45x45 Connections Puzzle
Shares rank 30 of 45 puzzle games by recommenders
Free online Connections-style puzzle that people find fun and well made. Critics say difficulty is uneven, with some connections too easy and others too hard.
Free online Connections-style puzzle that people find fun and well made. Critics say difficulty is uneven, with some connections too easy and others too hard.
11 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 73%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 2.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Enjoyable and addictive to play
“This is delightful. Having a lot of fun and I'm addicted.”
Comment from 1 Jan 2026 in “Show HN: A 45x45 Connections Puzzle To Commemorate 2025=45*45” “Nice afternoon of puzzling, thanks for sharing it.”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Show HN: A 45x45 Connections Puzzle To Commemorate 2025=45*45” “Really, really well made, lots of fun.”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Show HN: A 45x45 Connections Puzzle To Commemorate 2025=45*45”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Difficulty swings from too easy to too hard
“The connections are too easy to the point where the main challenge”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Show HN: A 45x45 Connections Puzzle To Commemorate 2025=45*45” “The connections are too hard.”
Comment from 1 Jan 2026 in “Show HN: A 45x45 Connections Puzzle To Commemorate 2025=45*45”
Other puzzle games people recommend
The four most recommended other puzzle games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outer Wilds | 65 | 7 | 90% | 9 | — | Approved |
| enclose.horse | 64 | 10 | 86% | 4 | — | Approved |
| The Witness | 60 | 19 | 76% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Braid | 36 | 5 | 88% | 5 | — | Approved |
| 45x45 Connections PuzzleThis page | 8 | 3 | 73% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
11 of the 13 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“This is delightful. Having a lot of fun and I'm addicted.”
“The connections are too hard.”
“There are plenty where the category is obvious, sure - but also many ambiguous entries.”
“What I feel like you nailed is adding up the groups one by one.”
“Nice afternoon of puzzling, thanks for sharing it.”
“I totally authorize anyone to copy the puzzle, as long as they link back to the original”
“Really, really well made, lots of fun.”
“The connections are too easy to the point where the main challenge”
“if you search for a category name like "sports" or "instrument" it will just show you every item for that category lol”
“Thomas, I love this! I vibe coded a bunch of quality of life improvements to this”
“sometimes after I connect two items it'll reselect the combined item, sometimes it won't”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.