A Free Alternative to NYT's Digits Game
In August 2023, the New York Times retired Digits, its numbers puzzle where you combined six numbers with + − × ÷ to hit a daily target. If that was your kind of puzzle, Rigid Digit scratches the same itch: five numbers, the same four operations, and a fresh target every day, still free and still running.
Rigid Digit is also inspired by Countdown's Numbers Round, the British game show format Digits itself drew on - you can read how that comparison goes too.
How It's Different
The core idea carried over, but a few things didn't:
- Exact or nothing. Digits gave partial credit for getting close: three stars for an exact hit, two within 10, one within 25. Rigid Digit only counts an exact hit as solved, so there's no ambiguity about whether you actually got it.
- Four difficulty levels, not one fixed set. Digits gave everyone the same five puzzles a day, increasing in difficulty. Rigid Digit splits that into four separate levels (Easy, Medium, Hard, Extreme) you can play in any order, as many as you like.
- Five numbers, not six. One fewer number to juggle before you've even started.
- Still running. Digits was retired in August 2023. Rigid Digit puts out a new set of puzzles every day, indefinitely.
