How to play Secret Number

The goal and the first move

Find the hidden number using the higher and lower clues. Open the first challenge if this is your first round. Before pressing Start, read the goal in the side panel and locate the controls. There is no entry fee, score purchase or account requirement. You can restart a round whenever you need another attempt.

Enter a whole number in the displayed range and submit it. On a narrow screen, the controls appear below the board. Keep the page still while interacting with the game, and finish any typing before using keyboard shortcuts. This avoids sending an intended game move to a text field.

A strategy to try

Start near the middle of the remaining interval.

After each clue, exclude the impossible half. Repeating a guess uses a turn without adding information.

Try one change at a time. For example, play a round while prioritising the tip above, then compare how the board develops with your previous attempt. A single useful observation is more valuable than a rushed restart. The result belongs to this challenge; it is not a comparison with other players.

Choose your challenge

The ten entries below share the same basic rules. Their settings determine the goal, the available time, the board or the computer behaviour. Easy, Medium and Hard are labels within this game family; they are not standardised ratings across every game on the site.

1. Treasure Combination — upper number: 40, guesses available: 8
2. Library Shelf Code — upper number: 60, guesses available: 8
3. Robot Access Code — upper number: 80, guesses available: 8
4. Moonbase Code — upper number: 100, guesses available: 9
5. Orchard Number Hunt — upper number: 120, guesses available: 9
6. Royal Vault Code — upper number: 140, guesses available: 9
7. Deep Sea Coordinates — upper number: 160, guesses available: 10
8. Parcel Locker — upper number: 180, guesses available: 10
9. Potion Number — upper number: 200, guesses available: 10
10. Desert Coordinates — upper number: 220, guesses available: 11

When a round does not go to plan

Check the controls before changing your strategy. A blocked move can be part of the game rules, such as moving into a wall, choosing a filled cell or using a disabled letter. Read the status line above the board for the current prompt. It reports progress and explains the result when the round ends.

Use Restart to return to a fresh board. Where the game uses shuffled layouts, the next round can have a different arrangement while keeping the same challenge settings. A harder label means a changed set of parameters, not a guarantee that every random layout will take longer.

Short breaks and local records

Finish a round, put the game down and return when you want another short break. PLAYDAY saves favourites, recent game IDs and small result records in browser storage. It does not provide cloud saves or a public leaderboard. Clearing browser data, using a different browser or private browsing may remove or separate these records.

The games do not make claims about improving intelligence, treating a condition or measuring professional ability. Their purpose is ordinary recreation. You can read more about the stored information on the privacy page.