What is Country Road?

Country Road is a Japanese loop puzzle published by Nikoli in 2003. The grid is divided into rooms. Players draw a single closed loop passing through the centers of cells horizontally and vertically, entering each room at most once.

What is the Country Road Law?

Two adjacent cells in different rooms cannot both remain unvisited by the loop. Across any room boundary, at least one of the bordering cells must be visited by the path.

Can the loop enter a room multiple times?

No. The loop enters and leaves each room at most once. Once it exits a room, it can never re-enter it.

Can the loop branch or intersect?

No. The loop must form a single non-intersecting, non-branching continuous closed circuit.

What is Country Road?

Country Road is a Japanese loop puzzle published by Nikoli in 2003. The grid is divided into rooms. Players draw a single closed loop passing through the centers of cells horizontally and vertically, entering each room at most once.

What is the Country Road Law?

Two adjacent cells in different rooms cannot both remain unvisited by the loop. Across any room boundary, at least one of the bordering cells must be visited by the path.

Can the loop enter a room multiple times?

No. The loop enters and leaves each room at most once. Once it exits a room, it can never re-enter it.

Can the loop branch or intersect?

No. The loop must form a single non-intersecting, non-branching continuous closed circuit.

Nikoli Classic • Country Road Loop

Country Road

Travel the pastoral highways! Weave a single closed circuit entering each room at most once without leaving adjacent border squares unvisited.

5x5 Pastoral Trail5x5 Grid • 4 Country Rooms

0:00

0 cells in loop

Room 1:0/3

Room 2:0/10

Room 3:0/2

Room 4:0/7

Click between dots to draw road • Enter each room onceBordering cells cannot both be unvisited!

Tracing country roads...

Country Road Rules & Trail Laws

Published by Nikoli in 2003, Country Road marries single-loop pathfinding with room boundary adjacency constraints:

1. Single Closed LoopDraw a single continuous, non-intersecting loop travelling through cell centers horizontally and vertically.

2. Visit Each Room OnceThe loop may enter each room at most once! Once the road leaves a chamber, it is strictly forbidden from re-entering.

3. Exact Room QuotasA number in a room indicates the exact number of squares visited by the loop in that room. Rooms without clues can hold any valid visit count.

4. The Country Road LawTwo adjacent squares in different rooms cannot both remain unvisited! Across any room border, at least one square must be on the road.

Master Deductive Tactics

1. Border Forcing via the Country Road Law

Whenever you confirm that a cell in Room A is not visited by the loop, any adjacent cell across the wall in Room B must be visited by the loop! This creates immediate cascade chains along room walls.

2. Room Quota Depletion

Once the loop has visited the exact number of cells required by a room clue, all other squares in that room cannot be visited. That in turn forces their neighbors in adjacent rooms to be visited!

3. Avoiding Premature Room Re-entry

Never steer the loop toward a room boundary if the loop has already entered and departed that room elsewhere in its journey. Re-entering a room is an instant rule violation.

4. Corner and Edge Traps

If a cell in the grid corner is visited, the loop has only two orthogonal exits. Both segments are 100% forced!

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