What the game is
The Disputed Estate is a land-registry mystery — the classic shikaku puzzle, also published as rectangles or divide-by-box, rebuilt as a detective case. An old landowner left the estate divided among several relations, and the original map went into the fire the night the will was read. Each deed survives, but it records only two things: its acreage, and the marker stone it was measured from. The founder's one iron rule was that every parcel be a perfect rectangle — and a few stretches of the old iron fence still stand where boundaries ran.
You redraw the estate by drawing parcels. Every parcel is a rectangle holding exactly one stone and covering exactly as many acres as that stone says; the parcels cover the whole estate without overlapping, and none straddles a fence. Those rules force every boundary by pure logic. Then the same map does the detective work: every claimant has sworn to their own parcel — what it holds, what it touches, what shape it takes, whose land it marches with — and the finished map says exactly what each parcel really is. Innocent claimants tell the truth. One claim, in one deposition, describes a boundary the estate cannot bear, and its author holds the doctored deed.
Case procedure
- Start with the deeds that have one shape. A stone in a corner with four acres can only be a square; a six-acre deed hemmed in by other stones may have a single rectangle left that avoids them all. Draw those first.
- Pencil what every shape shares. When a deed could still take two or three shapes, look at the acres every one of them covers — those acres are that deed's whatever the shape turns out to be. A pencilled parcel around them stays grey until it reaches its full acreage.
- Find the acre only one deed can reach. Some acres lie beyond the reach of every stone but one: too far for any other acreage without swallowing a stone or crossing a fence. That acre belongs to the one deed that can reach it, and often settles the shape at once.
- Respect the fences. A brass fence line stood on a boundary, so any shape that would straddle it is out. Fences are placed exactly where the logic needs them.
- Let the red do the checking. A parcel with two stones inside, a straddled fence or more acres than its deed allows turns red the moment you draw it, with the reason on the desk note. Check flags a finished parcel that cannot be right.
- Read the map back, then accuse. With every acre enclosed, the landmark cards and each deposition's "as you have drawn it" line tell you whose land holds what, which parcels touch the river or the road, and who marches with whom. Tick the claims that hold, cross the one that cannot, and accuse — naming the claim.
The rulings that matter most
- One stone, one deed, one parcel. Every parcel is a rectangle that contains exactly one marker stone, and its acreage is exactly the number on that stone. A parcel with two stones, or more acres than its deed, is red on sight.
- Every acre belongs to someone. The parcels cover the whole estate with no overlap and no gap — including the stones nobody has sworn to, which are tenanted parcels measured the same way.
- Fences stand on boundaries. No parcel may straddle a surviving stretch of fence; a fence between two acres means they belong to different parcels.
- A landmark is on a claimant's land or it is not. The acre it stands on lies inside exactly one parcel, so there is no standing on a boundary.
- Touching a boundary means lying along it. A parcel touches the river, the road, the wood or the lane only when at least one of its acres lies in the outermost row or lane on that side.
- Marching means sharing an acre-side. Two parcels march together when they share at least one full edge between two acres; meeting corner to corner does not count.
- Shapes are read strictly. A square spans as many rows as lanes; wider than deep means strictly more lanes than rows; a strip is exactly one row or one lane across.
- Every innocent's claims are all true. Only one claim in the whole file fails, and it belongs to the forger. Only the finished map exposes it — every case is proved to have a lawful placement of the deeds on which every claim holds.
Choosing a rank
Parish Clerk (a seven-by-seven estate, four claimants) teaches the deeds and the readings in about ten minutes: two claims per claimant, and the lie is always about a landmark. Land Agent (ten-by-ten, six claimants) is the full method: more deeds, harder shapes, and claims about boundaries, shapes and neighbours joining the file. Commissioner (twelve-by-twelve, eight claimants, three claims apiece) is the long shift: the most deeds, fences as the currency that keeps the logic honest, and a file where only careful testing of every deposition finds the impossible claim. Bigger estates add more interlocking deduction, never unfair steps.
Fairness, hints and reveal
Every case is generated and then proved before you see it. The generator's solver must complete the whole estate using only the deductions described in this manual — the same reasoning you use at the desk — which guarantees exactly one map fits the deeds and that no guessing is ever required. When an estate needs more help, the bureau confirms another stretch of fence before the case ships; when it needs too much, the estate is thrown away and regrown. The detective layer passes its own proofs: every claim is tested through the same rule the readings apply, exactly one fails, each claim is false on some lawful placement of the deeds it speaks to so nothing is a tautology, and a decoy placement of every deed on which every claim holds proves the depositions alone can never point at the forger. Check flags parcels that cannot be right without drawing any. Hints escalate politely: the first press names a deduction and the reasoning behind it; a second press points at the exact acres, and the parcel is still yours to draw. Reveal unseals the founder's own map and excludes the case from your cases-cracked tally. Wrong accusations are stamped on the file; the case stays open — and naming the right claimant with the wrong claim is its own stamped failure, because the commissioner signs only for the claim the map cannot bear.
Printing a case
Any case can be downloaded as a PDF pack built entirely in your browser from the same case number as the on-screen map: the briefing, the founder's rule and every deposition with its rulings on the case sheet, one full estate sheet with stones, fences, landmarks and the claimants' names sized for pencil work, and an optional answer key with the redrawn estate, every claim tested and the warrant. Shikaku puzzles are print natives — a pack runs about three or four A4 sheets and suits classrooms, puzzle clubs and long train journeys, and the case number on the cover reopens the same estate on screen.
Questions from the registry desk
What is The Disputed Estate?
The Disputed Estate is a land-registry mystery — the classic shikaku puzzle, also published as rectangles or divide-by-box, rebuilt as a detective case. An old landowner left the estate divided among several relations, and the original map went into the fire the night the will was read. Each deed survives, recording only its acreage and the marker stone it was measured from, and the founder’s one iron rule was that every parcel be a perfect rectangle. Redrawing every boundary by pure deduction gives you the map — and the map tells you exactly whose land each landmark falls on, which parcels touch the river or the road, and who shares a boundary with whom. Every relation has sworn a deposition about their own parcel. Exactly one claim is impossible, and the relation who swore it holds the forged deed.
How do the marker stones work?
Every square of the map is an acre, and every numbered square is a marker stone: the number is the acreage of the parcel measured from it. Each parcel must be a rectangle that contains its own stone and no other, and the parcels must cover the whole estate without overlapping. A deed of four acres is a two-by-two square or a strip of four; a deed of six is two-by-three or three-by-two. Working out which shape fits around each stone — without swallowing another stone, crossing a fence or leaving an acre that no deed can reach — is the whole of the puzzle.
What are the brass fence lines?
A few stretches of the old iron fence survive, drawn in brass between two acres. A fence stood on a boundary, so no parcel may straddle one. They are part of the case’s design: a few estates need a confirmed boundary or two before pure logic can carry the rest, and the bureau supplies exactly as many as the logic needs and no more.
How do I draw a parcel?
Drag from one corner acre to the opposite corner, or tap one corner and then the other. Drawing over an existing parcel replaces it, and Erase mode takes a parcel away with a tap. A parcel that breaks the founder’s rule — two stones inside it, a straddled fence, more acres than its deed allows — turns red the moment you draw it, with the reason on the desk note. A parcel still short of its acreage stays pencilled, so you can sketch as you think. A stone greys out when a lawful parcel of exactly its acreage encloses it.
How does the map catch the forger?
Every claimant swears two or three claims about their own parcel: that the dry well stands on their acres, that their land runs down to the river, that it is a perfect square, that it marches with a cousin’s land. Innocent claimants tell the truth. The forger doctored their deed, and one of their claims describes a boundary the true map cannot bear. The landmark cards and the “as you have drawn it” line under every deposition read your own parcels back to you — where each landmark falls, what each parcel touches and holds and neighbours — so once the map is complete you can test every claim and accuse the claimant whose claim fails, naming the claim.
Can the depositions alone give the forger away?
No, and that is proved for every case. Before a case ships, the generator finds a lawful-looking placement of every claimant’s deed — the right acreage, measured from the right stone, straddling no fence, the parcels clear of one another — on which every sworn claim, the lie included, holds. So the deeds and the depositions are consistent with each other; only the whole estate, redrawn from every stone, exposes the lie. Nothing is readable early: each claim is also checked to be false on at least one lawful placement of the deeds it speaks to, so no claim is a tautology or readable from an acreage alone.
Is every estate guaranteed solvable without guessing?
Yes. Every case is proved before you see it: the generator’s solver must complete the whole estate using only named, human deductions — a deed with one shape left takes it whole, acres that every possible shape of a deed covers belong to it, and an acre only one deed can reach belongs to that deed. If an estate would ever require a guess, the bureau confirms another stretch of fence before the case ships, or the estate is thrown away and regrown.
What do Check, Hint and Reveal do?
Check flags any finished parcel that cannot be right, without drawing any of its own. Hints come in two strengths: the first press names a deduction and explains the reasoning — which deed, which acres, which rule; pressing again points at the exact acres, though the parcel is still yours to draw. Reveal unseals the founder’s own map and redraws every boundary with every claim tested, and a revealed case never joins your cases-cracked tally.
What are the case ranks?
Parish Clerk is a seven-by-seven estate with four claimants — a whole case in about ten minutes, where the lie is always about a landmark. Land Agent works a ten-by-ten estate against six claimants, with claims about boundaries, shapes and neighbours joining the file. Commissioner is the twelve-by-twelve estate with eight claimants and three claims apiece: more deeds, harder shapes, fences as the currency that keeps the logic honest, and a file where only careful testing of every deposition finds the impossible claim.
How is the accusation made?
Each deposition carries an Accuse button. The bureau memo then asks for one more thing: which of that claimant’s claims the finished map cannot bear. Naming the right claimant with the wrong claim is a stamped failure of its own; the case stays open either way, and wrong arrests never end the night.
Can I play on a phone?
Yes. The map sizes itself to the screen, parcels are drawn with a finger drag or two taps, and every acre is a generous target. Your parcels and claim ticks save automatically between visits, and each case has a case number so the same estate can be reopened.
Can I print a case?
Yes. Any case can be downloaded as a PDF pack built entirely in your browser from the same case number as the on-screen map: the briefing, the founder’s rule, every deposition with its rulings on the case sheet, one full estate sheet with stones, fences, landmarks and the claimants’ names sized for pencil work, and an optional answer key with the redrawn estate, every claim tested and the warrant. Nothing is uploaded anywhere.
Is The Disputed Estate free?
Yes. All ranks are free to play in your browser with no account or sign-up. A new case is one click away, and every case is generated fresh — the estate is drawn, proved fair, and dressed with new claimants, landmarks and sworn claims, so no two maps read the same.