How to solve a Ball Sort Puzzle

What a ball sort puzzle is

A ball sort puzzle starts with a row of tubes holding coloured balls in a jumble, plus one or two empty tubes. The goal is to move the balls until every tube holds a single colour or nothing at all. Only the top ball of a tube can move, and only onto a ball of the same colour or into an empty tube. It is a puzzle of order and planning: there is no clock, and the hard part is not burying the ball you will need next.

Playing Sort on AllFun

AllFun Sort has 500 levels. The first ones use three colours with four balls to a tube and two empty tubes; new colours arrive every few levels, up to twelve from level 65, and from level 24 every sixth level has taller tubes of five balls. Every ball also carries a small shape, a ring, a star, a heart or a drop, so the colours can be told apart without seeing colour.

Tap a tube to lift its top ball, then tap another tube to drop it in. A tube full of one colour closes with a lid. You get three free Undo moves a level, Restart is always free, and Tube adds an empty tube when you are stuck. Every level was solved by our solver before it was offered. Find more like it on our puzzle games page.

The rules

• Top ball only. You can only move the ball at the top of a tube.
• Same colour or empty. A ball can go onto a ball of its own colour, or into an empty tube.
• Room to land. A tube that is full takes nothing more, even of the same colour.
• Pour together. When several balls of one colour sit on top, as many as fit move in one go, and it counts as one move.
• Solved. The level is done when every tube is either full of one colour or empty.

Par and stars

Each level on AllFun has a par: the number of moves our solver needed. Finish within par with no Undo and no extra tube for three stars. Using a helper costs a star, going over par costs one, and more than twice the par costs another, but you always get at least one.

A method that solves most levels

1. Read the whole board first. Count which colours are near the top of each tube. A colour that shows on top in three tubes is a quick win; one buried at the bottom of every tube will come last.
2. Choose what goes into an empty tube. The first ball you drop in decides that tube's colour. Pick a colour you can stack quickly, not just the ball that is in the way.
3. Guard the last empty tube. An empty tube is your working space. Fill it only with a colour you are sure can finish there.
4. Finish one colour at a time. A closed tube is one tube less to think about, and it often frees a ball that was waiting under it.
5. Dig, then pour. To reach a buried ball, move the balls above it onto matching colours first, and use empty space last.
6. Undo early, not late. If two moves have gone nowhere, take them back before the board fills. When the board is truly stuck, Restart costs nothing.

When every tube is full

Look for a pair of tubes whose top balls match and where one has room. If there is none, the board is locked: undo a move or two, or add a tube.

Ball sort puzzle FAQ