How to solve sort puzzles: a guide to the harder levels of Boop Sort
By Edgar Sargsyan ·
Sort puzzles start gently: a few colours, a few jars, and every move feels obvious. Then the levels grow, colours start to look alike and some critters hide their colour. These tips come from playing many levels of Boop Sort, but they work for most sorting puzzles.
The rules in one paragraph
In Boop Sort each jar holds four critters. You can move the critters of one colour from the top of a jar to another jar that is empty, or that has the same colour on top and room for them. All the critters of that colour on top move together, as many as fit. A level is solved when every jar is either empty or full of one colour.
Empty jars are your most valuable resource
Every level gives you two empty jars, and every hard level is about how you use them. An empty jar can take any colour, which makes it the only place where you can "park" critters while you dig deeper. The moment you fill an empty jar with mixed critters, you lose that freedom. So before you put anything into an empty jar, ask whether that move brings you closer to finishing a colour.
Gather the colour that is already near the top
Look at the tops of all the jars. If one colour sits on top, or just under the top, in several jars, start with that colour. Gathering it takes few moves, and every finished jar closes its lid and frees you from four critters. A colour buried at the bottom of three jars should usually wait.
Count before you move
Because each jar holds four, it helps to count. If a jar has two red critters on top and another jar has one red on top with one free space, moving the two reds there will only move one of them. Small counting mistakes like this cost moves, and moves decide your stars.
Sleepy critters: plan for what you cannot see
From level 40 the bottom critter of each jar is asleep and hides its colour, and from level 55 all the critters underneath do. They wake up when they reach the top. The trick is to keep an empty jar available when you uncover a sleeping critter, because you cannot plan for a colour you have not seen yet. Uncover sleeping critters early, while you still have room to react.
Colours that look alike
Later levels have up to ten colours, and some of them are close. Every critter in Boop Sort has its colour's small mark on its belly, such as a dot, a star or a heart. When two colours look the same at a glance, check the marks before you move.
Solving in few moves
- Three stars need the level solved within its number of moves; a little over it gives two.
- Undo is better than restarting when you notice a mistake, but the moves you take back still count.
- The first hint of every level is free. A hint or an extra jar keeps the level solvable, but gives at most two stars.
- Every level can be solved, so if you are stuck, the answer is usually to free an empty jar first.
Practise with the daily challenge
The daily challenge is the same puzzle for everyone today, and fewer moves score more. Because everyone solves the same jars, it is the best way to see how your solution compares with other players.
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