How to play

Garden Path is a small grid of tiles. Some are flowers — sunflowers , tulips and lilacs — and some are scenery that never moves: bees , rocks and garden paths. Your goal is to swap flowers until every tile in the garden is happy. Happy tiles are green; unhappy ones are a dusty red.

The rules

• Sunflowers can’t be next to each other.
• Tulips need to be in pairs.
• Lilacs must be in groups of 4.
• Bees must be next to each type of flower.

“Next to” always means sharing an edge — up, down, left or right. Diagonals never count. A group is a set of same-kind flowers connected edge to edge, in any shape.

• Sunflowers are happy when no other sunflower shares an edge with them.
• Tulips are happy in a group of exactly two. One alone is unhappy; three together are all unhappy.
• Lilacs are happy in a group of exactly four — a line, a square, an L, a T or a zig-zag.
• Bees don’t move. A bee is happy when it touches at least one sunflower, one tulip and one lilac.
• Rocks and paths are always fine. They just get in the way.

Swapping

Tap a flower to pick it up, then tap another flower to swap the two. Or press a flower and drag it onto another. Tap the selected flower again to put it down. On a keyboard, use the arrow keys to move, Enter or Space to pick up and swap, and Escape to cancel.

Every swap counts. Par is the fewest swaps that solve the garden — finish at par for , within two of par for , within five for . The reset button puts the flowers back where they started but keeps your swap count, so think before you swap.

Tips

1. Start with the bees. A bee needs all three kinds of flower around it, and it only has four sides — fewer at the edge, and fewer again next to a rock or path. A bee in a corner leaves no room for mistakes.
2. Count your lilacs. Lilacs come in fours, so eight lilacs means exactly two groups. Look for the pockets of the garden where four can fit together.
3. Sunflowers are fillers. They’re happy anywhere their neighbours aren’t sunflowers, which makes them perfect for awkward single gaps between paths and rocks.
4. Swap with purpose. The best swaps fix two tiles at once — each flower lands where the other one belongs.
5. Every garden has one answer. If you’re stuck between two options, one of them leaves another flower with nowhere to go.

Frequently asked questions

What is Garden Path?

Garden Path is a free daily logic puzzle. Each day there is a new little garden of sunflowers, tulips, lilacs, bees, rocks and paths. Swap flowers until every tile is happy.

When does a new puzzle come out?

At midnight in your own time zone. Everyone gets the same garden on the same date.

What is par?

Par is the fewest swaps that can solve the day’s garden. Solve it in par or fewer for three blossoms, within two swaps of par for two, within five for one.

Is there only one solution?

Yes. Every daily garden has exactly one arrangement of its flowers in which every tile is happy, so you never need to guess.

Does resetting the board reset my swap count?

No. Reset puts every flower back where it started, but every swap you have made still counts.

Can I play yesterday’s puzzle?

You can reopen any day you started or solved from the calendar under the board. Days you never played stay closed.

Do I need an account? Where is my progress saved?

No account. Your boards, results and streaks are saved only in your browser’s local storage on this device. Nothing is sent to us.

How do I share my result?

When you finish, press Share result. It copies (or shares) a spoiler-free summary: the puzzle number, your swaps, par and your blossoms.