Operation Route Game

How to Play Operation Route

Begin at the Start tile with the displayed running value. Choose a tile directly above, below, left or right of your current position. Apply its operation to the running value, then continue from that tile. Your goal is to reach the exact target in no more than the stated move limit. The target may be reached before the final allowed move; a longer route is not required.

You may visit each tile only once. Diagonal jumps and revisiting Start are not legal. The outlined neighbors show where you can go next, while numbered steps show the path already taken. Open Route calculations to see every intermediate expression. Plan both your next calculation and the position from which you will have to continue.

Easy has a smaller grid, addition and subtraction, and values that stay at zero or above. Normal introduces multiplication, exact division and signed values. Hard permits a longer path through the larger grid. Every division must produce a whole number, and all running values must stay between −500 and 500. A fractional or out-of-range move is rejected with an explanation.

Worked Arithmetic Path and Planning

Suppose you start at 6 and an adjacent sequence contains +4, ×3 and −8. The running values are 10, 30 and 22. If the target is 22 and these three tiles form a legal neighboring path, you have solved that puzzle in three moves. The order matters: applying multiplication before addition would produce a different result.

A route applies one operation at a time to the accumulated result. It is not a single unparenthesized expression governed by standard operation precedence. You can describe the example as ((6 + 4) × 3) − 8. The route history makes these intermediate values explicit, which is helpful when checking where your plan stopped matching the target.

Division also deserves attention before you move. A ÷3 tile changes 15 to 5, but it cannot be used when the running value is 14. A path can become stuck even when its most recent calculation was legal. Undo restores the preceding position, and Clear route returns you to Start. Both mark the round assisted; neither invents a new target.

Daily Paths, Controls and Scores

Each generated board includes a verified path within the move limit. More than one solution may be possible, and the game accepts any route that obeys the rules and reaches the exact target. A hint searches from your current position. If no winning continuation remains, it recommends Undo or Clear route instead of suggesting an impossible move.

Tap a neighboring tile, or use Tab and Enter or Space to choose its button. The main site search keeps its own keyboard input. Daily mode supplies the same board for a given UTC date and level; Practice mode offers another board through New puzzle. Your unfinished route and completed result resume when browser saving is available.

A correct round starts from a possible score of 100. Incorrect choices reduce it by five points, and each hint reduces it by fifteen, with a minimum completed score of ten. There is no speed requirement. Hints and Undo mark assistance, and assisted rounds do not replace an unaided best. Best scores are separate for each difficulty; solving the same saved puzzle again does not add another completed puzzle.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to use every move?

No. Any legal path that reaches the exact target within the move limit is accepted.

Can a division give a fraction?

Not in this game. Division must produce a whole-number running value.

Does a route follow standard operation precedence?

Each tile applies to the accumulated result immediately. The route history shows the resulting nested calculation.