How to Create Your First Numberlink Puzzle in Puzzle Maker Pro

Summary:
Numberlink puzzles or arukone puzzles are logic puzzles where players connect matching pairs without crossing paths while filling the entire grid. This tutorial shows how to create your first Numberlink puzzle in Puzzle Maker Pro using puzzle previews, grid settings, endpoint styles, and printable output workflows.

Overview

Numberlink puzzles — also known as Arukone or Number Connection puzzles — are logic puzzles where players connect matching pairs using non-crossing horizontal and vertical paths.

In Puzzle Maker Pro, the Numberlink module lets you create:

printable Numberlink puzzles
puzzle-book-ready collections
classroom-friendly logic activities
visually themed puzzle variations
scalable puzzle batches for publishing workflows

This tutorial focuses on the complete beginner workflow:

Selecting the Numberlink module
Choosing puzzle settings
Previewing puzzles and solutions
Adjusting puzzle appearance
Creating printable outputs

By the end of this tutorial, you will understand the core Numberlink workflow and be ready to create your own puzzle collections.

Required Modules

Puzzle Maker Pro – Numberlink

Preparation

Before starting:

Open Puzzle Maker Pro
Make sure the preview panel is visible
Familiarize yourself with the bottom workflow controls:
- Next Preview
- Create
- Puzzle / Solution / Both preview modes
Leave Time Saver disabled for this first tutorial

This tutorial focuses on creating a single puzzle first before moving into larger publishing workflows.

Step-by-Step Tutorial

1. Select the Numberlink Module

Start by opening Puzzle Maker Pro.

At the top module selector, choose:

Numberlink

The Numberlink module may also be referred to as:

Arukone
Number Connection puzzles

Once selected, the Numberlink settings interface appears.

You will see:

Puzzle Settings
Style settings
Titles tab
Preview area
Create and Preview controls

The preview panel is important because Numberlink puzzles are highly visual. You should regularly preview both puzzles and solutions while adjusting settings.

2. Understand the Two Numberlink Variants

The Numberlink module includes two puzzle-generation variants:

Strict Arukone (Unique Solution)

This variant creates puzzles designed to have a unique logical solution.

Best for:

traditional logic puzzle books
higher-difficulty puzzle collections
experienced puzzle solvers

Important limitation:

Strict puzzles currently support up to 8×8 grids.

This limitation exists because larger unique-solution Numberlink puzzles become almost impossible to generate reliably while maintaining logical solvability.

Note: Although we aim for unique solutions for all logic puzzles in Puzzle Maker Pro, most commercial Numberlink puzzles have multiple solutions, due to the nature of the puzzle. For most puzzles books it’s best to use the Casual variation.

Casual-style (Any Valid Completion)

This variant allows any valid full-grid completion.

Best for:

larger grids
casual puzzle books
classroom activities
visually impressive layouts
easier generation workflows

Flow-style puzzles support grids up to 15×15.

For your first puzzle:

Open the Variant dropdown.
Select:

Casual-style (any valid completion)

This gives you more flexibility while learning the workflow.

3. Choose a Grid Size

Next, configure the puzzle dimensions.

The Numberlink module uses:

Grid Width
Grid Height

These settings determine the size of the puzzle grid.

For beginners, a smaller grid is easier to preview and understand.

Recommended starting setup:

Grid Width: 6
Grid Height: 6

Smaller grids:

generate faster
are easier to test
create simpler logic paths
work well for classroom worksheets

Larger grids create more visually complex puzzles and are often used in full puzzle-book workflows.

For variation, you can also choose non-square formats, one of the unique features of our Numberlink module.

4. Choose a Difficulty Level

Open the Difficulty dropdown.

Available options:

Easy
Medium
Hard
Expert

Difficulty affects:

pair count
path complexity
segment length
overall puzzle structure

You do not manually choose the number of matching pairs.

Instead, Puzzle Maker Pro automatically derives pair counts based on:

grid size
difficulty
generation rules

For your first puzzle, choose:

Medium

This usually creates a balanced puzzle that is neither too sparse nor overly complex.

5. Choose Endpoint Content

The endpoint content controls what appears at the ends of each matching path.

Open the Cell Content settings.

Available content styles include:

Numbers
Letters
Roman Numerals
Colors
Color Shapes
Images
Image Lists

For your first puzzle, select:

Numbers

This creates the traditional Numberlink appearance where players connect matching numbers.

Later tutorials will explore:

colorful puzzle variations
kid-friendly visual styles
themed image-based puzzles
puzzle-book differentiation workflows

The endpoint style affects both:

the puzzle appearance
the solution rendering style

6. Preview the Puzzle

Now generate your first preview.

At the bottom of the main window, click:

Next Preview

Puzzle Maker Pro generates a new Numberlink puzzle using your current settings.

The preview system is one of the most important parts of the workflow.

You can preview:

the puzzle only
the solution only
both together

Use the preview mode controls:

Puzzle
Solution
Both

For beginners, the Both mode is extremely useful because it helps you understand how the generated paths connect internally.

The preview closely matches the final generated output.

This makes the preview workflow useful for:

testing readability
checking puzzle complexity
validating styles
refining puzzle-book layouts

7. Generate Multiple Preview Variations

Click Next Preview several times.

Notice how:

path layouts change
pair positions change
puzzle flow changes
overall visual density changes

This is an important part of creating strong puzzle collections.

Even with identical settings, Puzzle Maker Pro generates different puzzle structures.

This allows creators to:

produce large puzzle collections
avoid repetitive layouts
create scalable publishing workflows
build themed puzzle books more efficiently

Try adjusting:

grid size
difficulty
variant

Then preview again.

This experimentation stage helps you understand how Numberlink generation behaves.

8. Adjust Basic Puzzle Styling

Open the Style tab.

The Numberlink module includes several styling controls.

For beginners, focus on:

cell borders
line thickness
puzzle readability

You can also enable:

Colour solution lines per pair

This draws each solution path using different colors.

This works especially well with:

ColorShapes
kid-friendly puzzle books
educational worksheets

Fill cells with content instead of drawing lines

This alternative solution mode fills path cells with endpoint content instead of drawing connecting lines.

This can create:

visually bold answer pages
easier-to-follow classroom solutions
highly visual puzzle-book layouts

For your first puzzle, leave these disabled initially.

You can experiment with them later once you understand the basic workflow.

9. Configure Puzzle Titles

Open the Titles tab.

The Numberlink module supports several automatic title styles.

Examples include:

Numberlink
Numberlink – Difficulty
Numberlink – Grid Size
Arukone
Arukone – Content
Custom

For example:

Numberlink – Medium
Arukone – 8×8
Numberlink – Letters

Automatic titles are especially useful when creating:

large puzzle batches
mixed puzzle collections
puzzle books with multiple styles

For your first puzzle, choose:

Numberlink

At this stage, you are configuring the title mapping and metadata behavior.

The selected Smart Title format is not automatically applied simply by choosing it in the Titles tab.

To activate Smart Titles during output generation, you must also:

configure the appropriate Output Settings
generate output through the Create workflow
or use Puzzle Book Studio rendering workflows

Once activated through the output workflow, Puzzle Maker Pro automatically applies the selected title behavior during rendering.

This distinction is important because Puzzle Maker Pro separates:

Metadata configuration
→ output generation
→ final rendered titles

This workflow-oriented approach makes it easier to:

reuse title systems across puzzle collections
create scalable puzzle-book workflows
maintain consistent naming across outputs
automate metadata during batch generation

You can later move into more advanced metadata workflows using Puzzle Book Studio.

10. Create the Puzzle

Once you are happy with the preview:

Choose an output folder if needed.
Leave Time Saver disabled.
Click:

Create

Puzzle Maker Pro generates and saves the puzzle output.

Depending on your output settings, this may include:

puzzle images
solution images
PDF output
SVG output
puzzle-book workflows

For a beginner workflow, focus on creating a single successful puzzle first.

Once that feels comfortable, you can move into:

reusable presets
batch generation
mixed puzzle collections
Puzzle Book Studio workflows
publish-ready puzzle books

11. Understand the Beginner Workflow

At this stage, your workflow looks like this:

Choose settings
→ Preview puzzle
→ Adjust appearance
→ Generate final puzzle

This preview-driven workflow is one of the strengths of Puzzle Maker Pro.

The preview system allows you to:

refine puzzles visually
test readability quickly
build more professional collections
reduce publishing mistakes

As you continue learning, the workflow can expand into:

Create puzzles
→ Save presets
→ Batch generate collections
→ Assemble puzzle books
→ Render final outputs

That larger workflow is what turns Numberlink generation into a scalable puzzle publishing system.

Outcome

You can now:

create printable Numberlink puzzles
understand the core Numberlink workflow
preview puzzles and solutions
adjust puzzle difficulty and size
experiment with visual endpoint styles
generate beginner-ready puzzle outputs

You also understand the difference between:

Strict Arukone workflows
Casual-style workflows

and how those choices affect puzzle generation.

This foundation prepares you for:

visual puzzle variation
scalable batch generation
reusable preset workflows
puzzle-book publishing workflows