Ball Sort Puzzle Solver
Enter a visible-color ball sort puzzle and search for a solution — step by step, free. Works for mobile app levels, browser games, and our own ball sort game.
Pick a color below, then click a tube to add balls in bottom to top — copy them exactly as they appear in your level. Pick the eraser to remove a tube's top ball.
Supports visible colors, 4 or 5 units per tube, up to 12 colors and 1–3 empty tubes. Search limits: 400,000 nodes and about 8 seconds. No result does not prove a puzzle impossible.
Solution
How to use the ball sort solver
- Match the setup. Set the number of colors, balls per tube (4 in most apps), and empty tubes to match your level.
- Copy your tubes. Pick a color, then click a tube to drop balls in from the bottom up — mirror your level exactly. The little counters show how many balls of each color are left to place.
- Hit Solve. The ball sort solver searches for a solution within its time and node limits. A successful result gives a legal sequence of moves.
- Follow the steps. Read the numbered moves (tubes are numbered left to right), or press Play and watch the solution animate ball by ball.
Tip: the Share button copies a link that contains your exact puzzle — send it to a friend and they'll see the same starting position.
Copy a level without changing the puzzle
Read every tube bottom to top
Number tubes left to right, continuing on the next row. A tube with red at the bottom, then green, then two yellow balls on top is entered as red, green, yellow, yellow. Reversing that order creates a different puzzle.
Use a screenshot beside the editor as a reference. This tool does not import screenshots or identify colors from an image. Pick a palette color, click the tube, then check the picture before moving to the next tube.
Match five-unit levels and spare tubes
For a five-ball level, select 5 in Balls per tube before entering colors. Choose 1, 2 or 3 empty tubes to match the total number of containers in your puzzle.
The capacity is the number of spaces in a full tube, even when a tube currently has gaps. Copy the current contents into the matching total number of tubes; partly filled tubes stay partly filled. Every color used must still have exactly 4 or 5 units in total.
Use the arrangement, not the level number
“Level 80” or “Level 443” does not tell the solver which colors your app placed in its tubes. Different apps and versions can use different boards with the same number. Enter the visible arrangement to get a walkthrough for that position.
Our browser game's numbered levels are separate from mobile-app levels. Share copies a link to the board you entered, so a friend can inspect the same starting position.
Check a result before following it
Compare the first move with your game. The source's top color, receiving color and available space must match. Each step moves one ball. An app that moves a whole matching run uses different transfer rules. If the boards diverge, stop and correct the input instead of continuing through the list.
For an input error, check the palette counters and remove an incorrect top color with the eraser. If the search reaches its limit, the position may be hard, entered incorrectly, or incompatible with these rules. The message alone does not establish which explanation applies.
Six-unit tubes, more than three spare containers, hidden colors, locked layers and special obstacles are outside this tool's current support. Omitting a layer or adding an empty tube that your game does not have can produce moves you cannot play.
Follow a complete worked ball sort example before copying a difficult level.
Solving other sort puzzles?
Water sort puzzles
Liquid levels pour a whole run of same-colored water at once. Use the water sort puzzle solver, which follows pouring rules.
Color sort games
Generic color sorting game — hoops, blocks, buttons? The color sort solver supports visible stacks using the same one-piece matching-color rules.
Just want to play?
Try our free ball sort game — unlimited levels, hints powered by this same solver, and a par score to beat on every level.
Ball sort solver FAQ
Does this ball sort puzzle solver work for mobile app levels?
It supports visible-color puzzles with 4 or 5 balls per tube, up to 12 colors and 1–3 empty tubes, using one-ball matching-color moves. Enter your actual arrangement; App level numbers alone are not enough.
Is the solver free?
Free to use with no sign-up. Solving runs locally in your browser, with a bounded search to keep very hard positions from running indefinitely.
Does it find the shortest solution?
It searches for a short solution using weighted A*. It does not guarantee the fewest moves. Hard positions can reach the time or node limit without a result.
What does "No solution found" mean?
The search is limited to 400,000 nodes and about 8 seconds. No result does not prove a position is impossible. Check colors and empty tubes, or try a simpler position.
My level has 5 balls per tube — can it handle that?
Yes. Switch "Balls per tube" to 5. You can also set 1–3 empty tubes to match your level exactly.
Does this ball sort solver support 6 balls per tube?
No. The editor currently supports 4 or 5 balls per tube. Do not leave out the sixth ball to fit the editor: that changes the puzzle and can give moves that do not work in your game.
Can I solve a level by uploading a screenshot?
This tool does not import images. Keep your screenshot beside the editor, set the capacity and total tube count, then copy each tube bottom to top. Choose consistent palette colors and include the empty tubes.
Can I enter just a level number for a walkthrough?
Enter the actual arrangement. Level numbers are not shared across apps or versions, and our browser levels do not map to another app. Once you copy a supported position, the solver can search for a step-by-step walkthrough.