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Equation Tips: Hitting the Target in the Fewest Taps

Updated October 2026

Equation gives you three single-digit numbers, two empty operator slots and a target, and asks you to fill the slots so the left side equals the right. You have sixty seconds to solve as many as you can. Because every tap cycles an operator rather than letting you pick one, the fastest players think about tap counts as much as arithmetic. This guide explains exactly how puzzles are built, how the slots cycle, what the precedence rules mean in practice, and a reliable way to search in your head for the puzzles you cannot see at a glance.

How each puzzle is built

Every puzzle uses three numbers from 1 to 9. The game picks the numbers and two random operators, works out the result with normal precedence, and keeps the puzzle only if the result is a whole number from 0 to 99. It then throws away any puzzle whose answer would simply be the three numbers added together.

That last rule matters because both slots start on plus. The starting position is therefore never the solution, and every puzzle needs at least one tap. It also means that a target equal to the plain sum of the three numbers never appears, so if you catch yourself adding all three and landing on the target, you have misread a number.

The target is usually small. In our simulation of 200,000 generated puzzles, the median target was 10, about one in five targets was above 30, and roughly one in twenty-seven targets was 0. Large targets almost always involve a multiplication; a target of 0 almost always involves subtraction.

The slot cycle and what each operator costs

Each slot steps forward through the same fixed order every time you tap it: plus, minus, times, divide, then back to plus. You cannot step backwards. From the starting plus, minus costs one tap, times costs two, divide costs three, and returning to plus costs four.

This turns every puzzle into a small cost question. A solution of minus and plus is one tap; times and times is four; divide and divide is six. In our simulation, the cheapest correct answer needed one tap 31.8 percent of the time, two taps 33.0 percent, three taps 20.0 percent, four taps 11.5 percent, five 3.6 percent and six about 0.1 percent, for an average of about 2.2 taps. Many puzzles also have more than one correct answer: in the same sample, 35.9 percent had at least two different operator pairs that hit the target.

The practical lesson is to look for the cheap answers first. If minus in either slot works, take it before you ever think about division.

Precedence, fractions and the Check button

Times and divide are worked out before plus and minus, and two of the same strength are worked out left to right. So 4 + 6 × 2 is 16, while 4 × 6 + 2 is 26. A times in the second slot only multiplies the last two numbers; a times in the first slot only multiplies the first two.

Division does not have to come out even along the way. 7 ÷ 2 × 4 is accepted as 14, because only the final answer must be a whole number. Players who reject a division the moment it leaves a fraction miss these puzzles.

Setting the operators does not score anything by itself. When you think the equation is right, press the = Check button below it. A correct answer scores a point, the line under the button shows a green tick, and the next puzzle appears a quarter of a second later; taps during that short pause are ignored, so you cannot score the same puzzle twice. A wrong answer takes two seconds off the clock and shows what your equation really equals, with two decimals when the value is fractional. That value is still a useful compass after a miss: if it is far below the target, you need a multiplication; if it is above, try a minus or a divide.

Reading the target before you tap

A few quick checks narrow sixteen possibilities down to one or two.

A fallback search when nothing jumps out

Cycling an operator is free, but nothing tells you the value until you press Check, and every wrong Check costs two seconds. Trying combinations one by one on the button is therefore the most expensive way to play: in our simulation, a program that skipped the thinking and pressed Check on every combination in order averaged about 4 points a game, while one that took two seconds to think about each puzzle averaged about 18, even though it also submitted a wrong answer one time in ten.

So do the search in your head instead. Think of the two slots as a counter: keep plus in the first slot and run through the four operators in the second, working each value out mentally; if none of them lands, move the first slot to minus and repeat, then times, then divide. Most puzzles fall within the first few steps, and you can cut it short: if the value with plus first is still well below the target after every operator in the second slot, skip straight to times in the first slot. Only when you have a combination you have checked should you set the slots and press the button.

Using the sixty seconds well

The clock does not start when the page opens. It starts on your first tap of an operator slot or the Check button, so take a second before that tap to study the first puzzle. From then on it is a real countdown measured against the device clock: it keeps running if you switch away, and the numbers turn red for the last ten seconds.

Keep both thumbs over the two slots. They sit side by side in the middle of the equation, with the Check button just below, and alternating thumbs is faster than moving one finger back and forth. Read the target first, then the first two numbers, then the last one; the target tells you what size of answer you are hunting for, which is the most useful single fact on the screen.

When the time is up your total appears with your previous best. Your best is stored on this device, and any score above zero can be saved to the Hall of Fame. Pressing New starts a fresh puzzle and resets the clock, which will again wait for your first tap.

Equation rewards a mix of estimation and economy. Estimate the size of the target, choose the cheapest operator that can reach it, run the counter sweep in your head when the numbers refuse to cooperate, and press Check only when you are sure.

▶ Play Equation Pick the operators that hit the target, sixty seconds on the clock.