Build Your First Chain Puzzle with Meta Puzzles

🧭 Overview

Meta Puzzles for Sudoku Pick and Place lets you create puzzle sequences where each puzzle reveals a clue for the next one. This tutorial will guide you through building a Chain Puzzle—a set of puzzles that link together in a logic-based progression.

Ideal for puzzle book creators, educators, and gamification designers, this feature makes it easy to generate dynamic, engaging puzzles with just a few clicks.

🧩 Required Modules

👉 New to Pick and Place? Start with the Getting Started Tutorial first.

🛠️ Preparation

Before you start:

Install and activate both the core product and Meta Puzzles Add-On
Choose your preferred grid size (4×4, 6×6, or 9×9)
Optional: Style fonts, line colors, and branding in the Settings, Style, and Branding tabs (not covered in this tutorial)

🔢 Step-by-Step: Create a Chain Puzzle

1. Select Layout Type: Chain

Go to the Layout tab and choose Chain from the dropdown.

2. Set the Puzzle Quantity

Set Quantity to define the length of your chain.
→ For example, Quantity = 5 will create a 5-step puzzle chain.

3. Configure Result Area

Set the Result Text (e.g. “Clue” or “Next Step”)
Choose where you want the result area to appear (Top, Bottom, etc.)

4. Customize Symbols or Randomization (Optional)

You can use numbers, letters, colors, roman numerals, or images
For more variety, enable Randomize Set to pick 9 symbols randomly from a larger pool (e.g. A–Z or 1–100)

🔄 Important: For Chains, the randomized set will stay consistent across all puzzles in the chain.

5. Preview & Create

Use the Next Preview button to verify your chain style
When satisfied, click Create to generate the full puzzle chain
Files will be saved to your configured Output folder

🎉 Outcome

You’ve just created a sequenced Chain Puzzle with consistent visual styling and logic progression. Your audience now has to solve each puzzle to unlock the next!