Free online strategy and planning games
Planning and strategy · 25 games
Planning means anticipating the consequences of your choices several moves ahead and organising a sequence of actions towards a goal. You need it whenever a plan beats a reflex.
How these games use it
In these games every move changes what follows: a misplaced tile blocks the sliding puzzle, a poorly chosen colour slows the flood, a badly turned snake traps itself. The best scores come from a plan, not from speed alone.
Play nowThe games
- Slide Puzzle
- Slide the tiles to put the numbers back in order, from smallest to largest.
- Snake
- Eat as many apples as you can without hitting the walls or your tail. Swipe or use the arrows.
- 2048
- Swipe to push the tiles: two equal tiles merge. Reach the target tile (256 on easy, up to 2048 on Hardcore) as fast as you can.
- Flood
- Pick a color: your area (top left) takes it and grows. Cover the whole grid before you run out of moves.
- FreeCell
- Build the four suits up from the ace. In the columns, place a card on one ranked one higher of the other colour; free cells hold a card aside.
- Thread
- Draw a single line from 1: it goes through every cell (up, down, left, right) and through the numbers in order, never crossing a wall.
- Connect
- Drag from a dot to its twin, cell by cell, without diagonals. Pipes never cross: drawing over one cuts it, and no pipe goes through a wall. You win when every pair is connected and no cell is empty.
- Color Sort
- Tap a tube, then another, to pour the top layers: only onto the same colour or into an empty tube, as far as there is room. You win when every tube is full of one colour or empty. Undo and restart are available.
- Peg Solitaire
- Tap a peg, then the empty hole two steps away in a straight line: the jumped peg is removed. You win when a single peg is left, anywhere. Every position can be solved; undo and restart are available.
- Solitaire
- In the columns, place a card on one a rank higher and of the other colour; only a king goes on an empty column. Draw from the stock when stuck, and build each suit from ace to king.
- Golf Solitaire
- Only the bottom card of each column plays, if its rank follows the waste card, up or down (a 7 on a 6 or an 8). Draw a card when stuck. Clear every column.
- TriPeaks
- A card is playable once nothing covers it, if its rank follows the waste card, up or down (a 7 on a 6 or an 8). Draw a card when stuck. Clear every card from the peaks.
- Spider Solitaire
- Place a card on one a rank higher, whatever its suit; a run of one suit moves as a block. A full run from king to ace is cleared. Deal ten cards when stuck (no empty column).
- Traffic Jam
- Each car moves forwards or backwards along its own line, never sideways. Make room so the red car reaches the exit on the right. The minimum number of moves is shown: try to match it, as fast as you can.
- Tower of Hanoi
- Tap a peg to lift its top disk, then the peg to put it on. A disk never goes on a smaller one. With 5 disks it takes at least 31 moves; fastest wins.
- Sokoban
- Move with the arrows, by swiping on the grid or by tapping a cell. You push a crate by walking into it, but can't pull it: a crate in a corner is lost. “Undo” takes back the last step. Fastest wins.
- Yatzy
- Tap the dice to keep, then “Roll” (two rerolls a turn). Then pick the box of the score sheet to fill: each box is used once. 63 points or more in the upper section give a 35-point bonus. Your friend gets the same dice: choose better.
- Lights Out
- Each square also switches its neighbours. Turn the whole grid off!
- Maze
- Find the way to the flag: drag your finger and the token follows it (or tap a neighbouring cell, or use the arrow keys). Hitting a wall costs time.
- Minesweeper
- Open every square without a mine. Numbers count neighbouring mines. Long-press for a flag; a mine costs 10 s.
- Bridges
- Connect the islands with straight bridges (1 or 2 between two islands), without crossings: each island carries as many bridges as its number, and everything must be connected.
- Blocks
- Place the pieces on the grid. A full row or column clears and scores points (even more when several go at once). The game ends after the last hand, or when no piece fits.
- Pipes
- Tap a tile to turn it a quarter turn. Every pipe end must meet its neighbour's, nothing may point at the edge, and all the cells must form a single network.
- Target Number
- Tap a number, an operation, then another number: they are replaced by the result. Additions, subtractions (positive result), multiplications and exact divisions; you do not have to use every tile. Hit the target as fast as you can; undo and restart are available.
- Pyramid
- A card is playable once nothing covers it. Kings count 13 and go alone, queens (12) pair with aces, jacks (11) with twos. The top waste card plays too; draw when stuck.
Getting the most out of it
Play a few minutes regularly rather than one long session; start on easy, then move up a level once your time settles; compare yourself with yourself from one day to the next. These games are first and foremost entertainment: they draw on these abilities, but they are not a medical device, and progress in a game does not guarantee progress elsewhere. What they offer: a few minutes of active focus, measured, that you can compare from one day to the next and with your friends.