Car Out: Rules and How to Solve It

A 6 by 6 board holds cars shaped like bars. A car lying sideways moves left and right only. A car standing up moves up and down only. Drive the red car out the exit on the right and you are done.

This family is called sliding puzzles. You cannot lift a piece or jump over another. You only push, so there is nothing to memorize.

Order is everything. Which car you clear first can turn a one-move board into a ten-move one. That makes it a good quick brain workout.

What the board looks like

The board is 6 squares wide and 6 tall. Cars are 2 or 3 squares long. The red car always sits sideways in the third row from the top. The exit is the right end of that row.

How you move

Press a car and drag it forward or back. It stops when it hits another car or a wall. There are no diagonal moves. You cannot turn a car.

When you win

You win when the red car's right end touches the right wall. There is no timer. The fewer moves you use, the more stars you get.

From here on is what this app actually does. Apps count moves differently, so it is worth a read.

How moves are counted

Sliding a car any distance is one move. Sliding the same car again right away still counts as one. A drag that you then nudge a little further is not punished. Switching to another car starts a new move.

Best count and stars

Every board has a fewest-move count. A computer checked every possible line to find it. Solve in that many moves or fewer for 3 stars. Add half of it, rounded up, for 2 stars. If half is less than two, two moves are added. More than that gives 1 star.

Stages and the daily board

There are 40 stages and the fewest-move count rises as you go. Solving a stage opens the next. The daily board is picked by date, so everyone gets the same board that day. The pool has 60 boards, all needing 9 moves or more.

Undo and saving

Undo is free and unlimited. There is also a restart button. Your best stars per stage stay in this browser on this device. Nothing is sent to a server. Progress on the daily board is not saved, so a reload starts it over.

Sharing

Copy result puts a short note with the stage or date, stars and moves on your clipboard. Copy challenge link gives you an address that opens the same board. The address holds only a stage number or a date.

These are things your hands and eyes do. The app does not do them for you.

Start with what is in front of the red car

Cars between the red car and the exit are the blockers. See which of them can move out of the way. Many boards open after clearing just one or two.

Find what blocks the blocker

If a blocker will not move, something is blocking it. Trace back and you reach the one car that can move first. Push that one and the rest open in a chain.

Three-square cars are heavy

A 3-square car crosses many rows. If a tall one blocks the red car's row, decide first whether it leaves upward or downward. If both ways are blocked, open one of those paths first.

Three stars means solving in the fewest moves. These habits help.

Picture it before you push

Before you push a car, picture the two moves after it. Undo also lowers the count, so a bad try costs nothing, but thinking first saves time.

Send cars far

Any distance is one move. Do not push a car one square if it can go all the way. A wider gap makes the next move easier. Just check that you did not close a square you just opened.

Plan the empty row

Once the red car's row is fully empty, the last move is one slide. So the final few moves are always about emptying that row. Think backward and you can tell which car to clear last.

It looks clear but the car will not leave

Check the red car's row for one small car. The end of a vertical 2-square car often sticks into that row. One more square of push is enough.

Your move count keeps growing

See if you are shuffling the same car back and forth. That spends moves and changes nothing. Read where the jam really is and start with a different car.

The stars will not go up

If you are two or three moves over the best count, changing the order may be enough. Press restart and solve the same board fresh. Your best stars are kept at the highest value.

You reloaded and it vanished

The daily board does not save progress. The same board opens again. For stages, only finished stars are saved, not a half-played board.