How to play pour: how does the colour sort work?

pour is a free colour-sorting puzzle you play in the browser. Glass bottles stand on a shelf, each holding stacked layers of coloured liquid. Pour from one bottle into another until every colour sits in a bottle of its own.

No download, no account, no app. It runs on a phone and keeps working with the network switched off.

The goal, in one sentence

Sort every colour into its own bottle in as few pours as you can.

Pouring

Tap or click a bottle to lift it, then tap another to pour into it. Tap the lifted bottle again, or anywhere off the shelf, to put it down.
A bottle pours its top run: every matching layer on top, all at once.
Colour only lands on the same colour or in an empty bottle.
If the target has less room than the run, you get a partial pour. As many layers move as fit, and the rest stay behind. It still counts as one pour.
If you tap a bottle that cannot take the pour but could pour itself, it becomes the lifted bottle instead, so you never have to put one down first.

A bottle holds four layers, and every colour has exactly four layers on the shelf.

Finished bottles

When a full-size bottle holds four layers of one colour, a cap drops onto it. That bottle is finished and is out of play for the rest of the level: nothing pours out of it and nothing pours in. The level is sorted when every bottle is either finished or empty.

The twists

Small bottles hold only two layers. They are good for parking a colour while you dig underneath, but they can never be finished, so they have to end empty.
Frozen bottles show a number: the pours left until they thaw. Until then nothing pours in or out. The ice cracks on the pour that reaches zero. Undo a pour and the ice comes back, because it follows the pour count.
Padlocked bottles carry a lock in a colour that is not inside them. Finish a bottle of that colour and the lock springs open for good.
Hidden layers show as grey question marks until they reach the top. They are only hidden from view. If the layer under the top matches it, it pours along with it and you see it on the way out.

Par and stars

Every level is generated from a seed and checked by a solver before you see it, so it can always be finished. The solver’s pour count is par.

Three stars: finish at par or under, with no hint and no spare bottle.
Two stars: finish within about a quarter more than par.
One star: any other finish.

The stars at the top right show where you are heading as you play: at par, over par, or keep going.

Undo, hints and the spare bottle

Undo puts back your last pour exactly. Easy gives five per level, medium three and hard one.
Hint asks the solver for the best next pour from where you are. It outlines the bottle to pour from, dashes the one to pour into, draws an arrow between them and estimates the pours left. Easy gives three, medium two and hard one. A hint rules out three stars.
The spare bottle adds one empty full-size bottle to the shelf, once per level on every difficulty. It rules out three stars too.

If no pour is possible, the shelf tells you and offers undo, the spare bottle or a restart.

Keyboard play

1 to 9 and 0 pick bottles one to ten.
The arrow keys move a focus ring for shelves with more bottles, and Enter or Space taps the focused bottle.
Z undoes, H asks for a hint, B adds the spare bottle, R restarts and Escape puts the lifted bottle down.

A screen reader hears each pour, every colour revealed, every thaw, every lock that opens, every finished colour, the win and a dead end.

The three difficulties

Easy: four or five colours, two empty bottles, nothing hidden.
Medium: six to eight colours. Small bottles from level 3, hidden layers and frozen bottles from level 5, padlocks from level 9.
Hard: nine to twelve colours, hidden layers everywhere, frozen and locked bottles from the first level, and one undo.

Levels are endless and get harder as you climb. The shelf changes theme every ten levels.

The daily shelf

Every UTC day there is one shelf per difficulty, and it is the same for everyone. Your first finish is the scored one, ranked on fewest pours and then time. Play it again the same day and it is marked as practice.

Frequently asked

How do you pour in pour? Tap a bottle to lift it, then tap the bottle to pour into. The lifted bottle pours every matching layer on top. Colour only lands on the same colour or in an empty bottle.

What is a partial pour? When the target has less room than the matching run on top, as many layers move as fit and the rest stay in the first bottle. It counts as one pour.

What is a finished bottle? A full-size bottle holding four layers of one colour. It gets a cap and is out of play for the rest of the level.

What are small bottles for? They hold two layers, which makes them handy for parking a colour. They can never be finished, so they must be empty when the level ends.

How do frozen bottles work? The number on the ice is the pours left until it thaws. Until then nothing pours into or out of it. Undo a pour and the ice comes back.

How do I open a padlocked bottle? Finish a bottle of the padlock’s colour. The lock springs open and stays open.

What are the grey question-mark layers? Hidden layers. They show their colour once they reach the top. A hidden layer that matches the top colour pours along with it.

How are par and stars worked out? Par is the solver’s pour count. At par or under with no hint and no spare bottle earns three stars, within about a quarter more than par earns two, and any other finish earns one.

How many undos do I get? Five per level on easy, three on medium and one on hard. An undo puts back the last pour exactly, ice included.

How do hints work? A hint shows the solver’s best next pour from where you are, with an estimate of the pours left. Easy gives three, medium two and hard one. Using one rules out three stars.

What does the spare bottle do? It adds one empty full-size bottle, once per level. It can rescue a dead end, but a level finished with it tops out at two stars.

What changes between easy, medium and hard? The number of colours, the space to work with and the twists. Easy has nothing hidden, medium brings in small bottles, ice, hidden layers and padlocks as you climb, and hard has all of them from the start.

Is the daily shelf the same for everyone? Yes. It comes from the UTC date and the difficulty. Your first finish on each difficulty is scored and later attempts are practice.

Is there a colour-blind mode? Yes. Turn on shapes on the start screen or under the shelf and every colour gets its own symbol, on each layer, on the pouring stream, on caps and on padlocks. The setting is remembered.

Where pour sits

pour is the portfolio’s game about planning the order of things before you commit. Its siblings test other kinds of nerve. graze is about how close you dare let a shot pass; updraft is about how little input it takes to stay steady; outbound is about reading the order of things under a clock; wreck is about pushing forward under fire; cornered is about thinking two steps ahead of the hunters; ricochet is about seeing the whole path before you let go; blast is about leaving room for what comes next; deadband is about not overcorrecting; filter is about asking better questions; overload is about spending a limited hand; closure is about which move you are forced to make next; tint is about the cost of correction; and bridge is about blocking and winning with the same move.

Every one of them is free, runs in a browser, and works offline.

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