Number Match is the pen-and-paper game Take Ten, also known as Numberama or Seeds: cross out two equal digits, or a straight line of digits adding up to 10, along a row, a column or a diagonal — the first digits of neighbouring rows link up too, and so do the last. Copy what is left when you run dry, and clear sheet after sheet until the adds run out. Every daily is one sheet, the same for everyone and checked to be clearable. Play Number Match free in your browser — no download, no account.
Why play Number Match here?
Every daily is a sheet the solver has cleared before anyone plays it, the same one for everyone. The hint searches first and then tells you the truth: this pair is on a line that clears the sheet, or no such line remains. No ads, no timer, no boosters — just the paper game with the arithmetic published.
How You WinClear the sheet, then the next one, for as long as you can. Every cleared sheet deals a fresh one; a game ends when no match is left and the stage has no adds left, and your score is what you take away. The daily is a single sheet, the same for everyone and checked to be clearable: clear it and the day is done.
Sheet
9 columns · 35 digits every stage
Match
Equal, or a line adding up to 10
Adds
4 per stage
What a game looks like
Every stage deals 35 digits: four rows, the last one a digit short, at the top of an empty sheet. Every digit comes from the game's seed and nothing else.
Clearing a sheet scores its bonus and deals the next stage at once. The add count starts again at four. Stages have no end.
Your best free-play score and furthest stage are kept locally, and the daily records one result per date.
Complete Rules
A match is two equal digits, or a straight line of digits that add up to 10. Tap one end, then the other; every live digit between them on that line is crossed out with them. A second tap on a digit that does not match simply moves the pick.
The line runs along a row, down a column or on a diagonal, with nothing but crossed-out cells between its digits. Crossed-out cells are see-through. A line never turns a corner and never wraps round the sheet's edge.
Row link: the first digits of two neighbouring rows are neighbours, whatever their columns, and so are their last digits. Equal first digits (or last digits) match on their own. A line may turn at the link — along the upper row to its first digit, over to the lower row's first digit, on along the lower row — as long as it adds up to 10; the same from the last digits. The L is drawn through the sheet's edge. The end of one row and the start of the next are not linked.
When every cell of a row is crossed out, the row is taken away and the rows below move up. That changes which digits are above and below each other, and which are first and last in their rows.
Add copies every remaining digit, in reading order, after the last cell. Each stage allows four adds; the fifth is refused. The sheet never grows past 120 rows.
Scoring: one point for every cell the line covers, crossed-out cells included — +2 for two neighbours, +4 across two crossed-out cells; an L runs through the sheet's edge and both of its arms count — then +10 for each row taken away and +150 for clearing a sheet. The three segments are shown at the end of a game.
The game ends when no match is left and the stage has no adds left. In free play that is the only ending; the daily also ends when its sheet is cleared.
Free play has unlimited undo, which restores the previous sheet exactly, adds included. The daily has no undo. Hints are unlimited in both; their count is recorded and shared, never punished.
Your First Game
Scan for pairs first — 1–9, 2–8, 3–7, 4–6 and twins — then for short lines: 4 4 2, 1 2 7, 5 3 2. A line takes three digits in one move and opens a wider window.
Check the first and last digits of neighbouring rows after every move. A 3 starting one row and a 7 starting the next are a match whatever columns they are in, and it is the one most players miss.
Clear the middle of a crowded row first. Every crossed-out cell is a window: the digits on either side can now see each other, and a long line adds up across it.
Do not add out of reflex. An add costs nothing directly, but only four are allowed per stage, and a sheet that has grown to eight rows is harder to read than one that has not.
Try to empty rows. A row that disappears is worth ten points, and it pulls the rows below it up into new column and diagonal alignments — and gives the rows new first and last digits.
Practical Strategy
Long lines are worth more and clear more. A line over five cells scores five, and it crosses out every live digit on it; three digits in one move is an add you did not need.
Watch the ends of the rows. Each crossing-out can change which digit is first or last in a row, so the row link keeps offering new matches — and a run that reaches a row's head can turn into the row below.
Save a pair for later when clearing it now would strand a digit. Two 5s side by side will still be a pair after the next add; a lone 8 with its 2 across a full row will not.
Think about the copy before you make it. The add writes the remaining digits in reading order, so the last few digits of the sheet decide what lands next to what. Cross out a digit in the middle before adding and the copy lines up differently.
Ask for a hint when the sheet looks dead. It names a match, and it says whether that match is on a line that clears the sheet or whether no such line remains — so you know whether to plan for a full clear or to take the points that are left.
Winning and Special Rules
Daily. The date picks the seed, and only a seed whose sheet can be cleared within its four adds is used — the same one for everyone. It is one sheet: clear it and the day is done. There is no undo, and the shared result says whether the sheet was cleared, with the score, the moves and the hints.
Hint. It highlights a match. Before choosing it, an exact search tries to clear the sheet from where you are: when it succeeds the hint is the first step of that line and says so; when it proves no full clear remains, it says that instead. Uses are counted in the game summary.
Add. The remaining digits are copied underneath in reading order, four times per stage at most. The button shows how many adds are left; a stage with none left and no match on the sheet ends the game.
Common Mistakes
Reading the sheet as a grid of neighbours. Adjacency here means the next digit along a line, however far away it is; a 9 at the far left of a row can pair with the 1 at its far right once everything between them is crossed out.
Pairing the end of one row with the start of the next. That is not a link here: it is the first digits that are neighbours, and the last digits.
Adding as soon as the obvious pairs are gone. Four adds per stage are fewer than they sound, and a careless sheet needs more than it has.
Crossing out a pair when a third digit of its kind is left over. If a 3 and a 7 go, the 7 somewhere else now needs a line of its own or an add.
Assuming the sheet is unwinnable. Sheets that look hopeless often clear with one well-placed add; sheets that look easy die to a single stranded digit. The hint's on-track message is the honest answer either way.
Number Match FAQ
Which numbers can I cross out?
Two equal digits (7 and 7) with nothing but crossed-out cells between them, or a straight line of digits that add up to ten: 3 and 7, 1 and 9, 4 4 2, 7 2 1, even 5 3 1 1. The line runs along a row, down a column or on a diagonal, and crossed-out cells are see-through, so 3 · · 7 is a line. Tap the first digit and the last; every live digit between them on that line is crossed out with them.
What is the link between rows, and what is the L?
The first digits of two neighbouring rows are neighbours, whatever columns they sit in, and so are their last digits. Two equal first digits (or last digits) match on their own, and a line may turn at the link: from a digit in the upper row back to that row's first digit, over to the lower row's first digit and on along the lower row, as long as it all adds up to ten. That is the L — a 2 at the head of one row and 3, 3, 2 from the head of the next is one move. The last digit of a row and the first digit of the row below are not neighbours.
What happens when I add numbers?
Every digit still on the sheet is copied, in reading order, after the last cell, so the sheet grows by exactly what is left. Each stage allows four adds, and clearing the sheet gives you four again. An add can be used at any time, not only when no match is left — sometimes copying early sets up the lines you need.
Can every sheet be cleared?
A new sheet deals 35 digits, and not every random sheet clears within four adds; a sheet you have played into a corner may not be clearable any more. The daily sheet is checked in advance: only a seed whose sheet can be cleared is used. In any game, the hint tells you honestly whether the sheet in front of you can still be cleared.