HANKO: Zen Carving Puzzle

Carve a seal so its red print matches the target - down to where the ink is light or doubled dark. Design the negative space, press onto the guides, read the overlaps.

HANKO is a quiet carving puzzle about a Japanese seal. The idea sounds backward and that is the whole point: the parts you do NOT carve are the parts that print. You design a stamp by carving away its grooves, press it onto paper, and the red ink you leave behind has to match a target pattern - exactly.

CARVE THE NEGATIVE SPACE Each stage gives you a blank seal face on a grid and a sheet of washi paper below it. On the paper are fixed guides - one to four frames, each at a set position and rotation - that show where the seal will land. Tap a cell on the seal to carve it away. Whatever you leave uncarved is raised, takes ink, and prints inside every guide.

MATCH THE INK, LIGHT AND DARK Press the seal and the red blooms onto the paper. Where only one guide covers a cell it prints a light red; where two prints overlap, the ink doubles into a deep, dark red. The target tells you exactly which cells should be blank, light, or dark, and you win only when every cell matches. After each press you are told just two things: how many cells came out too dark, and how many too light. No cell is pointed out for you - you reason out which grooves to change.

THINK BEFORE YOU CARVE Carving is one-way. A chisel can restore a cell if you have one, and an ink pad limits how many times you can press, so the game rewards planning over trial and error. Every stage is built to be solved by pure deduction - there is always a single answer and never a need to guess.

WHAT IS IN IT

• 200 stages on a rising curve, from tiny 4x4 seals to dense late boards - every one verified solvable by pure deduction.
• A daily seal: one fresh puzzle every day, with a streak to keep.
• A stamp book that collects every design you complete.
• Three helpers shown as counts you can top up: an ink pad for more presses, a reference hint, and a chisel to undo a carve.
• An optional video can add an ink pad, a hint, or a chisel - always your choice, always marked.
• A calm soundtrack, soft sound effects, and optional haptics.
• 12 languages. Plays in portrait or landscape. Works offline after install.
• Made by PixelRyu, an independent developer.

No numbers clutter the board and no clock is running. Just a seal, a sheet of paper, and the quiet satisfaction of a print that lands exactly right.

Free to play, supported by ads. No purchases required.