Quick answer: To solve Water Color Sort, fill every bottle with 4 units of one colour. Pour only onto the same colour or into an empty bottle. Keep at least one bottle empty for as long as you can, and look at the colour each pour will uncover. Use your 3 free undos, and press Restart for 3 more.
By Ashish Sharma · Updated October 27, 2026 · How we tested: we read the code of the Water Color Sort build on our game page (level generator, pour rule, undo and extra-bottle buttons), played the early levels, then made a rule-exact copy of the generator and ran 2,000 random layouts through an exact solver and three player styles.
How does Water Color Sort work?
Each bottle holds 4 units of colour. You win when every bottle is either empty or holds 4 units of a single colour. This is the full rule set the game code uses:
| Rule | What the game actually does |
|---|---|
| Bottle size | 4 units per bottle |
| Legal pour | Into an empty bottle, or onto a top colour that matches, as long as the target is not full |
| How much pours | The whole top block of one colour, or as much as fits. Any extra stays in the first bottle. |
| Win | Every non-empty bottle is full with one colour. A finished bottle sparkles. |
| Undo | 3 free undos per level. Each one steps back one pour. When they run out, the button asks for a video ad to give you 3 more. |
| Extra bottle | The add-bottle button gives you one extra empty bottle per level, after a rewarded video ad. You can’t add a second one. |
| Restart | Replays the same layout and sets your undos back to 3 |
| Layouts | Made up at random each time a level loads, so no two players get the same “Level 25” |
| Progress | Your level number is saved in your browser (local storage) |
What are the controls?
It’s tap-to-select, tap-to-pour. Nothing needs dragging.
| Action | Desktop | Phone / tablet |
|---|---|---|
| Pick up a bottle | Click it (it lifts up) | Tap it |
| Pour | Click the target bottle | Tap the target bottle |
| Put it back down | Click the same bottle again | Tap it again |
| Change your pick | Click a bottle that can’t take the pour. That bottle is picked up instead. | Same, by tapping |
| Undo / restart / add bottle | Buttons under the bottles | Same buttons |
How do the levels get harder?
From level 22 on, you get more bottles and more colours, and the shuffle gets deeper. Every level starts with each coloured bottle full and mixed, plus 1 or 2 empty bottles.
| Level | Bottles | Colours | Empty at start |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (tutorial) | 2 | 1 | None. One colour is split across both bottles. |
| 2–3 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 4–5 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| 6 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| 7 | 7 | 5 | 2 |
| 8–21 | 8 | 6 | 2 |
| 22 and up | 9 | 7 | 2 |
The game builds each layout by starting from sorted bottles and making 30 + 10 × (level − 1) random moves, up to a cap of 300. So levels 8–21 have the same bottle count, but each one is mixed more deeply than the one before. From level 28 on, the difficulty stays the same. A hand pointer walks you through levels 1 and 2.
What is the best Water Color Sort strategy?
Treat empty bottles as your most valuable resource, and judge each pour by what it leaves behind. These six rules are the plain-English version of the player style that did best in our test (see the table further down):
- Read the whole board first. For each bottle, note the top colour, how many units of it are on top, and the colour underneath.
- Pour onto a matching colour before using an empty bottle. A match uses no new space. An empty bottle is the only place any colour can go.
- Move whole blocks. If only part of a block fits, the colour ends up split across two bottles. Find a target with enough room instead.
- Pick pours that uncover a colour you can move next. Look one layer down. A useful pour reveals a colour that already has a matching top somewhere else.
- Empty a bottle whenever you can. Clearing a short bottle (one or two units) is often worth more than tidying a long one, because it gives you another free space.
- Finish bottles when it is free to. A full single-colour bottle takes that colour off the board, but only finish one if doing so doesn’t spend your last empty bottle.
How did each play style do in our test?
Careful one-move-ahead play cleared 90–99% of layouts. Random play cleared only 56–94%, and just pouring onto matching colours did no better than random. We ran 500 layouts per level through our copy of the game’s generator:
| Level (bottles / colours) | Random legal pours | “Match first” | One-move look-ahead | Look-ahead + extra bottle | Exact solver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 (7 / 5) | 94% | 94% | 99% | 100% | 100% |
| 8 (8 / 6) | 80% | 75% | 97% | 100% | 100% |
| 21 (8 / 6) | 70% | 74% | 96% | 100% | 100% |
| 26 (9 / 7) | 56% | 56% | 90% | 100% | 100% |
Method: the random and match-first players never repeat a position and have no undo. The look-ahead player checks every legal pour and picks the one that leaves the most finished bottles, the most empty bottles, the fewest mixed bottles and the most matching follow-up pours. On average it needed 17 pours on level 7 and 26 on level 26. The exact solver found a solution for all 2,000 layouts. That’s strong evidence the generator makes solvable levels, but it isn’t a guarantee.
What should I do when I get stuck?
Undo first, restart second, and use the extra bottle last.
- Undo up to 3 pours back to the move that used your last empty bottle, and try a different pour there.
- Press Restart if that isn’t enough. You get the same layout with 3 fresh undos, and you already know where the trap is.
- Add the extra bottle if you’re still stuck. In our test one extra bottle turned all 91 failed look-ahead games into wins.
Is there a list of level answers?
No, and you don’t need one. This version makes up a new random layout every time a level loads. A solution video for “level 50” from another app or player won’t match your bottles. The method above works on any layout.
Frequently asked questions
Is Water Color Sort free on Gipcus?
Yes. It runs in your browser on desktop and phone, with no download or sign-up. Ads may play between levels, and the undo refill and extra bottle need a video ad.
How many undos do I get?
3 per level. Each undo steps back one pour. Restarting the level sets you back to 3. When you run out, the button offers a video ad for 3 more.
How do I get an extra bottle?
Press the add-bottle button and watch the rewarded video. You get one extra empty bottle, and only one per level.
Is every level solvable?
Every one of the 2,000 layouts we generated with the game’s own method could be solved without the extra bottle. We can’t prove it holds for every shuffle, but if you are stuck, the fault is almost certainly an earlier pour.
Does Restart give me a new layout?
No. Restart replays the same layout, so you can try a better opening. A new random layout only appears when a level loads, for example after a win or a page reload.
Does my progress save?
Yes. Your level is saved in your browser. Clearing site data, using a private window or switching devices starts you back at level 1.
Why did only part of the colour pour?
The target bottle didn’t have room for the whole block. The game pours what fits (up to 4 units in a bottle) and leaves the rest in the first bottle.
More puzzle guides
- Quiet browser games for a work break (our puzzle picks hub, which includes Water Color Sort)
- How to solve nonograms
- 2048 strategy: the corner method
- Mahjong Titans tips
Play now: Water Color Sort on Gipcus, free in your browser.
