Arrow Puzzle Glossary
Short definitions of the words used on this site and in the game. New here? Start with how to play.
- Arrow
- A connected chain of squares with a head at one end. It may bend. It is removed as a single piece.
- Head
- The pointed end of an arrow. It alone decides which direction the arrow moves.
- Tail
- The squares behind the head. They can curl in any direction and still count as occupying the board.
- Lane
- The straight line of squares from just in front of an arrow's head to the board edge.
- Free arrow
- An arrow whose lane is completely empty. It can be removed now.
- Blocked arrow
- An arrow with at least one occupied square in its lane.
- Blocker
- The arrow occupying a square in another arrow's lane. When you tap a blocked arrow, the blocker flashes red.
- Chain
- A sequence of dependencies: A is blocked by B, B by C, C is free. Solving the chain means removing C, then B, then A.
- Round (or wave)
- One pass in which you remove every currently free arrow. How many rounds a board takes is a rough measure of chain depth.
- Bump
- The little nudge an arrow makes when you tap it while blocked.
- Relaxed mode
- A mode where blocked taps cost nothing.
- Classic mode
- A mode with three hearts; each blocked tap costs one.
- Seed
- The number from which a board is generated. Same seed and difficulty give the same board.
- Daily puzzle
- The medium board whose seed is today's UTC date, for example 20261016.