Make 88 with four 4s

The classic four fours puzzle: build an expression from exactly four 4s that equals 88. 88 cannot be made with + - × ÷ alone (the solver checked every expression) — you will need to stick 4s together (like 44) or use decimals (like .4).

Solutions using only + - × ÷

No expression made of four plain 4s and + - × ÷ reaches 88 — the solver checked every possible expression.

Solutions with concatenation and decimals

44 + 44 = 88

Solutions with square roots, factorials, exponents

4! + 4 × 4 × 4 = 88
4! + 4 ^ 4 / 4 = 88
4 × 4! - 4 - 4 = 88
(4! - 4) × 4.4 = 88
4! + 4 + 4! / .4 = 88

…and 77 more at this tier.

83 distinct solutions found in total, after removing trivial rearrangements.

How 88 compares

88 has 83 distinct solutions across all three tiers — #40 most plentiful of the 95 solvable targets. Next door, 87 has none at all and 89 has just one solution. The nearest impossible target is 87, right next door — proven unreachable, not just unsolved.

If 88 went down easily, make 89 with four 4s — just one solution, the nearest step up in scarcity.

Make 87 with four 4s · Make 89 with four 4s

The Number Lab

Same idea, different constraints: four 9s, four 4s, or any four digits you like.

Four Nines — the daily puzzle
Four Nines solver — every target, solved
Four Fours — the 1881 original
Four Fours solver — including the impossible five
Make 24 solver — any four digits
Today's 24 — one new hand a day

Got what you came for?

Stay for something you did not search for.

Four Nines — the daily sibling: four 9s, one target, new at midnight
The Reflex Lab — nine ways to measure your hands and memory, none of them polite about it
hand me something weird — a random pick from the directory. Could be the horse.

Read up on the 1881 original, pick another number in the solver, or find more free math games.