Overview
In a Country Tour puzzle the grid is split into bold-bordered regions. Your job is to draw one continuous loop that travels through every cell and tours the regions in a tidy way — visiting the inside of each region in a single unbroken stretch. There are no numbers and no other clues: the regions are the whole puzzle, and every board has exactly one solution.
The Goal
Draw one single closed loop on the grid that:
- moves only horizontally and vertically between neighbouring cells (never diagonally),
- passes through every cell exactly once, and
- forms one closed loop — it joins back to where it started, with no loose ends, no branches, and no second separate loop.
Because every cell is used and the loop never branches, each cell has exactly two pieces of loop meeting in it: the loop comes in one side and leaves another. The loop never crosses itself; it can, however, run alongside itself in neighbouring cells — two parallel stretches one cell apart are fine, only crossing and branching are not.
The Region Rule (the only clue)
The bold lines divide the grid into regions. The one extra rule ties the loop to those regions:
The loop enters and leaves each region exactly once.
In other words, for any region the loop crosses that region’s bold border exactly twice — once to go in, once to come out. So the part of the loop inside any single region is one continuous run: the loop never leaves a region and then dips back into the same region later. That single rule, applied to every region at once, is what forces a unique answer.
There are no numbers to read and no shaded cells — just the regions and the two rules above.
How to Start Solving
Work in pencil and use the two rules together. A good order:
- Start in the corners. A corner cell has only two free directions, so the loop must turn the corner there. Those segments are free givens — draw them first.
- Hug the edges. A cell on the outer edge cannot send the loop off the grid, so its options are limited. Edge runs often force themselves once the corners are in.
- Use “every cell is used.” Every cell needs exactly two loop segments. If a cell already has two, the loop is finished there and its other sides are closed; if two of its four sides are blocked, the loop is forced through the remaining two. (And if one segment is already drawn and one of the other sides is blocked, the last open side is forced.)
- Apply the region rule. Look at each region as a unit: the loop enters and leaves it once, so the cells inside it form a single path from the entry point to the exit point. If you have already drawn one crossing into a region, the loop must leave through exactly one more border edge — never two more.
- Count border crossings. A small region with only a couple of border edges available pins the loop quickly: if a region can only be crossed in one sensible pair of places, those crossings are forced.
- Never close early. There is only one loop covering the whole grid, so refuse any move that would close a small loop before every cell is included, or that would strand a cell with no way in.
Keep alternating between the cell rule (“two segments each, all cells used”) and the region rule (“in once, out once”) and the loop tightens until only one route remains.
A Smaller Example
On a smaller board the same logic is easier to see: start at the corners, fill the forced edges, and let the region rule close the middle.
Difficulty and Variety
Every Country Tour puzzle has exactly one solution; difficulty changes the size of the regions, which changes how much each region constrains the loop:
- Easy uses mostly small regions (around 4 cells). Small regions pin the loop tightly, so there is almost always a forced next move.
- Medium and Hard use larger regions (around 5–6 cells), which leave the loop more freedom and ask for more look-ahead.
- Expert uses the largest regions (up to 7 cells), where the region rule bites later and you must combine several deductions at once.
Boards can also be square or rectangular (any width and height from 4 to 12), and a creator may shade the regions with soft colours to make them pop — neither changes the rules, only the look.
Outcome
You now know the goal (one closed loop through every cell), the single region rule (in and out of each region exactly once), and the first solving moves (corners, edges, the two-segment rule, then the region count). Ready to make your own? See How to Create Country Tour Puzzles in Puzzle Maker Pro.