Water Sort

Water Sort is a relaxing color puzzle played with test tubes. Each tube holds up to four layers of colored water, all mixed up at the start. Pour water from one tube into another until every tube holds just one color. There is no timer and no rush, only a little planning and a steady hand. Play Water Sort free online in your browser with no download, on a keyboard, mouse or touch screen.

How to play

• Pick up a tube: tap or click a tube and it lifts up, ready to pour. Tap it again to put it back down.
• Pour: tap a second tube to pour into it. The top layer of water pours across, and if the layers under it are the same color they pour too, as long as the target has room.
• Follow the pour rule: water can only land on top of the same color or in an empty tube. A tube holds four layers, so a pour stops when the target is full and the rest stays behind.
• Sort every color: the level is solved when each tube holds four layers of one color and any spare tubes are empty. A finished tube glows green.

Levels, stars and the daily puzzle

There are 120 levels. The first few use three colors and five tubes, and the puzzles grow step by step up to twelve colors and fourteen tubes. Every level was checked by a computer solver before it shipped, so each one can be solved from the starting position, and the par move count for every level was beaten by that solver too.

• Three stars: one for solving the level, one for finishing within the par number of moves shown above the game, and one for solving it without the extra tube.
• Unlocking: solving a level opens the next one. Pick any open level from the list, and use the arrows to flip between pages of twenty.
• Daily puzzle: press Daily for a new medium puzzle each day, the same for everyone on that date. Solve it on back-to-back days to grow your daily streak.
• Saved progress: stars, unlocked levels and your streak are saved in your browser.

Undo, restart and the extra tube

Undo is unlimited, so you can try an idea and take it back as many times as you like. Each undone pour still counts toward your move total, which keeps the par star honest. Restart puts the level back to its starting position and resets the moves. If you get stuck, the +Tube button adds one empty tube to the level. You get one per level, and using it costs the third star.

Color-blind mode

Press C or the Symbols button to draw a shape on every layer of water. Each of the twelve colors has its own symbol, such as a circle, square, triangle, diamond, star or cross, so the puzzle works without telling colors apart.

Tips

• Keep an empty tube free. An empty tube is your most useful space. Fill it only when you can see how the pour leads to a finished color.
• Work from the bottom. Look at which colors sit at the bottom of each tube. Those tubes are the natural homes for those colors.
• Watch the room left. A pour into a nearly full tube moves only part of a stack, which can split a color you meant to keep together.
• Use undo to explore. If a line of pours goes nowhere, step back and try another route before you reach for the extra tube.

FAQ

Is Water Sort free?

Yes. It is free to play with no account and nothing to install. Pick a level and press Play.

Does it work on phones and Chromebooks?

Yes. On a phone or tablet, tap one tube and then another to pour. On a Chromebook or laptop, use the mouse, or press the number keys 1 to 9 and 0 to pick tubes, or move with the arrow keys and press Enter.

Can every level be solved?

Yes. Every level and every daily puzzle was solved by a computer before release, without the extra tube.

Can I pause or turn the sound off?

Press P or Esc to pause, and M to turn the pouring sounds on or off.

Like sorting puzzles? Try Color Sort for another color challenge, or test your planning with Sliding Puzzle.