Your first round
- Choose Easy and inspect which lights are on.
- Identify a click whose cross would improve the pattern, including any lights it would turn back on.
- Use Undo to compare an unsuccessful move with another idea.
- On larger boards, try clearing a row by clicking directly beneath its lit squares, then inspect the final row.
Worked example
Recognize a cross
On a 3 × 3 board with only the center and its four edge-neighbors lit, one center click turns all five off. Clicking each lit square separately would disturb the pattern instead of solving it immediately.
Build your strategy
- Avoid repeating the same click unless you intend to cancel it.
- Row-by-row ‘chasing’ clears earlier rows, but a nonempty final row means the initial top-row choices need revision.
- Use the small board to learn corner, edge and center effects before tackling 25 lights.
Common mistakes
- Assuming only lit squares can be clicked.
- Fixing one light without considering the neighboring lights that the same click changes.
Try this next
On Easy, predict the exact lights a corner click will change, then verify it. Undo and repeat for an edge and the center.
Play Lights Out ↗