How to play Pourwise: rules and why pouring measures
Everything you need to play Pourwise, plus tips to get a better score.
How to play
- Get the exact amount the day asks for, in as few moves as possible. The goal is written at the top, next to 🎯.
- There are 3 jugs from Monday to Thursday and 4 from Friday to Sunday. The number above a jug is the water in it right now; its base shows its letter (A to D) and its size. Taller jugs hold more. Jugs can start empty, full or part full.
- Tap (or click) a jug to lift it, then another jug to pour into it, or the tap or the sink. Tap the lifted jug again to put it down. You can also drag a jug onto another jug, the tap or the sink.
- Pouring from one jug into another stops when the first is empty or the second is full, whichever comes first. The jugs have no markings, so those are the only exact points.
- A move that would change nothing (pouring from an empty jug or into a full one, filling a full jug, emptying an empty one) is refused: the jug shakes, a line says why, and it doesn't count.
- Some days have a tap (fills the lifted jug to the brim) and a sink (empties it). Each use counts as one move. Monday and Tuesday have both, Wednesday only the sink, Friday one of the two.
- On Thursday, Saturday and Sunday there is no tap or sink: the water you start with is all you have, so you can only pour it from jug to jug.
- Goal "in any jug" (Monday, Wednesday): any jug holding exactly that amount wins.
- Goal "in jug B" (Tuesday, Friday): only that jug counts. A dashed amber line on it marks the level to reach and the → chip under it shows the amount.
- Goal "exact split" (Thursday to Sunday): every jug must hold its own amount at the same time. Each jug has its dashed line and → chip; → 0 means that jug must end up empty.
- As soon as the goal is met, the jugs that make it glow amber. At par the puzzle ends by itself; with more moves a Finish button appears: hand it in, or undo and keep trying.
- The big number counts your moves; par is the fewest moves possible. Match par for ⭐⭐⭐, par + 1 or + 2 for ⭐⭐, anything more for ⭐.
- Undo (↶) and start over (⟲) are free: only the moves in your final solution count.
- On a keyboard: 1 to 4 lift a jug or pour into it, F fills at the tap, E empties into the sink, Z undoes and Esc puts the jug down.
- Monday is the gentlest day and Sunday the hardest: four jugs, an exact split and the highest par.
- Your shared result shows the stars, your moves and par, the jugs and the goal, never how you solved it. A friend who opens your link sees the score to beat.
- In the settings you can turn off the water sounds and the vibration.
Strategy: why pouring measures
An unmarked jug only knows two amounts for sure: empty and full. The trick is that a pour stops at an exact point too. Pour a full jug into a smaller one and what stays behind is exactly the difference.
Take the classic: an 8-litre jug full of water, plus empty 5 and 3-litre jugs. Goal: share it out as 4, 4 and 0.
1. Pour 8 into 5: now 3, 5, 0. 2. Pour 5 into 3: 3, 2, 3. The 5-litre jug now holds exactly 2, measured by the small one. 3. Pour 3 back into 8: 6, 2, 0.
4. Pour 5 into 3: 6, 0, 2. 5. Pour 8 into 5: 1, 5, 2. 6. Pour 5 into 3 — it only takes 1 more: 1, 4, 3. 7. Pour 3 into 8: 4, 4, 0. Seven pours, which is par.
The idea behind it: every pour adds or takes away a whole jug's worth. Adding 3s and taking away 5s (3 + 3 − 5 = 1, for instance) you can reach amounts none of the jugs show. The small jug works like a measuring cup you can use again and again.
More tips: work out which differences you can make (8 − 5 = 3, 5 − 3 = 2); think backwards from the goal (to leave 4 in the 5-litre jug, you need it full with room for exactly 1 in another jug); and if you notice you are going round in circles, try pouring in the opposite direction.