Screw Works.

How to play Screw Works

1. Choose Start the first level, or Continue to resume the level saved on this device. Levels opens the chapter map, Daily opens today’s puzzle and Tinker bench builds a custom one.
2. Look at the open boxes at the top and the next three in the queue. Tap a free screw whose colour an open box wants, and it drops straight in.
3. When no free screw matches, park one in the tray. Prefer colours whose boxes are coming soon, and keep a space free when the colour you need is buried.
4. Take every screw out of a plate to lift it away. Check the newly freed screws before your next move; a lifted plate can open several at once.
5. Watch for glass, copper ties, padlocks with keys, and geared twins. Each works exactly as its card explains, and the screw buttons only appear on screws you can take.
6. Use Undo, Hint or the spare space whenever you like. Finish with no help and a tidy tray to earn three stars, then choose Next level.

Make your move

About Screw Works

Screw Works is a disassembly puzzle played on a small workbench. An original assembly sits on the work mat: a crab, a daisy, a garden trellis, a rail bridge, a ship’s wheel, a clock movement and hundreds more. Coloured screws hold its overlapping plates together. Tap a free screw and it turns out of its hole, then flies to a collection box of its colour or waits in the temporary tray. Clear every screw to take the whole object apart. The puzzle is deciding which screw to take next, so the tray never runs out of room.

Every box holds exactly three screws. When an open box of the right colour has space, a screw drops straight in. When no open box wants it, the screw waits in the tray. A full box closes and the next box in the queue slides into its place, pulling any waiting screws of its colour out of the tray, which can set off a chain. The next three boxes are always shown, so you can plan ahead. A move that would need one tray space more than the bench has is simply refused; nothing is lost and there is no failure screen.

The rules are exactly what you see. A screw covered by a higher plate cannot be reached until that plate has lifted away, and the covering shapes are the same outlines the game draws. Screw placement is checked so that every screw is either clearly free or clearly covered, never half hidden. Each colour also has its own drive shape on the screw head, the box and the tray: a cross, a slot, a star, a hex socket, a square, three wings, two pins and a ring. The shape alone tells every colour apart.

Later chapters add original tricks one at a time, each with a short illustrated card the first time you meet it. Clear acrylic plates show the screws underneath them, so you can plan before they lift. A copper tie holds a screw until the anchor screw at the other end is out. A padlocked screw opens when the plate carrying its brass key lifts away and the key flies across the bench. Geared twins are two screws joined by meshing collars that turn out together in one move, which needs room for both. Some benches open two or three boxes side by side; others have a snug tray of four, three or even two spaces.

The journey has 1,000 levels in forty chapters of twenty-five. The first chapter is the original set of twenty-five hand-composed objects; the rest are original procedural assemblies drawn from thirteen families such as rosettes, trusses, flowers, creatures, vehicles, towers and wheels. Each level was chosen from several candidates by how often a short-sighted test player cleared it, so every chapter starts gently, builds towards its end and pauses for a breather every fifth level. Each level shows a difficulty label, and finished levels stay open while the next three unfinished ones are always available.

Stars reward tidy play rather than speed. One star for any finish. Two stars for finishing without a hint or the spare space. Three stars for finishing without undo as well, while never letting more screws wait in the tray than the level’s tidy target, which the solver has proven possible. The Daily puzzle gives everyone the same bench each day, gentle on Monday and grand on Sunday, with a streak and a month calendar. The Tinker bench builds fresh solvable benches from the size, box lanes, tray and tricks you choose. Six workbench themes unlock with stars. Progress, records and settings are saved on this device, and the first release’s saves carry over.

A little help for your next high score

• Read the queue, not just the open boxes. A screw you park now is only useful if its box is coming soon.
• Lift plates that hide many screws early. Knowing what is underneath beats guessing, and glass lets you look before you lift.
• Clear tie anchors and key plates on purpose. They free screws that would otherwise block a colour you need.
• Before turning a geared twin, check where both screws will go. Two screws leaving at once can fill the tray in one move.
• For three stars, replay a level after learning its layout. Restart resets help counters, so a clean second attempt still earns full marks.

Good questions