Untangle

Level 1

Drag dots to untangle

How to Play Untangle

Untangle is a relaxing line puzzle game where you rearrange dots to eliminate all crossing lines. Based on classic graph theory, this untangle puzzle challenges your spatial reasoning and patience.

Look at the tangled web of connected dots
Drag any dot to a new position
Your goal: arrange dots so no lines cross
The counter shows remaining crossings to solve

Puzzle Strategy

Start by identifying dots with the fewest connections - these are easiest to position first. Work from the outside in, creating a rough shape before fine-tuning. Every graph puzzle in Untangle has at least one solution where no lines cross. Take your time; there's no timer pressure in this brain-teasing line puzzle game!

Math Fact: This game is based on planar graph theory. A planar graph can always be drawn without edge crossings - your job is to find that arrangement!

How to play

Drag the dots until no lines cross. Tangled lines glow red and clean ones turn green, with a live counter showing how many crossings remain. Beat the clock and you advance to a bigger, messier web. Every puzzle is generated to be solvable, so the clean arrangement is always in there somewhere.

Tips

Every puzzle unscrambles into a rough ring. Pull the dots outward into a circle and most crossings melt away.

Chase the reddest dot first: the one caught in the most red lines usually frees several crossings at once.

Make big moves early and small nudges late. Fine tuning one dot beats reshuffling the whole web.

If the counter says one crossing and you cannot spot it, wiggle a suspect dot and watch which lines flash red.

The puzzle behind the puzzle

What you are doing in Untangle has a name in mathematics: you are finding a planar embedding of a graph. The dots are vertices, the lines are edges, and the question of whether a given network can be drawn with no crossings at all is a classic problem in graph theory. Not every graph can, which is why every puzzle here is generated from an arrangement that already had no crossings and then scrambled. The clean layout is guaranteed to exist because the game started from it.

The tip about pulling dots into a rough ring is not a trick. Planar graphs of the kind used here very often untangle into something close to a circle with a few dots inside, so aiming for that shape gets most of the way there before you start fixing individual crossings.

Untangling faster

Start by spreading the dots into a wide ring. Crossings in the middle are far easier to see once the outside is clean.

Move the dot with the most red lines attached. One drag can fix several crossings at once.

Watch the counter, not the lines. If a drag makes the number go up, put the dot back.

Dots with only two connections can sit almost anywhere along the line between their neighbours. Use them to route around trouble.

The clock matters more on later levels. Take the small web quickly and bank the time for the crowded one.

Common questions

Is every puzzle solvable?

Yes. Each puzzle is generated from an arrangement with no crossings and then scrambled, so a clean layout always exists.

What does the colour of a line mean?

Red lines cross something. Green lines are clear. The counter shows how many crossings remain.

Why do the puzzles look like rings when solved?

The graphs used here tend to untangle into a rough circle with a few inner dots, so pulling the dots outward first is usually most of the solution.