Wet Paint Puzzle

A glossy drop of wet paint sits in a maze carved into a birch board. Roll it and it slides until it hits a wall, colouring every square it crosses. Paint the whole floor to clear the level, and do it in as few moves as you can for three stars.

How to play

Swipe, or press the arrow keys or WASD, and the drop rolls that way until a wall stops it. It can’t stop halfway or turn mid-slide, and a swipe made while it’s still rolling doesn’t count. It can roll back over squares it has already painted, so going back costs a move but nothing else. The level clears the moment the last square is painted. The move counter shows your moves against par, the shortest route known for that board: clear it in par for three stars, a little over for two, and any clear earns at least one. Some boards have dark holes where the wall has a gap. Roll into one and the drop sinks and the level starts over. Press R or the restart button to start a board again at any time, and Esc to pause.

Tips

• Look at the whole board before your first move. Find the dead ends and lone corner squares first: your route has to reach them.
• A square at the end of a one-wide dead end can only be painted by rolling in and back out. Fit those trips in where they’re on your way.
• Before a long slide, check what’s at the end of it. A gap in the wall means a hole.
• A portal sends the drop out of its partner in the same direction it went in. If it starts looping between them, restart.
• A switch raises or lowers its wall every time the drop rolls over it, so check which way the wall stands before you count on a path.

Levels and modes

There are 144 classic levels. They start on small boards of about 20 squares and grow to mazes of more than 100, the biggest 159. Holes turn up from level 14, portals from level 31 and wall switches from level 61, and later boards mix them. The paint changes colour from level to level.

Clear 35 classic levels and Few moves mode opens: 64 more mazes, each with a set number of moves, from 10 on the first board to 70 on the last. A move counts only when the drop actually slides, so bumping a wall is free. Run out with squares still bare and you go again with a tap.

The Levels menu, from pause or the level-clear card, lets you replay any level you’ve reached in either mode, and shows the stars you’ve earned on each classic board. Your progress and best stars are saved, so you can pick up where you left off.