Yarn Goblin
Yarn Sort Puzzle
About Yarn Goblin
Yarn Goblin is a yarn sort puzzle with a knitting twist. Grizzle the goblin has hoarded the whole village’s yarn and wound it onto his spindles in a hopeless tangle. Sort each colour onto a spindle of its own, and he knits it into the picture of the level: a stripy sock, a mitten, a tea cosy and more. Every ten pictures make one of Goblin’s quilts.
A move takes the whole top run of one colour, so you spend your time planning instead of moving balls one by one. There is no timer in the levels and no way to lose. Every level can be solved, and Undo and Restart are always free.
The puzzle grows slowly. From level 16, some balls are tangled: they stay grey until they reach the top. Grizzle’s sack arrives at level 31, short and tall spindles at level 41, and every tenth level is a bigger boss tangle.
Every day there is a new Daily tangle, the same for everyone. Beat par, keep your streak going and share your result.
How to play
- Tap a spindle to lift its top yarn, then tap the spindle where it should go. You can also drag it there.
- Yarn can go onto an empty spindle, or onto yarn of the same colour. A move carries every ball of the top colour that fits.
- Fill a spindle with the 4 balls of one colour and Grizzle knits that colour into the level's picture.
- Sort every colour to finish the picture. Fewer moves earn more stars.
- Stuck? Undo and Restart are always free, and Hint shows a good next move.
Controls
| Input | What it does |
|---|---|
| Touch | Tap a spindle to lift its top yarn, then tap where it goes, or drag it there |
| Mouse | Click a spindle, then click where the yarn goes, or drag it there |
| Keyboard | Arrow keys move a ring over the spindles; Space or Enter picks up and drops; number keys 1-9 and 0 pick a spindle directly; Esc lets go |
| Keyboard | U or Z undoes a move, H shows a hint, X adds the extra spool, R twice restarts |
| Keyboard | P pauses, M turns the sound on or off, F goes fullscreen |
Tips
- Keep one spindle empty for as long as you can. It is the most useful space on the board.
- Finish one colour at a time. A finished spindle is out of the way for good.
- Before you move, look at the ball underneath. Where will it go next?
- Grizzle’s sack holds one ball of any colour. Use it to free a spindle for a move or two.
- A short spindle holds only 3 balls, so it can never finish a colour. Park yarn there.
- Tried something and it went wrong? Undo is free, so experiment.
FAQ
Can every level be solved?
Yes. Every level and every Daily tangle was solved by a computer before it was added. If you ever run out of moves, Undo takes you back.
How do hints work?
A hint shows the next move of a solution as a glowing arc. Each level has one free hint. After that, you can watch a short ad for another, or wait: a hint becomes free again 60 seconds after the last one. If you are in a tangle with no way out, the hint first undoes the moves that caused it and tells you how many.
What is the extra spool, and do I have to watch ads?
The extra spool adds one empty spindle for the rest of the level, once per level. You can watch a short ad for it, or get it free after 2 minutes on the level or 3 restarts. No ad is ever the only way forward. A short ad may play between levels, from your fourth level in a visit and at most every third level, never in your first 10 levels and never in the Daily.
Can I play if I am colour-blind?
Yes. Every colour also has its own stitch pattern and a bold symbol in the middle, so you can sort by shape alone. Symbols are on by default. In Settings you can switch to patterns only for a calmer look. A finished spindle gets a knitted band and a tick, not just a colour.
How does the Daily tangle work?
Everyone gets the same tangle each day, and your first try is ranked. The score starts at 3,000 and drops for moves over par, for each second, and for help: 60 points per hint (up to 3) and 150 for the extra spool. The Daily has no ads. Undone moves still count. It changes at midnight UTC.
What does Share show?
The tangle number, a row of five stitches for how close you came to par, your moves and time, any help you used and your streak, plus a link. Never your name or anything that identifies you.
Design notes
Sort games are famous for ads after every level and for levels that cannot be finished. We wanted the opposite. Every level is checked by a solver, undo and restart are free, and help never depends on an ad. Every colour has a pattern and a symbol, because a colour sort should not need colour vision.
Changelog
- Released: 600 levels in a gentle curve with tangled yarn, Grizzle’s sack and short and tall spindles, a Daily tangle with a ranked board and a shareable result, and Goblin’s quilts.
