Levels 1-5 are free. Levels 6-30 need a $3 licence key. About the full pack
Driftquartz is a logic puzzle with one rule and no luck. Nothing is hidden and nothing is random: the whole board is on screen from the first move, so every level can be worked out by thinking ahead. It opens in a browser tab, with no sign-up, no ads and nothing to install.
Each level shows a par, the smallest number of moves that solves it, found by a computer search of every possible sequence. Matching par is the real puzzle.
Level 1 of Driftquartz at the start: the amber piece, a blue gem, grey walls and the shut exit (the crossed ring).
The sliding rule
You choose up, down, left or right. The piece then slides in a straight line and only stops when the next cell is a wall or the edge of the board. Gems on the way are picked up. The exit is shut until every gem is collected, and while it is shut the piece slides over it as if it were floor.
What the five free levels hold
The free levels use boards of 5x5 and 6x6 with 1 to 3 gems, and par runs from 3 to 7 moves. You can replay any of them as often as you like, and the game remembers your best move count on each level in this browser. The 25 levels of the full pack are larger: boards from 7x7 to 10x10 with 3 to 6 gems, and par from 8 to 20 moves.
Level 1, move by move
Level 1 is a 5 by 5 board with three walls and one gem. Counting rows from the top and columns from the left, the piece starts in row 5, column 1; the gem is in row 2, column 5; the exit is in row 4, column 5.
- Slide right: the piece moves four cells and stops at the edge of the board.
- Slide up: the piece moves three cells, picks up the gem and stops against a wall. On the way it slides straight over the exit, which was still shut. The exit is now open.
- Slide down: the piece moves two cells and is caught by the open exit.
That is three moves, the par for level 1: the computer search found no shorter solution.
What is free and what costs $3
Levels 1-5 are free: no account, no key, no time limit. Levels 6-30 are the full pack and need a $3 licence key, sold on Gumroad. You enter the key on the unlock page and the 25 extra levels are stored in this browser.
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