Pepper Patch
Hot peppers are hiding in the garden. Each open square tells you how many peppers touch it — written as a math problem. Solve the clues, mark the peppers, and dig up every safe square.
How to play
- Hot peppers are hiding under the garden. Dig up every safe square without biting one!
- A dug square shows how many peppers touch it (sides and corners), written as math: 2×2 means 4 peppers are next to it. Plain soil means 0.
- Tap to dig. To mark a pepper, long-press, right-click, or switch to Mark. Tap a clue whose peppers are all marked to dig the rest around it.
- Bite a pepper and you drink one of your 3 glasses of milk 🥛. Run out of milk and the round is over.
Four levels: pick your heat
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Mild
Work out each clue, then count its hidden squares. 5−3 with just 2 hidden squares next to it? Both are peppers!
With Tan the Turtle. Play today's Mild Pepper Patch →
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Medium
When a clue already has all its peppers marked, every other square touching it is safe to dig.
With Digit the Fox. Play today's Medium Pepper Patch →
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Spicy
Stuck? Compare two clues. If all of one clue’s hidden squares also touch the other, the extra squares hold the difference.
With Blaze the Dragon. Play today's Spicy Pepper Patch →
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Extra Spicy
Compare clues that share hidden squares, and watch the pepper count: when the clues still need every pepper that’s left, the rest of the garden is safe.
With Pi the Owl. Play today's Extra Spicy Pepper Patch →
What math it practices
- Fact fluency with all four operations
- Order of operations, exponents and square roots (Spicy and Extra Spicy)
- Logical deduction: comparing two clues to find what must be true
- Counting neighbors on a grid
Best for grades 3–8, and fun for grown-ups too. Every level has its own daily leaderboard, and solving any puzzle on its day keeps your streak going.
Questions
Is Pepper Patch like Minesweeper?
Yes, it plays like Minesweeper, with two changes for math class: each clue is written as a math expression you have to work out first, and every puzzle can be solved with logic alone — no guessing.
What happens if I dig up a pepper?
You have three glasses of milk to cool off. Each pepper you bite uses one. Lose all three and the answer is shown.
Is it free? Do I need an account?
Free, with no sign-up. Every visitor gets a guest name like Mathlete4821. The site never asks for a name, email or age.
What do the peppers mean?
There are four levels: Mild 🌶️ (warm up), Medium 🌶️🌶️, Spicy 🌶️🌶️🌶️ and Extra Spicy 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ (big-brain challenge). Play any level, or all four, every day. Each level has its own leaderboard.
When is there a new puzzle?
Every day at midnight Pacific time. Missed a day? Past puzzles stay playable.
Can teachers use it in class?
Yes. The puzzles make a quick warm-up or a challenge for early finishers, and they work on phones, tablets, Chromebooks and the classroom screen.