Bridges is a puzzle about islands. Connect them so that each island has exactly as many bridges as its number, and every island joins up into one network.
The rules
Bridges run in straight lines, horizontally or vertically, from one island to the next island along that line. They can’t pass through islands or cross other bridges. Two islands can share one bridge or two, and a double bridge counts as two at each end.
Getting every number right isn’t the whole job. You also need to be able to travel from any island to any other along the bridges. Two separate groups with correct counts don’t make a solution.
Islands with few options
Look in all four directions from an island and stop at the first island in each. That’s the full list of neighbours it can connect to. A 1 with only one neighbour needs a single bridge to it. A 2 with only one neighbour needs a double.
Worked example
One neighbour fixes the bridge
- The top island needs one bridge, and the centre island is the only one it can reach in a straight line.
- Join them with a single bridge. The top island is now complete, and the centre still needs five more.
A teaching board, not one of today’s puzzles.
Count what’s left
Take an island’s number, subtract the bridges already attached, then look at how many more each neighbour could take. A 3 with two neighbours must connect to both, because one neighbour can supply at most two bridges. A 4 with two neighbours needs a double bridge to each.
Check the far end before adding a bridge. A neighbour that already has all its bridges can’t take another, and a bridge that would cross an existing one is off the table. Either change can settle the next island.
Drawing and changing bridges
Drag from one island towards another, or select the two islands one after the other. Repeat the same connection, or tap an existing bridge, to go from one bridge to two and then to none. The ring around each island fills as it gets its bridges and turns red if it has too many. Undo steps back through your changes.
Don’t strand a group
Before you finish a cluster of islands, make sure it can still connect to the rest of the board. It’s easy to complete every count in one corner and leave that corner cut off. That gives you a useful rule: on a board with more than two islands, two 1s can never be joined to each other, and neither can two 2s with a double bridge, because the pair would be sealed off from everything else.
If you’re stuck, a hint highlights a connection to add or reconsider and explains why. New to Bridges? Choose Learn to play in the Bridges Library for a small guided board.