How to Solve Light Switch: Lights Puzzle Strategy
In Light Switch, every tap flips the tile you touch and its four neighbours, so lights you turned off can come back on. Every board can be solved, and the game knows the fewest taps needed, shown as par. These ideas will help you turn every light off, and do it at par.
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Two facts that change everything
First, the order of taps does not matter: tapping A then B gives the same board as B then A. Second, tapping the same tile twice cancels out. So any solution is just a set of tiles, each tapped once. You never need to tap a tile twice, and if you have, undo one of them.
Chase the lights down
Start at the top row. For each lit tile in it, tap the tile directly below. That turns the top light off without touching the rest of the top row. Then do the same for the second row, using the third, and so on. By the time you reach the bottom, every light is off except possibly some in the last row.
Fixing the last row
If lights remain in the bottom row, the solution needs some taps in the top row too. Undo or reset, try tapping one top-row tile, and chase down again. Watch how the leftover bottom pattern changes. With a little experimenting, you will find the top-row taps that clear it, and you can remember useful patterns for each board size.
On a keyboard you can move a cursor with the arrow keys and press Space or Enter to tap, with Z to undo and R to reset. Undo is handy while experimenting with the top row, as you can test a tap and take it back instantly.
Aim for par
Chasing works, but it rarely hits par. Once you have a solution, look for taps that undo each other's effect and could be dropped. Since every solution is a set of tiles, a shorter set may exist. The Lit counter helps you watch progress, and solving a board in par moves or fewer earns the Right on par achievement.
Use hints wisely
A hint highlights a tile from the shortest solution for the current board, but each hint lowers your score. Because order does not matter, you can tap that tile at any time and it still belongs to the best solution. Try the chasing method first, and use a hint only to finish a stubborn Hard board.
Questions
- Does the order of taps matter?
- No. Only which tiles you tap matters, and tapping a tile twice cancels out.
- What is the easiest method for beginners?
- Chase the lights down: for each lit tile, tap the tile below it, row by row, then fix the last row with top-row taps.
- How big are the boards?
- From 4x4 on Easy up to 6x6 on Hard.
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