Ashlar: Daily Block Puzzle

Every block puzzle you have played hides the next piece from you. Ashlar does not. The whole run is on screen from the first move, and every run can be finished, because the board was built by playing it.

So when you get stuck, it was not bad luck. It was a move you made, and Ashlar will tell you which one.

ONE BOARD A DAY

Everybody in the world gets the same board on the same day, derived from the date rather than sent from a server. One attempt. The difficulty is measured, not guessed: a solver plays every board before you do and prices it, so the number next to today's run means the same thing as the number next to last Tuesday's.

The week has a shape. Some days are a way back in, one day is the hardest board of the week, and you can see the whole curve on the home screen widget.

IT SHOWS YOU WHERE IT WENT WRONG

Most puzzle games end with a score. Ashlar ends with an explanation.

When a run dies, the solver replays it and finds the earliest move from which the run stopped being completable. Usually that is several moves before the one you thought killed it. It is a strange feeling the first time you see it, and it is the fastest way anybody has ever got better at this kind of game.

A RATING THAT MEANS SOMETHING

Finishing a hard board moves your rating more than finishing an easy one, because the game knows the difference. It goes down as well as up, and it settles after a dozen rated runs.

ENDLESS, AND NEVER UNFAIR

A second mode with no end. You can see five pieces ahead, and all five can always be placed: every piece is checked by the solver before it is handed to you. If you get stuck in endless, it was still your move.

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