One pencil line, no lifting, no crossing. That is the whole idea behind this classic loop puzzle, and it gets surprisingly deep. Loopy Loop Puzzle unblocked hands you a field of dots and some numbers, and you have to find the single closed path that fits them all.
The puzzle belongs to Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection. Its first author was Mike Pinna, and Lambros Lambrou contributed the many extra grid shapes. You can stay on plain squares or switch to hexagons, triangles and tilings that never repeat.
How to play Loopy Loop Puzzle
Every cell edge starts out undecided. Click an edge to draw it as part of your loop, and right-click it if you know it stays empty. Clicking again sets the edge back to undecided, so nothing is permanent.
A number inside a cell tells you how many edges of that cell end up on the path. Empty cells have no limit. The finished drawing must be one ring with no branches, no crossings and no extra loops floating elsewhere. When it is correct, the grid flashes.
Open the Type menu to change the grid shape, size and difficulty. Custom lets you mix any tiling with any level, which is a nice way to learn a new shape on an easy setting first.
Controls
| To… | Keyboard | Mouse | Touch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mark a line as part of the loop (click again to clear) | — | Left-click the line | Tap the line |
| Rule a line out (click again to clear) | — | Right-click the line | Press and hold the line |
| New game, undo, redo | N, U, R | Menu buttons above the grid | Menu buttons above the grid |
Tips
- Clear the zeros. Cross out every side of a 0 right away. It shrinks the search more than any other clue.
- Think about each dot. The loop passes through a dot using exactly two edges or none, so a dot with one line drawn must continue.
- Watch the corners of the grid. A high number tucked into a corner leaves very few ways for the line to get in and out.
- Avoid closing small rings. A tiny closed loop is only right if it is the entire answer, which it almost never is.
- Look at neighbor pairs. Two high numbers side by side often force the edge between them and the outer edges too.
Loopy Loop Puzzle questions
Can the loop touch itself at a corner?
No. Every dot on the path uses exactly two edges, so the line can never meet or cross itself. Two separate rings also fail, even if all the numbers match.
What grid shapes are there?
Squares are the default, and the Type menu also lists triangles, hexagons, Penrose tilings and many more unusual patterns. Each shape changes how the numbers interact.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. Tap an edge to draw it and press and hold to rule it out. Bigger cells are easier to hit, so pick a smaller grid size on a small screen.
