Connect the dots

How to play connect the dots

Each pair of dots of the same color is joined by one pipe. Pipes go up, down, left or right, never diagonally. They can’t cross, share a cell, or run through another color’s dot.

The puzzle is solved when every pair is joined and every cell is filled.

Tips for faster solves

Start at the edges

Dots on the edge or in a corner have few ways out. A pipe that starts in a corner can usually only go one way, and following it fixes a lot of the board.

Keep edge pairs on the edge

When a pair sits along the same edge, its pipe almost always runs along that edge. A pipe that cuts across the middle leaves cells on the outside that nothing can reach.

Look for cells with one way in

An empty cell needs a pipe to come in and go out. When a cell has only two open sides, the pipe through it is fixed. Corners boxed in by other pipes are the usual place to find these.

Don’t leave pockets

Before you finish a pipe, check that it doesn’t wall off a group of empty cells with no pair inside. Every empty patch needs a pipe that can pass through it.

A new connect the dots puzzle every day

Owlpuzzles has a new connect the dots puzzle every day at midnight in your time zone, and it gets harder through the week. Monday and Tuesday are plain 6×6 boards. Wednesday and Thursday are 7×7 boards with walls or gaps. Friday to Sunday are 9×9 boards with bridges.

Every puzzle is checked by a solver before it goes out, so each one has exactly one way to fill the board. When one a day isn’t enough, there are 300+ connect the dots levels from easy to hard, and unlimited play for as many as you like.

Walls, gaps and bridges

Harder boards add one twist each. A wall is a thick line between two cells that pipes can’t pass. A gap is a hatched cell that isn’t part of the board, so you fill everything else. A bridge carries two pipes over each other: one goes straight across and the other straight down, and every bridge needs both.

Connect the dots, Flow and numberlink

This puzzle has a few names. Mobile players know it from Flow Free, and it also goes by dot connect, color connect and pipes. The paper version is called numberlink, where numbers stand in for the colors. It isn’t the children’s dot-to-dot drawing, where you join numbered dots to make a picture.

Questions about connect the dots

Is connect the dots free?

Yes. It plays in your browser on a phone or a computer, with nothing to install and no sign-up. A free account only keeps your streak and stats on every device.

Is this the same as Flow Free?

It’s the same kind of puzzle: join each pair of colors with a pipe and fill the board. Owlpuzzles isn’t part of Flow Free. It’s our own version, with a new board every day.

Does every puzzle have one solution?

Yes. A solver checks every board before it’s published, and only boards with exactly one way to fill them go out.

Do I have to fill every cell?

Yes. A board isn’t solved until every pair is joined and no cell is left empty.

How do bridges work?

A bridge is a cell two pipes share: one passes straight across it and the other straight down. Neither pipe can turn on a bridge, and every bridge needs both.

Can I play connect the dots unlimited?

Yes. Unlimited connect the dots makes a new puzzle whenever you like, at easy, medium or hard.

More puzzles to try

Zip is another line puzzle: one line through every cell, passing the numbers in order. Water sort and parking jam are two more puzzles people know from their phones.