Rule Words is a free online rule puzzle game where the rules of each level are lying on the floor as word tiles. Three tiles in a line make a sentence: CAT IS YOU means you move the cat, WALL IS STOP means walls block, FLAG IS WIN means touching the flag wins. Every word can be pushed, so walking into one rewrites the level. Break WALL IS STOP and the walls stop mattering; build ROCK IS WIN and a rock becomes the goal; write CAT IS WIN under your own name and you win where you stand. Fourteen hand-made levels bring in water that sinks whatever falls in, lava that melts, spikes, keys and doors, and sentences that turn one thing into another. There is no timer and no lives: undo any move, restart the level and even undo the restart, and chase three stars by solving close to the shortest route, which a computer solver has checked for every level. Play in the browser with no download on a computer, tablet or phone, with the keyboard, a swipe or the on-screen arrows.
How to play Rule Words
- Press Play. You are whatever the sentence ending in YOU names, which on every level starts out as the cat.
- Move with the arrow keys or WASD, by swiping on the board, or with the on-screen arrows. Everything that IS YOU moves together, one square per press.
- Read the rules. Three word tiles in a line, left to right or top to bottom, make a sentence: NOUN IS PROPERTY (WALL IS STOP) or NOUN IS NOUN (ROCK IS FLAG). The rules in force are also listed next to the board.
- Walk into a word to push it. Pushing a word out of line breaks its rule at once, and pushing one into line makes a new rule at once.
- Win by getting something that IS YOU onto something that IS WIN. If the flag is out of reach, make something else WIN, or make yourself WIN.
- Learn what the properties do: STOP blocks, PUSH can be shoved, SINK drowns whatever enters it along with itself, HOT melts what is MELT, DEFEAT destroys what is YOU, and OPEN and SHUT cancel each other out.
- Made a mess, or nothing IS YOU any more? Press Z, U or Backspace (or Undo) to step back, or R (or Restart) to start the level over. Restart can be undone too.
- Solve a level to unlock the next. Finish close to the shortest possible route for three stars; the move target is shown above the board.
Tips
- Before moving, read every sentence on the board, including the ones that are not lit up yet. A word lying on its own is a rule waiting to be finished.
- When something is walled in for good, stop trying to reach it. Ask which rule makes the walls not matter, or what else could be the thing you need.
- One word can belong to two sentences at once: a noun can start a sentence across and another down. Crossing sentences is how the last level works.
- Water takes whatever falls into it with it, word tiles included. That makes a spare word a bridge, and a word you still need a thing to keep away from the edge.
- Order matters. If a rock only moves because ROCK IS PUSH, use the rock before you borrow any of those words.
- A word pushed against a wall or the edge of the board cannot be pushed any further that way. Check that you will still be able to get behind a word before you park it.
- Undo is free and your stars only count the moves in your final route, so experiment as much as you like.
- Holding a direction key walks you along a corridor, one square at a time.
FAQ
Is Rule Words free to play?
Yes. It is free in your browser with no download, no account and nothing to buy, on a computer, tablet or phone.
How do the rules work?
Three word tiles in a straight line, reading left to right or top to bottom, make a rule: a noun, IS, and either a property such as YOU, WIN, STOP or PUSH, or another noun. A rule only exists while its three words are in line, and every word tile can be pushed, so you change the rules by walking into them.
How many levels are there?
Fourteen, each built by hand around one idea: breaking a rule, finishing one, making something else the goal, becoming something else, sinking, melting, keys and doors, turning one thing into another, and sentences that share a word.
What happens if I get stuck or break the wrong rule?
Nothing is lost. Undo steps back one move at a time as far as you like, and Restart puts the level back as it started. Restart can itself be undone. If nothing on the board IS YOU any more, the game tells you, and an undo brings you back.
How are the stars decided?
By the length of your winning route. Every level has a shortest possible solution, found by a computer solver that tried every shorter route; solving within about a quarter more moves than that earns three stars, within double earns two, and any solve earns one. Undone moves do not count.
Are all the levels definitely solvable?
Yes. Every time the game is tested, a breadth-first solver searches each level, confirms its shortest solution, and a recorded route is played through to the win, so a change cannot leave a level impossible without the tests failing.
Can I play it on a phone?
Yes. Swipe on the board to move, or use the arrow pad under it. The board resizes to fit the screen either way up.
Is this like Baba Is You?
It is the same kind of puzzle, where you push word tiles to change the rules, and it is not affiliated with that game. The levels, art and rule set here were made for this game.