Strategy guides

Short, practical techniques with diagrams. Start with the basics and move on to the special rules.

Basics

• Start with the corners and edgesCorner cells have two neighbours, edge cells three. Why a Filoop puzzle gets easier when you start at the border and work your way inward.
• Forced moves: find the only wayA forced move is a step with only one option. How to spot buttons and empty cells with a single way out and chain them through a Filoop level.
• Dead ends and pocketsEvery empty cell needs a way in and a way out. How to spot dead ends and cut-off pockets in Filoop before they quietly ruin a level.
• Long threads and short threadsButtons far apart need a long thread, and long threads belong on the border. How to plan them in Filoop without boxing in other colours.
• The one-solution trickEvery Filoop level has exactly one solution. An advanced trick: if your plan leaves part of the board fillable in two ways, the plan is wrong.

Modes and mechanics

• Turns mode: solving with the numbersIn Turns mode the number on a button says how many times its thread turns. How to use 0, 1 and big numbers to solve Filoop faster.
• Fences: walls that solve the puzzle for youA fence is a dark bar between two cells, and threads can’t pass it. How fences create corners and corridors in Filoop, and how to use them.
• Bridges: the only place threads may crossOn a bridge two threads cross: one runs over it, the other under it. No turning on a bridge, both passes filled. How to solve Bridges in Filoop.
• No edges: when the cloth wraps aroundOn a board with no edges a thread that leaves one side comes back on the other. Why the corner trick fails there and what to use instead.
• Obstacles: holes that make new edgesA sunken cell is a hole in the cloth: leave it empty, threads can’t go through. How holes create new edges and corridors in Filoop levels.
• Big boards: 9×9 and 10×10 without guessingHow to solve big Filoop boards without guessing: start at the border, split the cloth into regions, find narrow places and plan threads ahead.