Arrows

How to play arrows

Every arrow leaves the way its head points. The rest of the arrow follows the head out, so the bends in its body don’t matter. Only the straight line in front of the head has to be empty, all the way to the edge.

Take the small board below. The tall arrow points down, and there’s nothing between its head and the bottom edge, so it can go. The short arrow beside it points right, straight into the tall one. Send the short one first and it’s blocked, which costs you a heart. Send the tall one first and the short one’s row is clear. The L-shaped arrow at the bottom can leave at any time.

Once an arrow is free, it stays free. Taking an arrow away never traps another one, so there’s no wrong order. The only mistakes are moves on arrows that are still blocked.

Tips for clearing the board

Start with the clear arrows

Look along the edges first. An arrow that points outwards with nothing in front of it can go right away, and every board has at least one. Clear those and the middle starts to open up.

See what blocks what

Pick any arrow and follow the line from its head to the edge. The first arrow on that line is the one in its way. Often that one is blocked too, which gives you a chain. Clear the chain from the far end.

Work back from the stuck one

On bigger boards, find the arrow that looks most trapped and ask what has to leave before it can. Note every arrow in its line, then what blocks each of those. Now you have an order, and you won’t spend hearts on guesses.

Difficulty through the week

Owlpuzzles has one new arrow puzzle a day. It comes out at midnight in your own time zone and gets harder as the week goes on:

• Monday and Tuesday: easy, a 10×10 board with short arrows.
• Wednesday and Thursday: medium, 20×20, with longer arrows. Pinch or scroll to move around the board.
• Friday to Sunday: hard, a huge 40×40 with long, bendy arrows and only a few free at the start.

Before a board is published, a solver clears it, so you know it can be done. You get three hearts. If you run out, you start the same board again, as many times as you like, for free.

Where arrow puzzles come from

Arrow puzzles grew up on phones. Games where blocks fly off a 3D shape in the direction they face were in app stores by 2021. Flat versions, with bent arrows packed into a grid, took off in 2025, and searches for arrow puzzles kept climbing through 2026.

Most arrow puzzles are still apps with level after level. On Owlpuzzles it’s a daily puzzle instead, with one board a day that everyone shares.

Questions about arrows

What is the game with arrows called?

Most people call it an arrows game or an arrow puzzle, and some apps call it arrow escape. On Owlpuzzles it’s simply Arrows.

How do you solve an arrow puzzle?

Clear the arrows that have an empty line to the edge, then check which arrows they were blocking. On hard boards, pick the most trapped arrow and work out what has to leave before it.

Can you play an arrow puzzle online without an app?

Yes. Arrows on Owlpuzzles plays in the browser on a phone or a computer, with nothing to install.

Can every board be cleared?

Yes. Every board is checked before it’s published. Taking an arrow off never traps another, so a free arrow is always a safe move.

What happens when you run out of hearts?

You start the same board again, for free, as often as you like. Hearts never stop you playing.

More puzzles to try

Like arrows? Zip is another quick puzzle where order matters, and shikaku is a calm one about splitting a grid into rectangles. Missed a day? The last month of puzzles is in the archive.