A PUZZLE TO COMBINE

Target Forge

Combine four, five or six number tokens with addition, subtraction, multiplication and exact division. Each starting token must contribute exactly once to the final target.

How to play

Loading the puzzle…

Your counters describe this puzzle only. Take as much time as you like.

THE ESSENTIALS

How to play

Use every starting number exactly once to leave one value equal to the displayed target.
Select two active values and an operation. They are replaced by their combined result, which may be used in a later operation.
Division is allowed only when its result is an integer and its divisor is not zero. Negative and zero intermediate results are allowed.
Standard begins with four number tokens, Hard five and Expert six. Targets are constructed through legal operations, so at least one complete route exists; uniqueness is not promised.

Controls

Choose a left value, an operation, then a different right value. Subtraction and division use that operand order.
Select the current left value again to cancel its selection. Expressions show which earlier values each result contains.
Undo restores the previous pair of values. Restart returns to the same starting numbers and target; New puzzle or a difficulty change creates another problem.

Good to know

Two starting tokens with the same value are separate resources. One token cannot be used twice.

Reaching the target while other tokens remain does not complete the puzzle.

More operands change the search space, but the mode names are not a measured human-solving rating.

TRY A DIFFERENT APPROACH

Field notes for Target Forge.

Target Forge · 3 MIN READ

Target Forge: preserve the resources inside every intermediate value

Make 24 from four number tokens without leaving two behind, and distinguish a reusable result from an original number that has already been consumed.

Field notes for Target Forge.

Target Forge: preserve the resources inside every intermediate value ↗

Target Forge: preserve the resources inside every intermediate value