Basic Tapa rules apply: All black cells must form one connected region, and no 2x2 area can be entirely black. Numbered clue cells must remain white and indicate the length of each consecutive black cell block in the eight surrounding cells. If a clue cell has multiple digits, the groups of black cells must be separated by at least one white cell. Question marks (?) can replace numbers and represent any non-zero integer.
Diagonal adjacency requirement: Additionally, in Tapa Diagonal Neighbors, every black cell must have at least one diagonally adjacent black cell. This means that black cells must be placed in a way that they always touch other black cells diagonally (on the corners).
Bovendien moet in Tapa Diagonal Neighbours elk zwart vakje minstens één diagonaal aangrenzend zwart vakje hebben. Dit betekent dat zwarte cellen zo geplaatst moeten worden dat ze andere zwarte cellen altijd diagonaal (op de hoeken) raken.