🧪 Water Sort Puzzle

A calm, colourful puzzle

Water Sort Puzzle is a free colour sorting game that you play in your browser. A row of glass tubes stands in front of you, each one filled with layers of coloured water, all mixed up. Your job is to sort them, so that every tube holds just one colour. Tap a tube to pick it up, tap another to pour, and watch the water flow across in a little stream. It is simple, soothing and surprisingly clever.

There is no timer and no pressure. Take as long as you like on each pour, think a few moves ahead, and enjoy the satisfying moment when the last tube fills with a single colour.

The rules of pouring

You can only pour water onto water of the same colour, or into a tube that is empty. And you can only pour while there is room: each tube holds four layers. When you pour, all the matching water at the top of the tube flows across, as much as fits. That is the whole set of rules, but working out the right order of pours can be a real brain teaser.

200 levels

The first levels have just three colours and a couple of empty tubes, perfect for learning. As you go on, more colours are added, up to twelve, and the tubes get more and more mixed. Every single level has been checked by a solver program, so every level can always be finished: if you are stuck, there is definitely a way through.

Undo, extra tube and restart

Made a mistake? Each level gives you five undos to take back your last pours. If you are really stuck, you can add one extra empty tube, which gives you lots more room to move water around. And Restart puts the level back the way it started. Stars reward clever solving: finish without the extra tube and without any undos for three stars, without the extra tube for two, and any finish for one.

Tips

Before you pour, look at the whole row and plan a few moves ahead. Try to keep at least one tube empty for as long as possible: it is your most useful tool. Pour onto colours that already have several layers in one tube. Don't fill a tube with a colour you will need to move again soon. And if the puzzle starts to feel tangled, undo a few moves and try a different first pour.

Why it is good for your brain

Water sort puzzles train planning, patience and the ability to think several steps ahead, all while staying calm. They are a lovely way for children to practise problem solving, and a relaxing break for grown-ups. Because every level is solvable and there is no clock, it is a puzzle that rewards thinking rather than speed.

How the levels get harder

In the early levels, there are plenty of empty tubes and only a few colours, so almost any pour works. Then the number of colours climbs while the number of spare tubes stays small, and suddenly the order of your pours really matters. Later levels have tubes where a colour is buried under three others, and you need to clear a path to it before you can move it. Around the middle of the game, you will start to find that thinking three or four pours ahead is the only way through, and the last levels, with twelve colours, are a proper test even for experienced puzzlers.

A satisfying pour

Every pour is animated: the tube you picked tilts over the other one, a stream of coloured water runs across, and the level in the other tube rises. When a tube is complete, it is finished with a little flourish. Small details like these make the puzzle relaxing to watch as well as fun to solve.

Play anywhere

Water Sort Puzzle runs in any modern browser on computers, Chromebooks, tablets and phones, with no download and no account. Tap or click the tubes. Your level, highest level and stars are saved only in your own browser. See the Parents & Safety page for more.

More games like this

Find a hidden fleet using logic in Battleship Solitaire, or try more puzzles on our Brain & Trivia and Puzzle Games pages. For something splashier, our Boat Games are full of real water.

Frequently asked questions