How to Play
- Choose a level: Easy, Medium or Hard.
- Tap any square on the panel. That light flips, and so do the lights directly above, below, left and right of it.
- Lit squares glow yellow with rays; dark squares show only a small ring.
- Keep tapping to turn the lights off one area at a time.
- When every square is dark, the puzzle is solved. Try to finish in as few moves as possible.
Rules
The board is a 5×5 grid, so there are 25 lights. Tapping a square always flips the same shape: the square itself plus its up to four neighbours. Squares on the edge have fewer neighbours, and a corner square only affects three lights.
Every puzzle is built by starting from a completely dark panel and pressing a few random squares. Because of that, every puzzle you get can definitely be solved. Easy starts from 4 presses, Medium from 8 and Hard from 14, so harder levels leave more lights scattered in trickier shapes.
Your score is your number of moves, and a lower score is better. Your best result is saved for each level on this device.
Tips & Strategy
- Tapping twice cancels out. Pressing the same square two times puts everything back, so the order of your taps never matters — only which squares you tap an odd number of times.
- Chase the lights downwards. Go row by row from the top. For every light that is still on in a row, tap the square directly below it. This clears the top four rows and pushes the whole problem into the bottom row.
- Learn the bottom-row fixes. Once only the bottom row is lit, tap a few squares in the top row according to the pattern, then chase downwards again. Players who remember a handful of these patterns can clear any board.
- Look for crosses. If five lights form a plus shape, one tap in the middle turns them all off. Spotting these first often shortens the whole solution.
- Use the counter as a guide. Below the board you can see the fewest moves still needed. If that number goes up after a tap, undo the idea by tapping the same square again.
Game Modes
Lights Out is a solo puzzle with three levels. Easy is perfect for learning how a tap spreads across the panel. Medium starts to reward planning, and Hard usually needs a real method such as chasing the lights. Each time you play again you get a fresh panel, so there is always a new pattern to crack.
Stuck? Tap Hint and one square on the board gets a bright outline. Pressing it is always part of a shortest route to a dark panel, worked out by a small solver that treats every light as an on-off switch equation. Hints are free and unlimited, but finishing without them feels much better.
Play with Friends
Challenge friends to beat your move count on the same level, or sit together and plan a tough Hard board out loud. Because every puzzle has a known shortest solution, it is easy to see who found the neatest path. Teachers can also use Easy boards to introduce patterns and cause-and-effect thinking.
Lights Out FAQ
Is every Lights Out puzzle here solvable?
Yes. Each panel is made by pressing squares on a dark board, so pressing the same squares again always switches it off. Not every random pattern of lights can be solved, which is why the game never simply scatters lights at random.
What is the fewest number of moves possible?
It depends on the board. The line under the panel tells you the exact shortest number of moves left from your current position. No 5×5 board ever needs more than 15 presses.
Does the order of my taps matter?
No. Only which squares you tap matters, not the order, and tapping a square twice is the same as not tapping it at all.
How does the hint know the answer?
Each light can be written as a small on-off equation. The game solves all 25 equations together and picks the shortest set of taps, then shows you one square from that set.
Can I use a keyboard?
Yes. Use the arrow keys to move between squares and press Enter or Space to tap the highlighted one.
Last updated: 2026-09-30
