How to play Sand Sort
- Press Start. Level 1 points at the first bucket to send.
- Tap a column. Its front bucket hops onto the conveyor belt, which keeps moving under the picture.
- A bucket drinks sand of its own color from the bottom of the picture, right above where it is riding. As it drinks, the sand above falls down to fill the gaps.
- A full pot leaves the belt and frees its spot. Clear every grain of sand to finish the picture.
- Watch the belt: if all five spots hold pots with nothing to drink, the round ends. Send pots whose color you can see along the bottom.
- Two pots of the same color side by side on the belt drink twice as fast. Pots marked with a question mark show their color when they reach the front.
About Sand Sort
Sand Sort is a color sorting puzzle with real falling sand. Each level shows a small pixel picture on an easel, a heart, a cat, a mushroom or a rocket, built entirely from grains of colored sand. Right under the picture runs a moving conveyor belt with five spots, and below that stand columns of paint buckets, one color per bucket. Tap a column and its front bucket hops onto the belt and rides along under the picture. As it passes, it drinks grains of its own color from the bottom of the sand right above it, and every grain it takes leaves a gap, so the sand above slips and tumbles down to fill it. Bit by bit the picture crumbles away, and new colors reach the bottom. The puzzle is choosing which pot to send. A pot whose color is not on the bottom row just waits on the belt and takes up a spot, and if all five spots fill with pots that have nothing to drink, the round is over. Later levels hide some pots behind a question mark until they reach the front of their column, and the sand gets finer. The twist rewards planning: two pots of the same color side by side on the belt link up and drink twice as fast. Every level is checked by a computer player before you see it, so each picture can be cleared, and the daily picture is the same for everyone that day.
Controls
| Input | What it does |
|---|---|
| Tap or click a column | Send its front pot to the belt |
| 1 to 6 | Send the front pot of that column |
| Left and right arrows, then Enter | Choose a column and send its pot |
| H or the bulb | Show a good pot to send (costs a star) (3 per level) |
| E or the plus button | Add a sixth spot to the belt, once per level |
| S or the shuffle button | Bring useful pots to the front, once per level |
| P and R | Pause and restart |
Tips and strategy
- Read the bottom row first. Only grains on the very bottom can be drunk, so the colors you see there are the only ones worth sending right now.
- Keep a spot or two free. A belt with spare room lets you dig: send a pot you do not need yet to reach a useful one behind it, then let the useful one drink.
- Pair up colors. Two pots of the same color next to each other on the belt drink twice as fast, which clears a wide band of one color before the sand above shifts.
- Think about what falls next. When a band of one color is drained, the sand above slides down into the gap, so the color just above it will soon reach the bottom.
- Save the helpers for emergencies. The extra spot and the shuffle each work once per level, and using either one caps the level at two stars.
- Question mark pots are not random: their color shows the moment they reach the front, so empty a column on purpose when you need to see what is next.
Questions and answers
Can every level be cleared?
Yes. Before a level is shown, a computer player plays it with the same five spots you have, and the pot order is reshuffled until it wins. There is always a way through.
Why can a pot only drink from the bottom row?
That is the heart of the puzzle. Sand reaches the pots from the bottom up, so the order you send pots in decides which colors fall next. Picking a color that is buried just wastes a spot.
What happens when the belt is full?
Pots on the belt keep drinking while their color is on the bottom row. If every spot is taken and none of them can drink, the round ends and you can try the same picture again.
How do I get three stars?
Clear the picture without hints and without the extra spot or shuffle. A hint takes one star off, and so does using a helper. Stars unlock new studio themes.
How many levels are there?
One hundred, in five chapters: First pour, Hidden pots, Fine sand, Busy belt and Master pourer. Pictures come back with new colors, more columns and finer sand as you go.
Do I need to sign up or download anything?
No. Sand Sort runs in your browser on phones, tablets and computers, and your stars are saved on your device.
