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Aqua Sort
by ZotaGame0 likes5 plays
Watch each glass tube swing over, tilt and pour as you sort 3 to 8 watercolors across 36 lab levels, then chase a par no solver can beat.
What is Aqua Sort?
Aqua Sort is a water sort puzzle game where you lift a test tube, watch it swing over another one and tip its colored liquid in, until each tube holds a single shade. The 36 levels run through four lab chapters, from Apprentice Lab with 3 colors to Grandmaster Sanctum with 8, and every board gives you exactly two empty tubes to work with. Par on each level is the shortest possible solution, checked by an A* search, so hitting it means you found a flawless route. Truly stuck? A one-time +1 Tube rescue is there, at the price of your third star.
Updated
How to play Aqua Sort
Goal: Leave every test tube either empty or corked with four layers of one color, ideally in no more pours than the level's par.
- Tap a tube to lift it. Empty tubes and corked, finished tubes can't be picked up.
- Tap a second tube to pour: it must be empty or show the same color on top, and every matching layer on top flows across while there is room.
- Keep an eye on Moves against Par in the top bar. Undo rewinds the board, but it never takes a pour off the count.
- Press Hint when you lose the thread: the tube to lift glows gold and an arrow points at its target for about four seconds.
- If every tube is blocked, add +1 Tube once, or hit Restart to zero the count and go for 3 stars again.
Controls
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Tap / click | Lift a tube, then tap the tube to pour into |
| 1–9, 0 | Pick a tube by number (0 is tube 10) |
| Arrow keys + Enter / Space | Move between tubes, lift and pour |
| ZBackspace | Undo the last pour |
| H | Show the next pour of a shortest route |
| R | Restart the level |
| Esc | Put the lifted tube back down |
Tips & tricks
- Scan the bottom layers before your first pour: a tube whose base is already ruby is the natural home for ruby, so build there and it corks itself when full.
- Slipped over par? Decide fast. You keep 2 stars only up to par + 3 pours, so Restart early instead of undoing a long chain that still counts.
- On the 7- and 8-color boards of levels 25–36, hold one of your two empty tubes back until you can drop a run of 2 or more matching layers into it.
- If teal and ocean blur together, switch on Color symbols in Settings: the ◐ and ■ marks on each layer tell them apart instantly.
- Hints are free for your rating, since only pours and +1 Tube touch the stars. Ask for one before a risky pour, not after it.
Frequently asked questions
How many colors and tubes does each Aqua Sort chapter use?
It climbs in steps. Apprentice Lab (levels 1–8) uses 3 colors in 5 tubes, Chemist Bench (9–16) uses 4 in 6, Alchemist Vault (17–24) goes from 5 to 6 colors, and Grandmaster Sanctum (25–36) ends with 8 colors in 10 tubes. Every level starts with exactly two empty tubes.
Does asking for a Hint cost stars in Aqua Sort?
No. Stars depend only on your pour count and on whether you used +1 Tube, so press Hint as often as you like. Each hint lights the tube to lift in gold and points an arrow at its target for about four seconds, then fades without moving any liquid.
Can you ever finish an Aqua Sort level under par?
No, because par is already the shortest possible solution. All 36 boards were solved with an exact A* search, from 6 pours on level 1 up to 27 on level 36. Match par without +1 Tube and the win screen calls it a Perfect pour, with all 3 stars.
What happens when every pour is blocked in Aqua Sort?
A message says no pours are left and offers three ways out: Undo to step back, +1 Tube to add one empty tube for that level, or Restart. There is no timer and no way to fail, so a dead end only costs pours, never your unlocked levels.
Why did only part of my liquid pour across in Aqua Sort?
Because a tube holds only 4 layers. All matching layers on top try to move together, but only as many as the target can take. Pour a 3-layer run onto a tube with 1 free slot and one layer moves, two stay behind, and it still counts as one pour.
Why does Aqua Sort stop me at 2 stars?
Either +1 Tube was used on that level, which caps the result at 2 stars, or you finished 1 to 3 pours over par. More than 3 over par gives 1 star. Restart clears both the pour count and the extra tube, so a fresh attempt can still earn all 3.
