Sand Pour

Sand Pour is a gentle falling puzzle with colored sand. Round sacks drop into a tall glass jar, burst into grains and pile up, and your job is to build bands of one color that stretch from wall to wall.

How to play

A round sack of sand falls slowly from the top of the jar. You steer it before it lands.

• Steering: slide the sack left or right with the arrow keys or the letters A and D on a computer, with the big on-screen buttons, or by dragging along the jar with your finger or mouse.
• Dropping faster: hold the Drop button, the down arrow, S or the space bar. The sack falls faster while you hold it, and drops at normal speed when you let go.
• Landing: when a sack lands it bursts and its sand settles into a heap, a little like real sand. Grains fall and slide downhill until they rest.
• Clearing a band: a connected band of one color that touches both the left wall and the right wall sparkles and clears. The sand above it sinks down to fill the space.
• Pausing: press the Pause button or the P key whenever you like.
• Ending: the game ends if settled sand piles up past the dotted line near the top.

Each sack has a small shape on it as well as a color, so you can tell the colors apart without relying on color alone. The score shows the points and how many bands you have cleared. Your best score is saved for each level.

The levels

The levels change how many colors there are, how fast the sacks fall, and how wide the jar is.

• Easy: three colors, a narrow jar and a slow, calm fall. Each sack starts in the middle of the top, and the next sack often has the same color as the last one.
• Medium: four colors and a steadier fall.
• Hard: five colors, a faster fall and bigger sacks. Sacks can now appear anywhere along the top.
• Expert: six colors in a wide jar. The fall is quick, most sacks are big, and the next sack is less often the same color as the last.

The project tested the levels with two computer players. One looks at where each sack could go, pours it there in a trial, and chooses the best place. The other never steers at all. The Hard and Expert settings were set so that the player who never steers loses quickly.

Today's game

The daily game is played at Medium. Everyone who plays on the same calendar day starts from the same seed and meets the same sacks first, so you can compare your bands and score.

Tips

1. Pour like colors beside each other. A band needs one color all the way across, so scattered colors are hard to join.
2. Keep the heap low and flat. A smooth surface leaves more room and helps a new sack settle evenly.
3. Steer early. Decide where the sack should land as soon as it appears, long before it nears the heap.
4. Do not be afraid to hold Drop once the sack is in the right place. There is no need to watch a slow fall you have already planned.
5. Look at the small shape on each sack. It is easy to mix up two colors that are close, and the shape never lies.
6. Fill the low spots first. A band that crosses the whole jar is easiest to make near the bottom.
7. Do not let one corner climb. The dotted line is the same height everywhere, and the tallest spot ends your game.

A bit of history

Falling-piece puzzles have long been a favorite on computers, and this one swaps hard-edged pieces for soft sand that behaves a little more like a real pile.

Questions

Why did my band not clear? It has to be one color all the way and touch both side walls. A single grain of another color in the way breaks the link.

Does the jar ever turn or rotate? No. You only steer the sack sideways and drop it faster.

Can I pause? Yes. Press the Pause button or the P key. Playing again carries on from the same spot.

Why is Easy so slow? It is meant to be relaxed. The fall speed rises with each level, and Easy gives you plenty of time to think.