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Frequently Asked Questions

Quick answers to the things people ask most.

Playing the Game

Is Quadle free to play?

Yes, completely. Quadle is free and supported by unobtrusive advertising. There are no purchases, no subscriptions, and no paywalls — every mode is available to everyone.

Do I have to use all my tiles or fill the board?

No, and you usually shouldn't. You win as soon as every tile on the grid is green, and the best solutions often leave tiles unused and squares empty. If a solution feels like it needs your entire hand, there's probably a shorter one.

Why won't this tile flip the one next to it?

A flip only happens when your placed tile's facing number is strictly greater than the neighbour's facing number. A few things trip people up: equal numbers never flip; only the four orthogonal neighbours (up, down, left, right) are affected, never diagonals; and when you place a tile it flips its neighbours — the neighbours don't flip it back at the moment it lands. For a full walkthrough, see the How to Play guide.

How many undos do I get?

Three per puzzle, in every mode. They're there so you can experiment, but they're also counted — spending undos lowers your efficiency rating, so top solvers treat them as a safety net rather than a search tool.

The Daily Puzzle & Modes

How is the Daily Puzzle chosen?

Everyone, everywhere gets the exact same Daily Puzzle, and it refreshes once a day. Because the board for a given date is fixed, you and a friend can play the identical puzzle and compare how you did.

Is every puzzle actually solvable?

Yes. Every puzzle Quadle serves — Daily, Endless, or Blitz — is checked by its solver before it ever reaches you, so a valid solution is always guaranteed to exist. If you're stuck, there is a way through; it just might take fewer, cleverer moves than you expect. Curious how that check works? See how the solver works.

What's the difference between Daily, Endless, and Blitz?

Daily is one shared puzzle per day — the streak-building heart of the game. Endless is an unlimited stream of fresh puzzles for practice. Blitz is a pressure test: it starts at ninety seconds and shaves five seconds off the clock with every win until your speed or nerve gives out. Full details are on the How to Play page.

What does the star rating on the results screen mean?

When you win, Quadle shows how efficiently you solved it. It compares the number of tiles you placed against the fewest a perfect solver would have needed, and factors in how many undos you spent. Solve a puzzle in the minimum number of tiles with no undos and you'll earn the top rating. A win is always a win — the rating is just the deeper game for players who want it.

Your Progress & Privacy

Do I need an account?

No. Quadle has no accounts and no login. There's nothing to sign up for and nothing to remember.

Does my streak sync across devices?

No. Your stats are stored locally in your own browser, which keeps them private but also means they live only on the device you played on. Clearing your browser data for quadle.io, or switching to a new device, will reset them, because there's no copy anywhere else.

Can I play offline?

Yes. Quadle is an installable web app (a PWA). On most phones and desktops you can add it to your home screen or applications and play it like a native app, even with no connection — no app store required.

How do ads and data collection work?

Quadle shows ads through Google AdSense and keeps essentially everything else on your own device. Exactly what is and isn't collected, and how to opt out of personalised advertising, is laid out plainly on our Privacy Policy page.

Still Stuck?

I found a bug or have a suggestion.

Brilliant — that's genuinely helpful. Head to the Contact page or email stringbandgames@gmail.com. Bug reports that explain how to reproduce the problem get the fastest, most useful replies.

Who makes Quadle?

Quadle is made by Stringband Games, a one-person studio in the UK. You can read the story of how the game came to be — and why it's built the way it is — on the About page.

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