Arrows Out

Arrows Out is a minimalist logic puzzle about untangling a knot of bent arrows. Every piece on the dotted grid is a rigid tube with a single arrowhead, and tapping it sends the whole piece sliding in the direction it points — but only when nothing sits in its way. Your job is to find the order that lets every arrow escape, one clean swish at a time.

The rules are gentle but the tangles are not. Tapping a blocked arrow makes it bump against its neighbor and costs one of your three hearts, and finishing with all three intact earns a perfect three-star clear. There is no timer, so each level becomes a quiet reading exercise: trace an arrow's exit corridor, spot the pieces parked inside it, and work backwards from there.

Across 200 levels the boards grow from small warm-up grids into sprawling 20-by-20 tangles, with silhouette stages shaped like hearts, diamonds and squares mixed in. Early puzzles fall in well under a minute; the late ones reward a few minutes of careful study. Your best star count is remembered per level, so replaying an old board to perfect it is always an option.

How to play Arrows Out

Every arrow slides only in the direction its head points. Clear the whole board by removing arrows in an order that never leaves one blocked.

1. Pick an arrow and trace a straight line from its head to the edge of the board — that lane is its exit path.
2. Tap an arrow whose exit path is completely clear and it slides off the board for good.
3. If another piece sits anywhere along that lane, the arrow bumps, snaps back, and one of your three hearts is gone.
4. Clear the blockers first: every arrow you remove opens escape routes for the pieces behind it.
5. Stuck? Spend a hint and every arrow that can currently exit will pulse — pressing and holding on the board triggers the same guidance.
6. Use undo to bring the last removed arrow back if you want to rethink, or restart the level to reset it with fresh hearts.
7. Remove every arrow to finish; end with zero mistakes and the level is stamped with three stars.

Tips and strategy

• Start with arrows aimed at the nearest board edge — short exit lanes are quick to verify and usually open up the crowded middle.
• The generator never builds true deadlocks: if everything looks blocked, at least one corridor is actually clear and you have misread a piece. Re-trace before you tap.
• Remember that a bent arrow sweeps its whole body out, not just the head cell — check the lane in front of every cell the piece occupies.
• On the giant late-game boards, pinch on a phone or roll the mouse wheel on a computer to zoom in before committing.
• Hearts refill on restart, so an early second mistake is a good moment to reset rather than limp to a one-star clear.
• On the web version you carry exactly one hint and one undo into each level — hold the hint until the board genuinely stalls.

Features

• 200 levels, from small warm-up grids to 20×20 mega-tangles
• Silhouette boards where the whole puzzle forms a heart, diamond or square
• Three-heart mistake system with a star rating on every clear
• One free hint (a guidance pulse) and one undo per level
• Pinch-to-zoom on touch and mouse-wheel zoom on desktop for big boards
• Best star ratings and your current level stored in your browser
• No timer and no move counter — solve at whatever pace suits you
• Keeps working offline once the page has loaded

Frequently asked questions

Is Arrows Out free?

Yes — the full 200-level puzzle plays free in your browser with nothing to install.

What happens when I run out of hearts?

Three wrong taps end the level, but retrying is instant and restores all three hearts. There is no lives system between levels.

Does my progress save?

Your current level and the best star rating for every board are kept locally in your browser, so you can close the tab and pick up where you left off on the same device.

How long does a level take?

Early boards take well under a minute; the biggest 20×20 tangles can absorb several minutes of study. There is no clock either way.

I'm completely stuck — what should I do?

Use the hint button, or press and hold the board, to pulse every arrow that can currently exit. Levels are generated with a guaranteed solution, so at least one arrow is always free.

Can I play with a mouse?

Yes. Clicks behave exactly like taps, and the scroll wheel zooms the board when you play on a desktop.