About Dot Link
Dot Link is a calm path puzzle. The grid holds pairs of coloured dots. Join each pair with a pipe, keep the pipes from crossing, and fill every cell of the grid. The levels never run out: they start on a 5×5 grid and grow to 10×10, and a solver checks each one before you see it.
Also called: connect the dots puzzle, pipe puzzle, number link.
How to play Dot Link
- Drag from a dot to draw a pipe. It follows your finger one cell at a time, up, down, left or right, never diagonally.
- Reach the other dot of the same colour to link the pair. The dots give a little hop.
- Drag back over your pipe to shorten it. Start from the middle of a pipe to redraw it from there, or from a dot to start that colour again.
- Drawing across another pipe cuts it where you cross. Change your mind before you let go and the cut pipe grows back.
- The level is done when every pair is linked and every cell is filled. Stuck? Use Undo as often as you like, or a Hint to reveal one pipe.
Rules
- Pipes run between side-by-side cells, never diagonally, and never through a dot of another colour.
- Two pipes can't share a cell. Crossing a pipe cuts it back to just before the crossing.
- A level is solved only when every pair is linked and no cell is left empty.
- Any answer that does this counts, even if it isn't the one the level was built from.
- Stars: three for a clear with no hints, two with one hint, one with more. Undo is free.
Dot Link tips and strategy
- Start with the dots near walls and corners. A pipe with few ways to go is the easiest to place.
- Short pairs that sit close together usually take the direct route. Link them first.
- Pipes tend to hug the edge of the grid. If a long pipe has room to run along a wall, it probably does.
- Look for cells with only one way in: whichever pipe can reach them has to pass through.
- A pipe that doubles back beside itself is almost never right. If yours does, another colour probably belongs there.
Dot Link questions
Does every level have one answer?
Nearly all of them. Each level is checked by a solver that searches every way to fill the grid: every level smaller than 10×10 is proven to have exactly one answer, and so are most 10×10 levels. On the rare big level where the full search runs out of time, it is proven unique among answers whose pipes never run alongside themselves. Any answer you find that links every pair and fills the grid counts as a win.
How many levels are there?
There is no last level. Level numbers go on forever, each built from its own fixed seed, so level 40 is the same for everyone. The grid grows from 5×5 to 10×10 over the first sixty levels.
What does a hint do?
It lays down one pipe exactly where the answer has it, cutting anything in its way. It picks a pair you haven't linked yet where it can. Each hint costs a star, and undo doesn't give it back.
Is my progress saved?
Yes. Your unlocked levels, your stars and the level you are playing are saved in this browser after every move, so you can close the tab and carry on later.
Is Dot Link free to play?
Yes. Dot Link on Kultured Arcade is completely free: no download, no account and nothing to buy. It runs in any modern browser on a phone, tablet or computer.
Do I need to download Dot Link?
No. It opens instantly in your browser and saves your progress on your device, so there is nothing to install and no sign-up.
Can I play Dot Link on my phone?
Yes. The game fits your screen and works with touch as well as a mouse and keyboard, on iPhone, Android, tablets and computers.