Impound (Mind Loft)

About Impound (Mind Loft)

Impound is Parker on a bigger lot. The board is seven by seven, with around twenty blocks that can each slide only along their own axis, and a red block that has to reach the exit gap on the right. Tap a block, then tap where you want it to go, and it moves if the lane is clear. Because seven is odd, the exit lane is the true middle row, with three rows of traffic above and three below.

Every board is machine generated and then solved exactly by a breadth-first search over every reachable position, so the perfect score really is the fewest moves possible. Par sits a cushion above perfect; it is the number a clean solve lands on and it can be beaten. There is no undo, only a restart.

Boards climb through the week, from about sixteen moves on Monday to the mid thirties by Saturday, and Sunday runs longer still. Each day's board is harder than the matching Parker board, and Junkyard, on an eight by eight lot, is the largest of the three. A new board appears every day at midnight Eastern.

How to play Impound (Mind Loft)

1. Open Impound and press Start to see the lot.
2. Tap a block, then tap where you want it to slide along its axis.
3. Clear a path and slide the red block to the exit in the right-hand wall.
4. Try to finish in par or fewer moves; there is no undo, only a restart.

Screenshots

Tips

• Work backwards: list which blocks sit in the exit row and what has to move for each to clear.
• A long slide counts as one move, so move blocks as far as they need to go in one go.
• Before committing, check that a move does not trap a block you will need to move later.

Questions