Stuck on a Water Sort Level? Tips That Actually Help

Read the board before your first pour

Look only at the top colour of each tube. Count which colour shows on top most often and which tubes are closest to finished. That colour is usually where the first few pours should go.

Treat an empty tube like gold

An empty tube is the only place any colour can go. Dropping a single layer into it just to "make a move" usually costs you more than it gains. Use it when the pour finishes a colour, frees a tube completely, or uncovers a layer you need.

Build on the tallest stack

Pour matching colours onto the tube that already holds the most of that colour. A tube that is full of one colour is done; leave it alone and work around it.

Short tubes with one or two layers are easy to clear. Emptying one gives you a new empty tube, which is often the move that unlocks a whole board.

Uncover mystery layers early

A "?" layer hides what you are working with. Reveal it as soon as you safely can, then plan with the full picture instead of guessing.

When to undo, hint or restart

If you have filled every empty tube and nothing matches, undo back to the last point where you still had space. A hint shows a good next move, and the extra tube adds room on the hardest boards.

Every level is proven solvable, so if you have been going in circles, a fresh restart with what you now know about the board is often faster than undoing one pour at a time.