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Make 24 Strategy: Solving Hands Fast Against the Clock

Updated October 2026

Make 24 gives you four numbers and ninety seconds. Each merge takes two numbers and an operator and leaves one number behind, so every hand is exactly three merges long. The players who score well are not doing clever arithmetic on every hand; they recognise most hands at a glance, reach for a short list of reliable shapes, and waste almost no taps. This guide explains how the game builds its hands, how the controls behave, and how to turn that into speed.

What the deal really looks like

Every number is a whole number from 1 to 9, drawn independently, so repeats are common. The game then tests the hand with an exact solver that works in fractions, so rounding never fools it. It will try up to 400 random hands, and it stops at the first one that can be solved using only whole-number steps. A hand that needs a fraction somewhere in the middle is only kept as a fallback if none of those 400 attempts works out.

That has a practical consequence. We checked all 495 distinct sets of four digits from 1 to 9: 404 of them can make 24, and only seven of those need a fractional step (1-3-4-6, 1-4-5-6, 1-5-5-5, 1-6-6-8, 3-3-7-7, 3-3-8-8 and 4-4-7-7). In our simulation of 5,000 deals, not a single hand needed a fraction. So when a hand resists you, the answer is almost certainly a whole-number route you have not spotted yet, not a hidden fraction trick. Save fraction hunting for the very rare hand where you have honestly tried every whole-number idea.

In the same simulation, about 89 percent of fully random four-digit hands were solvable, which is why the solver rarely needs more than one or two tries. Hands containing a 1 or a 7 turned up slightly less often than the others, because more of them are dead ends and get thrown away.

The controls and what each tap costs

A merge is three taps: a number, an operator, then a second number. The first number you choose is always the left side of the operation, which matters for subtraction and division. A few details save time once you know them:

When one number is left, the game checks it. If it is 24, your score goes up by one and a new hand appears after a short 0.42-second pause. If it is anything else, the cards shake and the same starting four return after 0.6 seconds. The Reset button does the same restore instantly and carries no penalty, and there is no skip button, so the only way past a hand is to solve it.

Shapes worth memorising

Almost every solution ends with one of a few final steps. Learn to see which one a hand is heading for:

A good mental drill is to look at the two biggest numbers first. Their product or sum often lands near 24, and the remaining two numbers then only have to supply a small correction.

Handling ones, repeats and awkward digits

Ones are flexible glue. Multiplying or dividing by 1 changes nothing, so a single 1 can be absorbed at the end of almost any solution. That means a hand with one 1 is really a three-number puzzle. Two 1s can become 2 (1 + 1) or 0 (1 − 1), or be absorbed one at a time. A hand like 1, 1, 1, 8 resolves as (1 + 1 + 1) × 8.

Repeats often pair off. Two equal numbers divide to 1 and subtract to 0, which lets you delete a pair you do not need. With 6, 6, 6, 6, simple addition works; with 5, 5, 5, 5, the route is 5 × 5 − 5 ÷ 5.

Sevens and nines are the stubborn ones. They rarely divide neatly into 24, so they usually have to be cancelled with subtraction or folded into a sum. Try making them part of a difference such as 9 − 7 = 2 or 7 + 1 = 8 and see whether the leftover pair can supply the matching factor.

Order of work for a fast solve

Because every hand is three merges, the order of your thinking matters more than the order of your taps. A reliable routine is:

  1. Look for a 3, 4, 6 or 8 and ask whether the other three numbers can build its partner (8, 6, 4 or 3).
  2. If nothing obvious appears, split the hand into two pairs and check whether the pairs combine to 24 by multiplication or addition.
  3. Then try three numbers making a big total, with the fourth used as a final correction by subtraction or division.

Plan the whole solution before your first tap. Merging greedily and then thinking is how you end up with a leftover pair that cannot work, which costs a reset or a 0.6-second shake. A hand solved in your head costs nine quick taps and nothing more.

Spending the ninety seconds well

The timer runs on real time from the moment you press Start, and it keeps running if you switch apps or lock the screen. The time box turns to its warning style at 15 seconds. Since there is no skip and resets are free, your options on a hard hand are to reset and look again or to keep working it. Resetting does not change the numbers, so it helps only if you have merged yourself into a corner.

Every solve costs a fixed 0.42-second pause before the next hand, so even a perfect player loses a few seconds to the animation over a long run. Accuracy matters more than raw tapping speed: a wrong final number throws away 0.6 seconds plus the time you spent getting there. If you find yourself stuck for more than about ten seconds, change method entirely, for example from looking for a product to looking for a difference.

Training plan

  1. Play a few rounds where you say the full solution aloud before tapping. This builds the plan-first habit.
  2. Collect the hands that beat you and solve them away from the clock until you can see the route instantly.
  3. Drill the difference finishes, because they are the ones most players overlook.
  4. Then play for count: aim to solve each hand in under six seconds, and you will be on pace for a strong score.

Your best count is saved on your device the moment you beat it, and any score above zero can be entered in the Hall of Fame from the end card.

▶ Play Make 24 Four numbers, four operators, ninety seconds.