How to Play Tango Game

What is the Tango game?

Tango is a 6x6 logic puzzle. You fill every cell with a sun or a moon so that each row and column holds three of each, no more than two of the same symbol sit side by side, and every = or × sign between two cells is respected. Each board has exactly one solution, and you reach it by deduction, never by guessing.

LinkedIn launched Tango on October 8, 2024, five months after Queens, as part of its daily games (the path puzzle Zip followed later). Everyone on LinkedIn gets the same board each day, and the boards follow a weekly rhythm: early-week puzzles are the gentlest and later ones demand deeper deduction. On Tango Unlimited you play the same kind of puzzle with no daily limit: our own Daily puzzle, unlimited boards on demand, and a shareable link for every board so friends can race you on the exact same grid.

Where the puzzle comes from

Tango belongs to a family of two-symbol grid puzzles that is older than LinkedIn. The best-known modern version is Binairo, created in 2009 by Belgians Peter De Schepper and Frank Coussement. Around the same time, Italian designer Adolfo Zanellati built a near-identical puzzle called Tohu wa Vohu. The same idea runs under many names: Takuzu in France and Japan, Binero, Eins und Zwei in Germany, Binoxxo in Switzerland and Tic-Tac-Logic in American puzzle books.

Tango keeps the balance and no-three-in-a-row rules and adds the = and × signs between neighbouring cells. The signs link cells together, so a Tango board can start almost empty and still have exactly one logical solution. Classic Binairo also requires every row and column to be different from the others; Tango has no such rule. For a side-by-side comparison, see Tango vs binary puzzles.

The objective

Fill every cell on the 6x6 grid with either a sun or a moon so that all four rules below are satisfied at the same time. The board starts with a handful of symbols already placed (the clues) plus a set of constraint markers between certain pairs of cells. Your job is to work out the only legal way to complete the rest.

The four rules of Tango

1. Each row and each column has three suns and three moons

The 6×6 board contains 36 cells split evenly. When you finish, every row must hold exactly three suns and three moons, and every column must hold exactly three of each. This is the balance rule, and it is the single most important constraint to track while you play. As soon as a row or column reaches three of one symbol, the remaining cells in that row or column are forced to be the opposite symbol.

2. No three of the same symbol in a row

You can never place three of the same symbol next to each other, either horizontally or vertically. If two adjacent cells already hold the same symbol, the cell on either side of that pair must be the opposite symbol. This rule applies inside rows and inside columns; it does not apply diagonally.

3. The constraint symbols (= and ×)

Some pairs of adjacent cells have a small marker between them. There are exactly two markers in Tango:

• = means the two cells must hold the same symbol. Whatever you place in one, the other must match.
• × means the two cells must hold the opposite symbol. One must be a sun and the other must be a moon.

These markers are powerful because they instantly link two cells. If you can determine either side of an = or × pair, the other side is decided immediately. Markers also combine with rule 2: an = pair is two identical symbols side by side, so the cells at either end of it are constrained too.

Example: a row has an = sign between cells 3 and 4, and cell 5 is already a sun. Cells 3 and 4 cannot both be suns, because that would put three suns in a row at positions 3, 4 and 5. So cells 3 and 4 must both be moons.

4. Solve by deduction, not by guessing

Every Tango puzzle is designed to have one and only one solution that can be reached purely by logic. If you ever find yourself guessing (placing a symbol and seeing whether the rest works out), you have missed a deduction somewhere on the board. Backtrack and re-read the row balances, the no-three-in-a-row rule, and the constraint markers.

How the rules work together

In practice, every Tango move comes from one of three sources: a same-symbol pair forcing its neighbours, a row or column reaching three of one symbol, or a sign linked to a known cell. Most boards open with a run of sign-driven moves, then pair-driven moves, then a final pass where the row and column counts fill in the last empty cells.

Controls

Tap a cell to cycle it between sun, moon and empty. On a computer, right-click cycles the other way; on a phone, long-press does. Pre-placed clues cannot be changed. Use Undo or Reset to roll back a move.

A step-by-step example

Here is the typical thinking pattern for an opening move on a Tango board. You do not need to memorise this; it is just a worked example so you can see the rules combining in practice.

1. Start with the clues. Look at every pre-placed sun and moon. These cells are already decided, so you only need to worry about the empty cells around them.
2. Apply the no-three-in-a-row rule. If you see two suns next to each other, the cell on either side must be a moon. Mark those cells before doing anything else: they are free wins.
3. Read the markers. For every = or × pair where one side is already known, fill the other side immediately. For pairs where neither side is known yet, note that they are linked but move on.
4. Count rows and columns. Whenever a row or column reaches three of one symbol, the remaining empties in that line are forced to be the opposite symbol.
5. Loop until done. Every move you make creates new information. Keep cycling through the three previous steps until the board is full. If you stop making progress, scan the board again. The next deduction is always visible somewhere.

Strategy: eight techniques to solve faster

1. Chase the pairs. Two same-symbol cells in a line force their neighbours. Always resolve these before any other move type.
2. Resolve = and × pairs early. A solved cell next to a marker is two solved cells, not one. These are the highest-value moves on the board.
3. Track running totals. Mentally count the suns and moons in each row and column as you fill. Once a line has three of one symbol, the rest of the line collapses immediately.
4. Look for sandwiched pairs. If a row already has two suns and three empty cells, but two of those empties are forced moons by no-three-in-a-row, the last empty must be the third sun.
5. Use × pairs to balance lines. An × pair contributes exactly one of each symbol to its row and column. That is often the missing piece when you are trying to balance a tight line.
6. Use = pairs as a unit. An = pair contributes either two suns or two moons. If a row already has two suns, an = pair in that row must be two moons.
7. Scan the corners. Corner cells have only two neighbours, which makes them easier to constrain. They often resolve first.
8. Re-scan after every move. A new symbol unlocks chains of deductions. Sweep the board again instead of staring at the same cell.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Guessing instead of deducing. Tango never requires a guess. If you have to guess, you have missed a rule.
• Forgetting the column. The no-three-in-a-row rule applies vertically as well as horizontally. New solvers often track rows and ignore columns.
• Misreading × as =. The two markers look similar at a glance. Always double-check before committing.
• Filling clue cells. Pre-placed suns and moons are fixed. If you have somehow overwritten one, undo back to that point.
• Stopping the scan too early. When you make a move, the cell next to it may now be forced. Sweep the row, column, and any markers before moving on.

Tips for solving faster

• Start with markers. Pairs joined by = or × tend to chain more deductions per move than single-cell logic.
• Hold the board in your head. Avoid undoing for trivial corrections. Mental tracking is faster than tap-undo-tap on mobile.
• Practice on Unlimited. Speed comes from pattern recognition. The more boards you see, the faster the patterns surface.
• Switch between difficulties. Easy boards cement fundamentals. Hard boards force advanced deductions. Alternate them to round out your skill.
• Play on mobile for speed, desktop for thinking. Mobile taps are quick for pattern moves; desktop is better for the harder boards where you want to study the whole grid at once.

Frequently asked questions