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Dowelsmith
How to play
Play Dowelsmith free online
Dowelsmith is a free online matchstick puzzle played on a pegboard with wooden dowels. A plan card tells you to move, add or remove a set number of sticks so the board shows an exact number of squares or triangles. Shapes of any size count. It plays in the browser on phone or computer, with no sign-in, and stages get trickier. Each plan card states exactly what must be true afterwards, so you always know the goal.
How to play Dowelsmith
- Read the plan card: it says how many dowels you may take, add or move, and which shapes must be left, for example 'Move 2 sticks - make 5 squares'. Squares and triangles of every size count.
- Tap a dowel to take it away. When you may move dowels, tap one to lift it, then tap an empty slot to put it down. In add stages, tap an empty slot. Gold dowels are glued and cannot be touched.
- The shift clock is your timer: every solved stage adds time, a wrong answer costs time and resets the board. UNDO and RESET are free, HINT shows the dowel to take and the slot to fill, 2 free per run.
Dowelsmith tips
- Read the plan card first, since the number of changes is also the fewest the stage needs.
- Remember that large shapes count too, so one missing dowel can break several shapes at once.
- Glued gold dowels cannot move but still count toward shapes, so build your solution around them.
Dowelsmith questions
- Can every stage be solved?
- Yes. Every stage is checked by a search that finds the fewest changes, so the number on the plan card always works. A hint tells you if your last move closed the way out.
- Do big squares count?
- Yes. A square or triangle of any size counts when all of its sides are filled, so one big square and four small ones make five on a 2 x 2 board.
- Where does a new run start?
- Your furthest stage is saved. Every tenth stage is a checkpoint you can pick on the title screen.
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