Strategy guides · Flood fill online
How to solve flood fill puzzles in fewer moves
In a flood fill puzzle your color spreads from one corner and swallows neighboring cells of the color you pick. Inkspill gives you a move limit close to the best possible solution, so every choice counts.
The rules
Your ink starts in the top-left corner. Each move, pick a color: the ink turns that color and absorbs every cell of that color touching it. Fill the whole board within the move limit.
1. Bigger is not always better
Picking the color that swallows the most cells right now is a good start, but it isn't the whole story. Look one move ahead: which choice opens up the most new cells for the next move?
2. Wipe out colors
Every color you remove from the board completely is one less move you'll need later. If a color has only a few cells left and they all touch your ink, finishing it off is often worth more than a bigger gain elsewhere.
3. Head for the middle
From the center, your ink borders far more regions than from an edge. Early moves that push toward the middle give you more choices later.
4. Count what's left
Near the end, count the colors that remain outside your ink. You need at least that many moves. If that number equals your remaining moves, every move must remove one color for good.
Common mistakes
- Chasing a big patch on the far side while small leftovers pile up behind you.
- Picking the color you already are (it does nothing).
- Forgetting to use undo: it costs nothing but time.