Levels and worlds

The daily puzzle is a calendar. Levels are a climb. This guide explains how the climb is laid out: twenty worlds, two thousand levels, and a rhythm that is meant to keep you learning without ever feeling like a wall.

The shape of the climb

There are 2,000 levels, split into 20 worlds of 100 levels each. Each world is split into five stages of 20 levels. Level 1 is a plain 4×4 board with four colours. By Level 2000 you are solving boards with more than a hundred squares on several layers at once. Nothing is skipped: every level is reachable by playing the one before it, and the game remembers your best star count on each.

The twenty worlds are named, in order: Sunrise, Tide, Lattice, Echo, Prism, Ember, Meadow, Harbor, Orchard, Summit, Dusk, Grove, Glacier, Canyon, Lagoon, Aurora, Ridge, Cinder, Mirage and Zenith. Each has its own colour. Most of the worlds introduce one new thing, and the later worlds mix everything you have met so far.

One new thing at a time

The most important rule of the level ladder is that a new idea is never stacked on another new idea. Here is when each one turns up:

Every new thing always starts on the first level of a stage, so you can feel it coming. The variants guide explains what each of them means.

The rhythm of a stage

A stage is 20 levels long, and it is laid out the same way every time:

The sneak peek is shown twice, once at the tenth level of the stage before and once at the twentieth. It is deliberately easy, and failing one costs you nothing.

Hearts, clocks and stars

Every level has a clock. If time runs out, or you choose to give up, you lose one of your five hearts. A heart comes back every 20 minutes, and the daily puzzle never uses hearts at all. You can always try again.

Stars measure speed, not mistakes. Beat the target time for three stars, finish within 40 percent more than that for two, and anything else earns one. The target time grows with the board and, from around Level 300, grows further so that the deeper levels are not impossible. A little over twice the time is allowed on Level 1500 compared with Level 300, and a little less than two and a half times on Level 2000.

The game does not punish asking for help. Hints are part of how the game is built, and a hint costs a star at most, never a level.

Why the ramp is slow

Many puzzle games throw large boards at you early because it looks impressive. Quiltoku does the opposite on purpose. The first hundred levels are mostly small boards with generous clues. The clue count slowly falls over two thousand levels. The first levels give you more than six squares in ten already filled in, and the last levels give you less than three in ten. The idea is that you should always have time to get better at the thing in front of you before the next thing arrives.

Where to start

If you have played Sudoku before, Level 1 will feel gentle, and that is fine. It takes under a minute, and you will be on harder boards soon. If you have never played anything like it, finish the tutorial first and then start the climb. You can open the level map any time from the Levels button on the home screen.