Paint Roll

Paint Roll is a sliding puzzle played with a wooden ball on a wooden board. The board is a floor of pale maple cells inside a dark walnut frame, with a few walnut blocks standing on it. The ball starts on one cell. Swipe the board and the ball rolls in that direction — and it keeps rolling until the next cell is a wall or a block. Every cell it rolls over turns bright orange.

The goal is simple to say: paint every cell of the floor. What makes it a puzzle is that the ball never stops half-way. It always runs to the end of its line, so you cannot choose where it lands — only which way it goes. Roll into a pocket too early and the ball may leave a corner behind that it can never get back to. Then the only way on is to undo the roll, or start the board again.

Our server makes every board by rolling a ball around it first, so every puzzle can be painted completely. It then works out the fewest rolls that do it and shows that number to you. Easy boards are small and take five to eight rolls; hard boards are up to nine cells across and need sixteen rolls or more, with plenty of wrong turns waiting.

How to start a game

1. 1Open Paint Roll on Alex Play Zone and press Start Puzzle; the clock starts when the board appears.
2. 2Swipe the board up, down, left or right — or use the arrow keys or W A S D on a computer. You can also click a cell in line with the ball to roll towards it.
3. 3Watch the counter under the board: how many moves you have made, the fewest possible (“Perfect in 12”), and how many cells are painted.
4. 4Undo takes back one roll (Backspace or Z works too). Restart puts the ball back at the start with a clean floor.
5. 5Hint rolls the ball one move along a shortest way for you. If no way is left from where the ball is, the hint takes moves back first.

The rules of Paint Roll

The rules

• A roll goes in a straight line, up, down, left or right, and stops only when the next cell is a wall or a block.
• A roll that cannot move the ball at all does nothing and is not counted.
• Every cell the ball rolls over — and the cell it starts on — is painted. Painted cells stay painted.
• The puzzle is solved the moment every floor cell is painted.
• Solving in no more moves than the fewest possible, without a hint, is a Perfect solve.

A new puzzle every two hours

• One new puzzle is made every two hours, and it is the same for every player.
• You get one go at each puzzle. Leave and come back whenever you like: your grid is kept and the clock only runs while the puzzle is open.
• When the next puzzle arrives, an unfinished one is closed and shows as abandoned in your Battle Log.

Rewards

• The faster you finish, the more XP and coins you earn.
• Up to 28 for an easy puzzle, 44 for a medium and 60 for a hard one — and a quarter more for a Perfect solve, up to 75.
• Each hint takes 10% off the reward.

How to play well

Find the dead ends first

A cell with walls on three sides can only be painted by a roll that ends in it — or one that runs through it from its open side. Look for these before you move: they decide the order of everything else, because the ball has to visit each of them at the right moment.

Plan the way back out

Getting into a pocket is easy; getting out is the hard part. Before rolling into a narrow corridor, check where the ball will stop and which ways it can roll from there. If the only way out repaints cells you have already done, that is fine — if there is no way out at all, the cells behind you are lost.

Think in stopping points

The ball can only ever rest against a wall, so the board really has just a handful of places the ball can be. Picture the board as those stopping points joined by straight runs. A solve is a tour of runs that covers every cell — and long runs that cross the board are worth more than short ones.

Leave the open middle for later

Big open areas are painted by many different runs, so they rarely decide anything. The cells that only one or two runs can reach are the ones that matter. Paint those while you still can, and let the open middle fill in on the way.

Use Undo freely

Undo costs nothing but a move on the counter, and the counter only matters for a Perfect solve. If a roll looks wrong as soon as the ball stops, take it back straight away rather than rolling on and hoping.

Remember: Find the cells the ball can reach only one way — dead ends and narrow pockets — and plan how you will get in AND back out before you roll.

Common mistakes

• Rolling into a dead end before the cells around it are done, then finding the way out paints nothing new.
• Forgetting that the ball never stops half-way — it always runs to the wall.
• Chasing the last few unpainted cells without checking that the ball can still reach them.
• Using Restart when one Undo would do: a restart throws away every good move as well.
• Ignoring the “Perfect in” number — it tells you how tidy the best route is.

Questions and answers

Can every puzzle really be painted completely?

Yes. The server makes each board by rolling a ball around it, so there is always a way to paint every cell. It also works out the fewest rolls that do it before anyone plays.

What if I get stuck?

Undo takes back one roll and Restart starts the board again — both are free, and your clock keeps running. A hint rolls the ball one move along a shortest way, and takes moves back first if needed.

What is a Perfect solve?

Painting the board in no more moves than the fewest possible, without taking a hint. It earns a quarter more XP and coins, and a gold star in the results.

Can I play on my phone?

Yes. Swipe the board with your finger in the direction you want the ball to roll.