Star Battle puzzles are played on a square grid split into random regions. The objective is to place stars correctly on the grid so that no two stars are touching (this is the reason these puzzles are sometimes called "Two not touch"). The grid is initially empty.
Puzzles are provided in four different sizes and vary in the number of stars required. Gentle puzzles use a 6x6 grid with one star per row, column and region. Easy puzzles use an 8x8 grid with one star. Medium puzzles use a 10x10 grid with two stars and hard puzzles use a 12x12 grid with three stars required.
When placing stars, a few key rules need to be observed; every row, every column and every region must contain the same number of stars. Stars may not touch any other stars, even diagonally. This means when a star is placed the squares around it can be excluded (Auto dots will automatically handle this). Each puzzle has only one correct solution that allows all of the stars to be placed.
The solver must rely on logical deduction rather than guessing to reach the correct solution. A broad range of different solving strategies can be applied and some can be quite complex, but don't worry - easy puzzles can be solved with a few simple beginner strategies. More advanced puzzles will require more advanced strategies.
One vital technique is the use of dots to indicate positions where there cannot be a star. This is almost as important as placing stars since puzzles rely heavily on eliminating candidate positions. When only one empty cell remains in a row, column or region then that position can be confidently filled with a star. For medium puzzles this technique works when there are two empty cells (both must be stars) and with three empty cells for hard puzzles. Repeating this approach allows progress through the puzzle.
There are lots of strategies for solving Star Battle puzzles and generally you will need to apply a number of different strategies repeatedly to solve a puzzle. Simpler puzzles will require just a few basic strategies whilst the most extreme puzzles will need repeated application of exotic approaches. As a rule of thumb, try the simplest strategies first - these are roughly shown in order below - and work up to the more complicated strategies only when needed as they take longer to figure out mentally. Usually this approach leads to the fastest solution for a given puzzle.