how to play loose screws
Loose screws is a free screw sorting puzzle game. See-through plates are stacked on a board and held down by colored screws. Unscrew them in the right order so every plate drops and every screw lands in a box of its own color. Every level is checked by our solver.
- Tap a screw that no plate above it covers. It twists out and hops into an open box of its color. Tap a covered one and the plates in the way shake.
- Two boxes are open at a time, three holes each, and the next colors wait in the line under them.
- A screw with no open box of its color waits in the spare tray. When its box arrives, it hops in.
- A plate drops away when its last screw is out. The tray rail glows red with one hole left; if a screw needs the tray when all five are full, the level is over.
Keyboard: Tab moves to the screws you can take and the arrow keys hop between them. Enter or Space unscrews the one you're on. S switches symbols, R restarts the level, L opens the level list, and Esc goes back to the menu.
tips
- Before you tap, look at the next colors in line. Free the screws they need early.
- A screw that drops a plate opens up everything under it. Those are often the best ones to take first.
- Three stars means the tray never held more than par, the lowest our solver could manage. On most boards that's an empty tray.
faq
Can every board be cleared?
Yes. Our solver clears every level before it ships, and finds the least the spare tray ever has to hold. That number is par.
How are the stars worked out?
Clear the board with the tray never holding more than par for three stars, one more than par for two, and anything else for one.
What does the symbols button do?
It puts a shape on every screw, box and color in the line, so you can play without telling colors apart.
How many levels are there?
Forty, from a few screws in two colors to boards of twenty-seven screws in five colors.