Strategy guides · Water sort online
How to solve water sort puzzles: strategies that work
In a water sort puzzle you pour colors between tubes until each tube holds a single color. Tidetube is Fiplay's version. The puzzle is less about pouring and more about not getting stuck.
The rules
Tap a tube, then the tube to pour into. The top color pours onto an empty tube or onto the same color, as much as fits. Sort every color into its own full tube.
1. Protect the empty tube
An empty tube is the only place to park a color that's in the way. Fill it only when the pour moves you toward a finished tube, and try to free it again soon.
2. Look underneath before you pour
Pouring off the top uncovers the color below. If that color has nowhere to go, you've made the board tighter. Prefer pours that uncover a color with a matching top somewhere else.
3. Finish tubes
A tube that's three-quarters one color is close to done. Bring the last layer to it as soon as you can: a finished tube is out of play and makes every other decision simpler.
4. Count layers
Each color has exactly as many layers as a tube holds. If a color's layers are spread under three different stacks, plan which stack you'll dig into first rather than starting all three.
Common mistakes
- Pouring just because a move is possible.
- Burying a color under a different one in the empty tube.
- Forgetting undo and the extra tube in levels and unlimited mode (the extra tube counts as a hint).