
Is there a mistake limit or a time limit?
Neither. Illegal operations are simply refused, and Undo steps back one operation while Reset returns the board to the original numbers.
Can I use a number twice?
Not the same tile — each one is consumed by the operation that uses it. But every result becomes a new tile, so a value can reappear on the board as the answer to a later step.
Do I get a hint?
One per puzzle. It writes out the next step of the published solution as text, so you still have to make the taps yourself. That solution is only there for the hint to point at — any sequence of legal steps that lands on the target counts, and most days have several.
Do I need an account?
No. It is free with no sign-up, one puzzle a day with one attempt, and your working is saved in your own browser if you leave mid-puzzle.