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Ball Drop Puzzle is a free online physics puzzle about setting the board, not steering the ball. A ball waits in a hatch, a cup sits below, and between them are the only things you may change: wooden planks that turn in 45° steps, flippers that lean left or right, teal blocks that pop out of the way, and blue and purple switches that open some gates while shutting others. Set them, press Drop, and the ball rolls, bounces and falls exactly as the pieces send it. Twelve boards, from one plank to a five-piece machine. Fewest taps earns three stars. No download, no sign-up.
How to play Ball Drop Puzzle
- Look at the board. The ball waits in a hatch at the top and the gold cup sits somewhere below. Slate walls, red spikes and green bounce pads never change; the wooden planks, teal blocks and coloured switches are yours to set.
- Tap a plank to turn it a quarter of the way round: lying flat, leaning down to the right, standing upright, leaning down to the left, then flat again. The faint dashed outline shows where it will stand after the next tap. A flipper has only two ways to lean and swaps between them.
- Tap a block to pop it out of the way, and tap the empty outline to put it back. Blocks are walls, shelves and floors: pop one under the ball and the ball drops through.
- Tap a switch (or any of its gates) to flip it. Each switch opens the gates of its colour that are shut and shuts the ones that are open, so one tap can open a path in one place and close a hole somewhere else.
- Press Drop. The ball rolls with real momentum, bounces off what it hits and is thrown by green pads. Touching spikes, falling off the board or coming to rest ends the run; the ball goes back to the hatch and your pieces stay as they are.
- Land the ball in the cup to solve the board. Every tap you made since the board was dealt is counted: par taps earns three stars, a few more earns two, and any finish earns one and unlocks the next board.
- On a keyboard: the arrow keys pick a piece, Space changes it, Enter drops the ball, Z undoes a tap, Delete resets the board and H shows a hint.
Tips
- Follow the ball before you touch anything. Start at the hatch and trace where it would go from piece to piece; the first place it goes wrong is the piece to change, and usually the only one.
- Drops are free and only taps count, so drop the board as dealt first. Watching the ball fail shows you which piece is in the way.
- Taps only turn a plank forward. If a plank is one step past where you want it, that is three more taps — count before you tap, or use Undo, which takes the tap back off the count.
- A switch always does two things. Before you flip one, find every gate of its colour and check what each of them will do once the switch is flipped.
- A block can hold the ball up as well as get in its way. Popping the wrong one opens a hole the ball falls through; if the ball suddenly drops early, look for a popped block above where it fell.
- Some pieces are there to tempt you and are best left alone. If the ball never touches a piece on the route you have planned, leave it as dealt — every extra tap costs stars.
- Reset puts every piece back as dealt and starts the tap count again, so once you have found the answer the slow way you can replay it at par for three stars.
FAQ
Is Ball Drop Puzzle free to play?
Yes. Ball Drop Puzzle is free to play online in your browser, with no download, no account and nothing to buy. All twelve boards are here and unlock in order.
How do you get three stars?
Land the ball in the cup with par taps — the fewest taps that can turn the board as dealt into one that works. Up to the two-star mark earns two stars, and any finish earns one. Undo takes a tap back off the count, and Reset starts the count again.
How are par and the two-star mark worked out?
Every board has between 4 and 64 possible set-ups, so the game’s tests run every one of them through the same physics you play with. Par is the fewest taps from the board as dealt to any set-up that lands in the cup. The two-star mark is the median number of taps a test player needs when it plays by trial and error — drop, see where it goes wrong, change the last piece the ball touched — over 41 games.
Is every board possible? Can you win by luck?
Every board has at least one set-up that lands the ball in the cup, and none is solved as dealt — the tests check both on every board. Guessing does not get you far: on the first five boards at most a quarter of all set-ups work, and from board six on fewer than one in ten.
Will the same set-up always do the same thing?
Yes. Once you press Drop nothing can change the run, and the physics gives exactly the same result for the same pieces every time, on every device. The tests also start the ball half a unit to either side for every set-up of every board, and the result never changes, so no win depends on a hair’s breadth.
Can I change the pieces while the ball is rolling?
No. The pieces are locked during a run. Press Stop to put the ball straight back in its hatch, then change whatever you like.
What does the Hint button do?
It circles one piece that needs changing on the way to the closest winning set-up from where you are now, and tells you whether to turn, pop or flip it. Following the hints one by one from the board as dealt solves it at par.
Does Ball Drop Puzzle work on a phone or tablet?
Yes. Tap the pieces with a finger — taps land on the nearest piece within reach, and the reach grows on a small screen. The board is upright, so it fits a phone held upright best.