Arrow Puzzle: How to Think Your Way Through a Board
An arrow puzzle is really a question about order. Every arrow needs a clear line to the edge, and every arrow you remove changes which lines are clear. Once you see a board as a set of "who blocks whom" relations, it gets much easier.
Try it: a small 3×3 board.
Read the board as blocking chains
Pick any arrow and look along its direction. If the first arrow in its path is another arrow, that one blocks it. Follow the blocker's direction the same way. You get a chain: A waits for B, B waits for C. The arrow at the end of the chain – the one with a clear path – is the one to tap first.
Three solving techniques
- Free-first sweep. Tap every arrow that can leave right now. On easy boards this alone solves it.
- Work backwards. Find the most boxed-in arrow and ask what has to go before it. Clear that chain only.
- Watch for face-offs. Two arrows in the same line pointing at each other block each other for good. If you see one, check the board again – usually you've misread a direction.
A worked example
Imagine a row with three arrows: → → ←, with open edges on both sides.
- The left → is blocked by the middle →.
- The middle → is blocked by the ←.
- The ← on the right is blocked by the middle →.
The middle → and the ← face each other, so this row on its own can't be fully cleared – a real puzzle would give one of them another way out. That's exactly the kind of pattern to spot early.
FAQ
Is there always a solution?
Yes. Every board in the game is built backwards from an empty board: arrows are placed one at a time, each with a clear way out at the moment it is placed. Taking them off in reverse order always works, so every level and every daily puzzle can be solved.
Does tapping order matter if two arrows are both free?
Not for those two – but removing one may free others, so it's worth noticing which unlocks more.
Put it into practice: play the arrow puzzle or today's daily board.