How to use the ball sort solver
- Count your tubes. Tap the number that matches your level, empty tubes included. Then pick how many balls fit in one tube: most levels use 4, and harder ones use 5 or 6.
- Copy each tube from the bottom up. Tap a tube, then tap the color of its bottom ball, the next ball and so on up to the top. A full tube moves you to the next one, and Undo ball takes back a wrong tap.
- Check the counters. Each color button counts the balls you have placed, for example 3/4. Every color needs a full tube of balls, so a miscounted color is easy to spot before you solve.
- Press Solve. You get a numbered list such as “3. From tube 3 to tube 7”. Each move takes one ball. Use Next and Back to see the tubes after each move, or Play to watch them all.
- Keep the answer. Copy all steps puts the whole move list on your clipboard, and Copy level link saves a link that reopens this level with its solution.
Tubes are numbered left to right, top row first, in the order you entered them. There is no database of numbered levels here: the solver works the answer out from the tubes you enter, so any level of any ball sort game works as long as you can see every ball.
Ball sort tips that work on any level
- Keep an empty tube free. An empty tube takes any color, so it is your working space. Fill it only to finish a color or to free a buried one.
- Build on the tube that is closest to done. A tube whose bottom balls already match needs only the rest of that color. Feed it before you start a new pile.
- Count the balls above the buried colors. The colors at the bottom of several tubes decide the level. Uncover them early, starting with the one that has the fewest balls on top.
How the solver works
The solver follows the usual ball sort rules: a move takes the top ball of a tube and puts it in an empty tube or on a ball of the same color, if that tube has room. It searches the possible moves from your tubes, trying first the arrangements that look closest to sorted, and keeps each distinct arrangement only once. To steer the search it counts the moves that are certainly still needed, such as every ball that sits above a different color, and that count never overestimates. That is why the first sorted shelf it reaches has the fewest moves. If no move sequence sorts the tubes, it has tried every reachable arrangement before it says so. On very large levels it may run out of room first: then it either shows a solution marked as possibly not the shortest or says that it could not finish, never that the level is impossible. Everything runs in your browser.
Frequently asked questions
How is ball sort different from water sort?
In ball sort, one move takes a single ball off the top of a tube. In water sort, one pour moves the whole run of the same color on top, as much of it as fits. So a level usually takes more ball moves than pours, and the answer with the fewest pours is not always the one with the fewest ball moves. This solver counts single-ball moves; for pouring puzzles, use the Water Sort Puzzle Solver.
Is the answer really the fewest moves?
When the result says no solution has fewer moves, yes: the search only stops at a sorted shelf once it has ruled out every shorter one. A few very large levels have too many arrangements to check in a browser. Then you get a solution that is labeled as possibly not the shortest, or a message that the solver could not finish.
Why does the solver say my level cannot be solved?
Usually because a tube was copied wrong. Every color has to fill exactly one tube, so each color needs as many balls as a tube holds, and the solver names any color with too few or too many. It only says a level cannot be solved after trying every reachable arrangement. If it runs out of room before that, it says it could not finish instead.
Does it work with 5 or 6 balls per tube?
Yes. Pick 3, 4, 5 or 6 balls per tube and up to 14 tubes, empty tubes included. Levels with 6 balls per tube need many more moves, so solving them can take a few seconds.
Can it solve levels with hidden question mark balls?
No. Some levels hide the lower balls behind a question mark, and the solver needs every color to find a solution it can trust. Play until the hidden balls show, then enter the tubes as they look now.
Is the ball sort puzzle solver free?
Yes. It is free, with no account and no download, and it runs in your browser. The level you enter is solved on your device, and a level link keeps the tubes in the link itself.