Easy water sort puzzle puzzles are solved by moving a source tube’s top color run into an empty tube or onto the same top color, and this fixed five-tube board has an independently verified 10-pour solution.
The playable version is Water Sort Puzzle, a browser-only, deterministic challenge with touch and full keyboard controls. It is one fixed board rather than a library of selectable easy levels, so this guide covers the exact starting arrangement, a legal 10-pour route, and the rules for recovering from mistakes.
Rules and board at a glance
Each tube behaves like a stack, so only the color at the top is accessible. The puzzle also shows the letters A, B, and T inside the liquid layers, meaning the state does not depend on color perception alone. Before making a pour, check the source, destination, and available space.
| Element | Exact rule |
|---|---|
| Board | Five labeled tubes, each with capacity for four liquid units. |
| Colors | Amber, blue, and teal each appear exactly four times. |
| Initial workspace | Tubes 4 and 5 begin empty. |
| Legal source | Choose a non-empty tube containing a connected run of the same top color. |
| Legal destination | Choose a different tube with free capacity that is empty or has the same top color. |
| Pour | The connected top run moves; if the destination lacks room for the full run, only the amount that fits moves. |
| Completion | Finish with three full monochrome tubes and two empty tubes. |
| Reward | Every legal completion earns exactly 1,000 points, regardless of speed or route length. |
| Shortest route | Independent breadth-first search verifies a minimum of 10 pours. |
These familiar mechanics are consistent with the Water Sort gameplay guide and the formal treatment in FUN 2022. The fixed arrangement, scoring, controls, and mistake limit are this product’s own design. Legal pours conserve all 12 liquid units.
Read the five starting tubes
The published starting state is identical every time, so you can reproduce or practice a route without waiting for a random board. Tube contents below are listed from bottom to top, which means the final symbol is the accessible top layer.
| Tube | Bottom to top | Starting status |
|---|---|---|
| Tube 1 | A, B, T, A | Full and mixed |
| Tube 2 | T, A, B, T | Full and mixed |
| Tube 3 | B, T, A, B | Full and mixed |
| Tube 4 | Empty | Workspace |
| Tube 5 | Empty | Workspace |
Your three exposed top colors are therefore A in Tube 1, T in Tube 2, and B in Tube 3. Either empty tube can initially receive any of those top runs. Every tube’s accessible label states its entire contents from bottom to top, which also makes the board practical to follow with a keyboard or screen reader.
Choose touch or keyboard play
For touch or mouse play, select the source tube and then select the destination. The source is visibly marked and exposed through the button state. Selecting it again cancels the choice without pouring. A legal destination receives the movable top run immediately, the move counter increases once, and the source selection clears.
- Arrow keys: Left or Up moves the logical cursor to the previous tube, while Right or Down moves it to the next tube. Cursor movement wraps around the board.
- Enter or Space: Activates the tube under the cursor so you can choose a source and destination without pointer input.
- Number keys 1–5: Activate a tube directly, allowing an entire solution to be entered without pointer input.
- U: Undoes the most recent legal pour and restores the earlier recorded board state.
- R: Restarts the fixed starting arrangement and clears the current run.
- Double Escape: Opens the neutral spreadsheet boss view; using the gesture again restores the same puzzle state.
Every tube is a native button with a touch-friendly target, so the same legal moves work with a mouse, a fingertip, or the keyboard.
Follow the beginner route move by move
For a reproducible answer, use the following source-to-destination order. Each step is legal, and the route reaches the solved state in the independently verified minimum of 10 pours.
- Pour Tube 1 into Tube 4, moving one amber unit into the empty tube.
- Pour Tube 2 into Tube 1, placing one teal unit onto the teal top.
- Pour Tube 3 into Tube 2, placing one blue unit onto the blue top.
- Pour Tube 3 into Tube 4, placing one amber unit onto the amber top.
- Pour Tube 1 into Tube 3, moving the connected run of two teal units onto teal.
- Pour Tube 2 into Tube 1, moving the connected run of two blue units onto blue.
- Pour Tube 2 into Tube 4, placing one amber unit onto amber.
- Pour Tube 3 into Tube 2, moving the connected run of three teal units onto teal.
- Pour Tube 1 into Tube 3, moving the connected run of three blue units onto blue.
- Pour Tube 1 into Tube 4, placing the final amber unit onto amber.
Tube 1 and Tube 5 are now empty, while Tube 2 holds four teal units, Tube 3 holds four blue units, and Tube 4 holds four amber units. Every non-empty tube is full and monochrome, so the puzzle is complete. You do not need this exact route to score: any longer legal route that reaches the same condition earns the same 1,000 points.
Plan beyond the printed route
When solving without the sequence, use a simple color-first method. Read the exposed letters before selecting a source, and look for a destination that will let you combine equal tops instead of simply filling another tube.
- Keep one workspace available: Two tubes begin empty, but protecting at least one empty tube gives you room to reorganize a mixed stack.
- Consolidate matching tops: Move a top run onto the same top color when the destination has space. A pair or triple can move together in one pour.
- Plan two layers ahead: After each pour, check which new color becomes exposed. A move is more useful when it reveals another top that can be combined.
- Use the letter labels: A, B, and T make the stack readable even when distinguishing amber, blue, and teal is difficult.
- Undo before the board closes up: If a pour hides your only useful workspace, press U and choose a different continuation.
Capacity matters because the game does not always move an entire run. If the destination can hold only part of the connected top color, only that amount transfers. Check the free space before assuming every layer will move.
Recover from mistakes without losing progress
An illegal attempt does not change the liquid arrangement or increase the legal move count. Choosing an empty source, targeting a full tube, or targeting a different top color leaves the board exactly as it was, and the live feedback identifies the problem.
The first illegal attempt remains repairable: choose a legal source and destination and continue from the identical position. A second illegal attempt deadlocks the run until you choose Restart. This limit is specific to the product, so avoid unnecessary clicks when a source or destination is clearly invalid.
Undo reverses the most recent legal pour and restores the exact earlier tube arrangement, move count, and mistake count recorded before that move. Restart is broader: it restores all 12 units to the published starting tubes, clears selection and history, returns the cursor to Tube 1, and resets the score, move count, mistakes, completion state, and feedback. Once the puzzle is complete or deadlocked, its terminal state freezes until Restart.
What the score and fixed board mean
The reward is exactly 1,000 points for any legal route that creates three full monochrome tubes and two empty tubes. The score does not depend on speed, and there is no hidden penalty for using more than 10 pours. The 10-pour route is an optional efficiency target rather than a pass requirement.
The minimum was verified in two ways. The production breadth-first search treats each legal pour as one edge, so the first solved arrangement reached by its queue has minimum depth. A separate oracle using letter-based color tokens and its own queue independently reproduced the same 10-pour route.
The fixed board is also the main limitation: reloading does not silently generate an easier arrangement, and no random seed or remote level service changes the answer. Everything runs locally in the browser, including the puzzle state, move history, score, and input handling. No game data is uploaded, no account is required, and no paid API is contacted.
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