Candy Sort is a free online timed sorting game that runs in the browser with no download and no account. A candy drops into the chute, a bar starts running down, and you tap the bin it belongs in. For the first three levels the bins sort by color and that is all there is to it. From level four the banner flips to SORT BY SHAPE partway through the batch, and the bins you have been using by muscle memory now want something else entirely. From level seven the bins also swap places every time the rule changes, so the position you learned is gone too. That switching cost is the whole game — the sorting itself is never hard, but doing it while the rule moves underneath you gets genuinely difficult by the night shift. Three misses ends the run; a miss is a wrong bin or letting the bar run out.
How to play Candy Sort
- The banner across the top says what the bins are sorting by right now — color or shape. It is always true and always visible.
- The candy in the chute is the one to place. Each bin shows what it wants in the current rule: a color swatch under the color rule, an outline of a shape under the shape rule.
- Tap a bin to send the candy there. A correct bin scores and builds your run; a wrong one costs a life and breaks the run.
- The bar under the candy is your time. Letting it empty counts exactly the same as a wrong bin, so guessing is always better than waiting.
- Three lives per shift. Fill the level quota before you lose them all and the level is cleared.
- From level four the rule flips every few candies. The banner flashes when it does — that flash is your only warning.
- From level seven the bins are also reshuffled on every flip, so where a color sat a moment ago tells you nothing.
- Restart Shift replays the same batch; New Batch deals a different one. Clearing a level with no misses at all is three stars.
Tips
- Look at the bins, not at the candy. The candy is unambiguous — it is which bin currently means what that costs you time.
- After a flip, deliberately slow down for one candy. Almost every lost life comes in the two candies straight after a switch, and one careful placement resets your reading of the row.
- Under the shape rule, ignore color completely. Trying to hold both attributes at once is what makes the switch expensive; commit to the one the banner names.
- Count the candies between flips. The rate is fixed for the level, so on level eleven you know the fourth candy after a flip is the last one before the next.
- Never let the bar run out. A wrong tap and a timeout cost exactly the same, and a guess is right one time in four or five.
- The shuffled bins are only shuffled at a flip. Between flips the positions hold still, so it is safe to build up speed until the banner flashes.
- If a level keeps beating you, play the one below it twice. The switching habit transfers directly; the extra speed is the smaller part of the step.
FAQ
Is Candy Sort free to play?
Yes. It runs in your browser with no download, no sign-up and nothing to buy. All twelve levels are included and unlock in order.
How is this different from the other sorting games here?
Every other sorting game on the site is untimed and asks you to work out where something goes. Here you are told where it goes, and the answer changes: the bins sort by color for a few candies, then by shape, and later they move as well. It is cross-listed under Reaction because the difficulty is switching speed, not deduction.
What counts as a miss?
A wrong bin or letting the timer bar empty. Both cost one of your three lives, deliberately — if a timeout were free, waiting out a candy you could not read would be the best play.
When does the rule change?
Never in the first three levels. From level four it flips on a fixed count — every eight candies at first, every four by level eleven — and the banner flashes each time. The count is the same for the whole level, so you can learn its rhythm.
Why do the bins move?
From level seven, so that position stops being a shortcut. Once you have played a level for a minute your hand knows where the red bin is; shuffling on each flip means the only reliable information is what each bin is showing right now.
How long is a run?
Two to six minutes. A level asks for between twelve and thirty-two correctly sorted candies, and a candy takes between 2.6 seconds and 1.1 depending on the level.
Can I pause?
There is no pause button, but the timer does not start until you press Start Shift, and a finished or failed run waits on its card indefinitely.
Does Candy Sort work on a phone?
Yes. The bins are a single row of large tap targets across the bottom of the screen, which is the easiest place to reach in portrait.