Sort Puzzle Games
About Sort Puzzle Games
Sort puzzles have filled phone app stores in recent years under names like water sort, ball sort and nut sort, and the rules are the same in all of them. A row of tubes holds layers of mixed colors, with an empty tube or two to work with. You can only move the top color of a tube, only onto the same color or into an empty tube, and only as much as fits. The goal is a rack where every tube holds a single color.
What makes them so moreish is that the rules fit in one sentence while the puzzles do not. A careless pour buries the color you need under another and leaves no free space, and then the only way out is back. Good players look a few pours ahead and keep an empty tube free for as long as they can.
Pour Order is a water sort race. Tap a tube to lift it and tap another to pour, and sort rack after rack, from three colors up to seven, each before its own clock runs out, and a race of four racks on one two-minute clock is one of the games The Daily can deal. Every rack has a known fewest number of pours, and sorting it at or under that par earns a bonus. Undo, restart and a spare empty tube get you out of a dead end, each for a little time off the rack's clock. Every color also carries its own symbol, so the game works for color-blind players too.
Play free in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer. For more, see the puzzle games, brain games and sliding puzzle games.
Frequently asked questions
How do you play water sort?
Tap a tube to pick up its top color, then tap another tube to pour it in. You can pour only onto the same color or into an empty tube, and only as much as fits. The puzzle is solved when every tube holds one color.
Are ball sort and water sort the same game?
Yes, the rules are the same. Ball sort moves one ball at a time, while water sort pours every layer of the top color that fits, which makes each move bigger.
What if I get stuck in Pour Order?
You can undo the last pour for 2 seconds, restart the rack for 5 seconds or add a spare empty tube for 10 seconds. Every rack can always be solved.
Can I play if I am color-blind?
Yes. Every color in Pour Order has its own symbol on each layer, so you can sort by symbol as well as by color.