Count the open tiles

Beginner technique

When is a star certain?

When a row, column or region has exactly as many open tiles as it still needs stars. If a region needs two stars and only two tiles are left, both are stars.

Row 6 still needs 1 star and has exactly 1 open tile left, so the outlined tile must be a star.

Run this check on every row, column and region after each round of marking. It is the most common step in any Star Battle solution, and on easy boards it is nearly the only one you need.

Try it on a board

Stuck? Hint names the next step in words.

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