TERRAZZO · Daily hints · Guides
How do you learn the rules of a new puzzle game?
Read the rules once, then test them with one small move. A good puzzle teaches itself in a minute or two, and the board tells you when you are wrong.
- Read the rules as conditions. Each rule is a statement that must be true when the puzzle is finished.
- Check one rule at a time. Pick the rule you understand best and satisfy it first.
- Expect a clear ending. A well-made puzzle tells you plainly when every rule holds.
What is a rule in a puzzle game?
A rule is a condition the finished puzzle must meet. It does not say what to do next. It only says what must be true at the end.
That is why rules feel strict and the play feels free. You choose any order of moves you like. Only the final picture has to obey.
Some puzzles hide their rules and make you guess them. Others print them on the screen. Neither is better, but printed rules are kinder on a tired evening.
Why do some puzzle rules feel confusing at first?
Most confusion comes from reading every rule at once. Your mind tries to hold three ideas together before it has used any of them.
Slow down and take one rule alone. Make a single move that satisfies it. Then look at what that move changes for the others.
Our guide to approaching logic puzzles goes deeper on this habit of working one constraint at a time.
What are the rules of Terrazzo?
Terrazzo is a daily mosaic puzzle for iPhone and iPad. You fit coloured stones into a frame so the day's Laws hold. There are three kinds of Law.
- Kinship. Touching stones of one colour form a region. The frame's edge lists the sizes those regions must have.
- Solitude. No two sun cells may touch, not even corner to corner.
- The Vein. The vein cells form one unbroken path between the frame's two notches. It has no branches and no loops.
The frame shows which Laws apply that day.
How can you test a rule without risking a mistake?
Place one stone and look at what it breaks. In Terrazzo nothing is timed, so a wrong stone costs you nothing but a moment. Lift it and try another.
Solitude is the easiest to test, because you can see two suns touching at a glance. Kinship asks you to count, so check each region against the sizes on the frame. The Vein is easiest once the two notches are clear in your mind.
If one Law gives you trouble, we have a separate guide for each. Start with how to solve the Kinship Law, which is where most players pause.
What if I still cannot see the rules working?
Play the day's puzzle once without any help, then compare it with a hint. Daily hints are on the hints page. A nudge appears at 00:00 UTC. The Laws in plain words follow at 08:00 UTC. The answer arrives at 16:00 UTC.
Use as much or as little as you like. The leaderboard counts unaided solves only, which means no hints, no salvages and no seat marks. The puzzle itself is free every day, with no ads, no timers and no account.
For a gentle walk through a first puzzle, read how to play Terrazzo.
Try today's puzzle
Today's Laws and hints are on the today page. Terrazzo is free to play on iPhone and iPad from the App Store.