In short. An untangle rope puzzle is played on a board full of holes. Each rope has its two ends plugged into two holes, and the ropes cross by passing over one another. Each move takes one end to a free hole. A rope that no longer crosses any other rope is freed and disappears, and the level is won when the board is empty. The method is to free the ropes on top first, because a rope pulled while another one covers it winds around that rope instead of coming loose.
- 1End moved per turn, into a free hole.
- 2Crossings with the same rope: it is wound.
- 0Timer. And undoing a move costs nothing.
The rule fits in three lines
A board full of holes. Ropes, each with two plugs in two holes. You lift an end and set it down in a free hole. There, that's the whole manual.
A rope that crosses no other rope leaves on its own, with a small satisfying sound. Empty board, level won. The rest is knowing in which order to do things, and that is exactly where it gets interesting.
The method, in five reflexes
1. Start with the rope on top
Look for the rope nobody covers: at each of its crossings, it is the one on top. That one you can move without winding anything. Free it first, and watch the next one become the top of the pile in turn.
2. Count crossings before you move
A good move lowers the number of crossings. The best move frees a whole rope. Before you let go of an end, check how many ropes it will still cross in its new spot. If the answer is "as many as before", you moved the problem, you didn't solve it.
3. Bring the two ends together
A short rope crosses fewer others than a rope running across the whole board. Dropping an end in a hole next to its other end is often the simplest way to take a rope out of the game. The edges of the board are your friends: you rarely meet anyone there.
4. Unwind the way it came
Two ropes that cross twice are wound. No move elsewhere will separate them: the loop has to come off. Take the end that made it and bring it back over, towards the side it came from. Or move the other rope, the one it wound around, if that one is free.
5. Rewind Pelote
The trick almost nobody uses. Pelote tangles the board one gesture at a time, right in front of you. Her last gesture is nearly always the one sitting on top of the heap. Undoing her gestures starting from the end is often the shortest path. The par lives in about the same range.
The mistake that costs the level: pulling first the rope you can see best while it is caught underneath. It winds around the one that covered it, you end up with one more crossing, and one less rope ready to leave. Before touching an end, ask yourself one question only: is anyone lying on top of this rope?
Don't ask "where can I put this end?". Ask "who is on top of whom?". The first question has twenty answers, the second almost always gives you just one.
Every level can be solved, and it is checked
Levels are built backwards: start from a tidy board, Pelote tangles it, then the game's own hint has to untangle it completely in the rope simulation, no cheating. If the hint can't, the level goes in the bin. The par is the number of moves it needed. You are welcome to beat it, it won't sulk.
Where the genre comes from
The direct ancestor is called Planarity. John Tantalo created it in 2005, based on a concept by Mary Radcliffe at Western Michigan University. Dots joined by lines, everything tangled, and you move the dots one by one until no line crosses another. It is a graph theory problem dressed up as a game, and it is fierce.
Rope games on phones, the likes of Tangle Master 3D or Twisted Tangle, kept the idea and added what was missing to feel like real ropes: over and under, and length. Knots goes one step further with a physics simulation, hence the rule that gives the game its flavour: a rope pulled while it is trapped winds around, exactly like a real one.
In this game
The end you hold goes over
You can grab any end, even one belonging to a rope stuck under three others. But the end you hold travels above everything else, just like in real life when you lift a piece of string. The end goes over, and the rest of the rope follows as best it can.
Pulling a trapped rope winds it
This is where it all happens. If the rope you move is caught under another one, it does not magically slide out from underneath: it wraps around it. The game says so plainly: "Wound around! Pull the end back over to undo it." Two wound ropes cross twice, and neither will leave while that lasts.
The good news is that it comes undone the same way. Take the end again and bring it back the way it came, passing over. The loop comes off, exactly like a shoelace.
Length matters
A rope has a length, and it will not stretch to please you. A hole too far from the other end is refused: "This rope isn’t long enough". And a rope wound around another has already spent part of its length on the loop, so it reaches less far. One more reason to unwind before aiming far.
Pelote the cat
Every level starts tidy. Then Pelote comes by, grabs ends with her paw and tangles it all before your eyes. She has a schedule: the sewing basket, the workbench, the apiary, the sailboat, and the big knit to finish, where she keeps the real bag of knots. You can skip her scene with a tap, but watching it is not wasted time: it is the fifth reflex of the method.
Stars, hint and scissors
Each level has a par: the target number of moves. At par or better, three stars. Two moves over, two stars. Beyond that, one. Undo is free and unlimited, so explore as much as you like, only the moves you keep count.
Stuck? The hint shows you an end to move and the hole to drop it in. It does not pick at random: it tries its best ideas in the rope simulation before offering the one that really untangles. And if there is truly no way out, the scissors cut a rope. Hint and scissors unlock after a short ad that you choose to watch. Nobody forces it on you.
Frequently asked questions
How do you untangle ropes in this kind of game?
Free the ropes nobody covers first, then the ones that end up on top in turn. On each move, aim for a hole where the rope will cross fewer others, ideally none: a rope that crosses nothing is freed.
Why does my rope wind around another one?
Because it was caught underneath when you moved it. The end you hold goes over, but the rest of the rope stays trapped and wraps around. To undo the loop, bring the end back over, towards the side it came from.
Why does the game say the rope isn’t long enough?
Each rope has a fixed length. The target hole is too far from its other end, or the rope has already spent part of its length winding around another one. Unwind it first, or pick a closer hole.
Does every level have a solution?
Yes. Each level is tangled from a tidy board, then fully untangled by the game's hint in the rope simulation before it is published. The par is the number of moves of that solution.
Can I undo a move?
Yes, as many times as you like, for free. Only the moves you keep count towards the stars.
How is this related to Planarity?
Planarity, created in 2005 by John Tantalo, asks you to move dots joined by lines until no line crosses another. Rope games take the same idea with ropes that pass over one another and a limited length.
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