Water sort is a color sorting puzzle. You get a row of glass tubes, each holding a few layers of colored water, plus one or two empty tubes. Your goal is to pour the water back and forth until every tube holds a single color. There's no timer and no luck involved: every move is your choice.
The one rule: when you can pour
Tap a tube to pick it up, then tap another tube to pour into it. The top layer of the first tube moves across, as long as both of these are true:
- The target tube is empty, or the color on its top is the same color you're pouring.
- The target tube has room. A tube holds four layers.
If several layers of the same color sit on top of each other, they pour together, as many as fit.
That's the whole rule set. You can't pour onto a different color, and you can't overfill a tube.
How a level ends
A level is solved when every tube is either full of one color or empty. In Pourfold, a finished tube gets a highlighted outline, so you can see your progress at a glance.
If no color can be poured anywhere, you're stuck. That doesn't mean you lose: you can undo moves, add an extra tube, or start the level again. Our guide on what to do when you're stuck in water sort walks through each option.
Your first moves
On a new board, don't pour the first thing you see. Spend five seconds looking:
- Find the tops. Only the top layer of each tube can move, so the top colors are your real options.
- Look for matching tops. If two tubes have the same color on top, pouring one onto the other is usually a free, safe move.
- Use empty tubes carefully. An empty tube is the most valuable thing on the board. Fill it with a color only when that move clearly helps, for example to uncover a color you need underneath.
Then keep going one tube at a time: try to finish a single color completely before you spread out.
A short example
Say you have three tubes: red over blue, blue over red, and an empty one.
- Pour red (top of tube 1) into the empty tube. Tube 1 now shows blue on top.
- Pour blue (top of tube 2) onto tube 1. Tube 2 now shows red on top.
- Pour that red onto the red in tube 3.
Repeat the pattern and the colors separate into their own tubes. Bigger boards are the same idea with more colors and more tubes.
How Pourfold helps
- Every level can be solved. Each board is checked by a solver before you see it, so there is always a way through.
- Undo: 5 free undos on every level, and a short video gives you 5 more if you want them.
- Extra tube: once per level you can add one empty tube (with a short video), which turns most "stuck" positions into easy ones.
- Color-blind shapes: turn them on in Settings and each color gets its own symbol.
- No timer, no lives. Take as long as you like; your progress is saved when you leave.
Levels start with 3 colors and grow to 12, so the first boards teach the rule and the later ones test your planning. When you're ready for harder boards, read our water sort tips.
