Make the Number

What Is the Make the Number Puzzle?

Make the number is the daily arithmetic puzzle in the spirit of the TV classic Countdown's numbers round: you get a pool of six numbers and one target, and the goal is to combine them with + − × ÷ until one tile shows the target exactly. Every puzzle is generated backwards from a real solution, so a path always exists — the fun is finding the shortest one.

How to Play Make the Number: Merge Numbers to Hit the Target

Make the Number is HanoiStack's take on the format. Tap a number, tap an operation, then tap another number: the two tiles merge into their result and a new tile appears. Results can be merged again, so big jumps like (7 × 50) + 18 are always available. Division only counts when it divides evenly, and nothing can go below zero — the same gentle rules as the TV classic.

• Daily mode: six new numbers at midnight UTC, the same puzzle for everyone.
• Practice mode: unlimited puzzles at three difficulties, nothing recorded.
• Solvable in 2 merges earns ★★★; undo and clear are always free.

Tips: Solve It in Two Merges for ★★★

• Scan for near-multiples first. If the target is 318, the pairs 50×6 = 300 and 7+8 = 15 should jump out — merge those two pairs, then add.
• Work backwards. Ask "what × what, or what + what, gives the target?" — the answer tells you which two sub-results to hunt for.
• Save the 1s and 2s. Small numbers are precious: they adjust a product by one or two at the very last merge.
• Don't fear subtraction. Big − small often manufactures exactly the number the multiplication plan is missing.

Make the Number and Other Daily Math Challenges

Make-the-number belongs to a family of daily brain teasers that train number sense instead of speed drills — number match and merge games, cryptarithms like SEND + MORE = MONEY, and cage arithmetic in the style of killer sudoku. HanoiStack publishes a new Make the Number target every day alongside a full set of sibling puzzles, all free and all playable in a browser.

More Free Math Puzzles

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