How to play Movement Patterns
Learn how a new piece moves, then plan a route that collects every gem. Also known as Custom piece puzzles.
The rules
- Each puzzle has one piece with its own move, shown on the demo boards above the grid.
- A jump lands on its square, flying over anything in between. A step moves in a straight or diagonal line and is blocked by rocks it would pass. A slide keeps going in one direction for any distance until a rock or the edge stops it.
- Some pieces alternate between two moves (odd and even turns), and the chameleon changes its move each time it collects a gem.
- Goals: collect every gem (in any order or in number order), within a move limit or in the fewest moves, return home, or visit every square once.
Playing Movement Patterns on Puzzle Solvers
- Choose a goal, a board, a piece (or let it surprise you) and a level, then press New Puzzle.
- Study the little demo boards above the grid: the highlighted squares show exactly where the piece can land. Dashed arcs are jumps, straight lines are steps or slides.
- Tap a glowing square to move. Some pieces change their move on alternate turns, or after each gem.
- Hint shows the next move on a shortest route to finish.
Using the Movement Patterns solver
- Choose the piece, goal and board, and click to place the start, gems and rocks (or press Sample).
- Press Solve for the shortest route — or a full tour — and follow it move by move.
A worked example
The frog jumps exactly two squares up, down, left or right. Gems sit two squares right and two squares down from it.
Jump right onto the first gem, then down onto the second: two moves. A gem one square away can never be reached by this frog at all.
Strategies
- Map the reach. Before moving, look at which squares the piece can never reach — a frog only ever reaches a quarter of the board from where it starts.
- Directions matter. A rocket and a crab can't go down: collect low gems first.
- Count turns. For pieces that alternate, note which move comes next before planning a jump.
- Work backwards. From the last gem, which squares could the piece have come from?
Common mistakes
- Treating a jump like a step — jumps ignore rocks in between, steps don't.
- Forgetting a piece's move changes: on the UFO's even turns it can only beam three squares.
Where it comes from
Movement Patterns was made for this site to practise learning a rule and applying it — the same thinking as a knight's tour, without needing chess.
Frequently asked questions
How many pieces are there?
Eleven: frog, robot, rocket, kangaroo, octopus, bee, crab, ladybird, ghost, UFO and chameleon.
Why can't some pieces do full tours?
Some can only ever reach part of the board (a frog, a bee), and some can't go down. Tours are offered with the robot and ladybird, which can reach every square.
Is it like chess?
Only a little — the knight on Knight's Tour is one such piece. These pieces are all invented.
Keep going
- Play Movement Patternsa fresh puzzle every time
- Movement Patterns Solverstep by step, every move explained
- Knight's TourMove the knight in its L-shaped jump to reach the targets — or visit every…
- Number PathDraw one path from 1 that passes through every square once, reaching the…
- Signpost PathNumber every square from 1 to the star so that each next square lies…
All guides: How to play every puzzle and game.