Every board in Puppy Sweeper can be cleaned up with logic alone. You never have to guess, but you do have to know what to look for. These five patterns are all the game ever asks of you, and once they click, even the Puppy Park starts to feel friendly.
First, what a clue says
An uncovered tile with a fly and a number tells you how many poops touch it, counting all eight tiles around it, diagonals included. A tile with no flies has no poops around it at all, so the game opens its neighbours for you. That's why your first tap always opens up a patch of the park: it's guaranteed safe, and so is everything next to it.
Pattern 1: the number matches the covered tiles
If a 2 has exactly two covered tiles next to it, both are poops. Flag them: long-press each one, or turn on Flag in the bar under the board and tap.
Pattern 2: the number is already satisfied
If a 1 already has one flag next to it, every other covered tile around it is safe. Tap the 1 itself and the game opens them all at once. Just be sure your flag is right first: a wrong flag here means stepping in it.
Pattern 3: the 1–1 along a wall
Two 1s side by side along an edge of open ground often share the same covered tiles. If the first 1 touches tiles A and B, and the second touches A, B and C, the poop the second 1 needs is already in A or B. So C is safe.
Pattern 4: the 1–2 along a wall
The mirror image: if a 1 touches A and B, and the 2 next to it touches A, B and C, the 2 needs one more poop than the 1 can supply. That extra poop must be in C. Flag it.
Both of these are really the same idea: when one clue's covered tiles fit inside another's, the difference between the two numbers tells you about the tiles that don't overlap.
Pattern 5: count what's left
Near the end, check the Poops left tile above the board. If two poops are left and only two covered tiles remain, you're done. If no poops are left, every covered tile is safe.
When you think you're stuck
- Look somewhere else. The safe move is often on the far side of the board.
- Check your flags. A misplaced flag makes the numbers around it look impossible.
- Use a hint. Your first hint on every board is free. It flags a poop for you, usually one next to tiles you've already opened.
Then catch the puppy
When every poop is found, they go in the trash, the flies buzz off, and the puppy lands in the middle of the clean park. Now you tap open tiles to put up fences. A few tips:
- Fence close to the puppy. Fences far away rarely matter in time.
- Block the side nearest the edge first. The puppy usually heads for the closest way out.
- Use the sniff. Every second fence (every third in the Puppy Park) the puppy stops to sniff instead of moving, so you get two fences in a row.
- Watch for leaps. A puppy can jump two tiles in a straight line over an open tile, and hop diagonally. A gap of one tile isn't a wall.
Catch it on your first chase for three stars. If it gets away, you can try the chase again from the same clean board.