New: this game comes with the next update of the app.
Paint Trail guide
How to play Paint Trail
Paint Trail is a sliding puzzle with a monster that paints as it goes. Swipe, and it slides until a rock or the edge stops it, painting every field on the way. Paint the whole board in as few swipes as you can. No timer, no luck.
Paint Trail rules
The rules in one minute
A board of empty fields, a few rocks and one monster. Each swipe sends it sliding, and wherever it slides, it leaves paint behind.
- Swipe. Swipe up, down, left or right and the monster slides off. This first swipe takes it 4 fields.
- It stops only at a rock or the edge. No braking halfway: it slides on until the next field is a rock or no field at all.
- Its trail becomes its body. Every field it slides over gets painted, and the monster grows along the trail, tile by tile.
- Paint all 20 fields. When the last field is painted, the level is done. This one, Chill level 1, takes 9 swipes.
The painted trail turns into the monster’s body, so it grows tile by tile until it covers the board. Every level in Beasties can be painted completely, and the solution pages show the shortest way.
Sliding rules
Slide until something stops it
You choose the direction, not the distance. That one rule makes every board a puzzle.
- The whole way at once. A swipe always slides to the end, here 4 fields in one go. You can’t stop in between.
- A rock in the way? Nothing happens. A swipe against a rock or the edge doesn’t move the monster, and it doesn’t count as a move.
- Painted fields are no wall. The monster slides over its own trail as often as you like. Here it crosses 2 fields that are already painted and paints one new field.
So the order of your swipes matters more than anything else: the same swipe from another field ends somewhere completely different.
Stars and moves
Every swipe counts
You start every level with three stars. The shortest way keeps all three, every extra move brings the next falling star closer.
- Three stars up to the shortest way. This Tricky level can be painted in 18 moves. Up to there, all three stars are safe.
- Every 2 moves, a star falls. Every swipe past the shortest way counts. The line under the stars shows how many moves are left until the next one falls.
- No stars left: try again. After the third star the level is lost. A restart is free, and all three stars are back.
How fast stars fall depends on the difficulty: on Chill every 4 extra moves, on Normal every 3, on Tricky every 2, and on Devilish every single one. A swipe that can’t move the monster costs nothing.
How to play
Paint Trail in Beasties, step by step
The board fills the screen, Undo and Restart sit below it, and Gnatz peeks over the top edge, following the monster with his eyes.
- Swipe anywhere on the board. Up, down, left or right. The monster slides off and paints as it goes, and Gnatz follows it with his eyes.
- Undo takes a swipe back. Undo is free, but the move still counts.
- Keep an eye on the counter. Under the stars you see your moves and how many are left until the next star falls.
- Restart. The same level from the start, free. The moves go back to zero.
There are no paid helpers in Paint Trail. Undo and Restart are free, so try ideas as often as you like. The stars you win go to monster parts and level packs.
Difficulty levels
Four difficulties, from warm-up to master plan
The boards below are level 1 of each difficulty. They grow from 5×5 to 8×8, but what really changes is how much one wrong swipe costs.
Chill
5×5 to 6×5 · 6–10 moves
Small boards. The obvious move is always right.
Normal
6×6 to 7×6 · 10–14 moves
Some corners only fit one way. Mind the order.
Tricky
6×7 to 7×7 · 13–18 moves
Greedy moves cost stars. Look ahead!
Devilish
7×7 to 8×8 · 17–24 moves
Dead ends everywhere. Plan the whole route.
Chill boards (5×5 to 6×5) take 6 to 10 swipes, and the obvious move is always right. Normal (10 to 14 swipes) has corners that only fit one way. On Tricky (13 to 18) greedy swipes cost stars, and Devilish (17 to 24) is full of dead ends: you need to plan the whole route. Chill, Normal and Tricky have 150 free levels each. You unlock the rest for free with the stars you win, or all at once with Pro. Every player gets the same boards in the same order, so the solutions on this site match your app.
Paint Trail strategy
Three habits for shorter ways
Most stars are lost to swipes that looked fine. These three habits come from real levels of the app.
Tip 1
Mark the stopping points
The monster only ever rests next to a rock or the edge. Find those fields first: they are the whole map of the level.
- Mark the stopping points. The monster can only come to rest next to a rock or the edge. In this level that is just 16 of 33 fields.
- Plan from stop to stop. Every swipe goes from one of these fields to another. That makes the level a small map you can read before your first move.
Tip 2
Don’t grab the biggest swipe
The swipe that paints the most fields at once is often a detour in disguise. Count what it leaves behind before you take it.
- The big swipe looks best … This swipe paints 4 new fields at once, more than any other.
- … and costs 5 extra moves. Afterwards the shortest way is 5 moves longer than before. On Tricky that is all three stars: the level is lost.
- The small swipe keeps the shortest way. This one paints only 1 field, but the board still takes 13 moves from here.
Tip 3
Keep every field in reach
Some swipes lead into a corner the monster can never leave the right way. Before you slide into a pocket, make sure the rest of the board can still be reached.
- One swipe too far. This swipe looks harmless. It even paints a new field.
- Fields out of reach. From here no way leads to these 6 fields any more. The board can’t be finished.
- Undo and take the other way. Undo puts the monster back, but the move still counts. The other swipe keeps every field in reach.
Stuck? Look at the fields that are hardest to reach, usually short dead ends between rocks. Work out how the monster gets into them and out again, then plan the rest around that.
Solutions
Stuck on a board?
Every level has its own solution page, free and Pro. Watch the shortest way swipe by swipe, paint the board yourself, or see the whole route at once.
FAQ
Paint Trail questions, short answers
How do you play Paint Trail?
Swipe up, down, left or right. The monster slides until a rock or the edge of the board stops it and paints every field it passes. Paint every field to finish the level.
Can the monster stop halfway?
No. A swipe always slides as far as it can. You pick the direction, the rocks and the edge pick where it stops.
What happens if I swipe towards a rock?
Nothing. If the next field is a rock or the edge, the monster stays where it is, and the swipe doesn’t count as a move.
Can the monster slide over painted fields?
Yes, as often as you like. Painted fields stay painted and don’t block the way. Crossing them only costs the move itself.
How do stars work in Paint Trail?
Every level has a shortest way. Paint the board within that many moves and you keep all three stars. After that a star falls every few moves, depending on the difficulty. When the third one falls, the level is lost.
Is Undo free?
Yes. Undo takes a swipe back for free, but the move still counts towards your stars. Restart starts the same level from the beginning, also free, with the moves back at zero.
Can I get stuck?
Yes, on the harder difficulties. Some swipes cut fields off for good, so no way can reach them any more. Then only Undo or Restart helps.
Can I look up the rules during a round?
Yes. Tap the gear at the top left of the round: Settings open, and their Game guide row takes you straight to the rules of this game, what is special in it and how the stars work. You also find the guide behind the ? on the level start and in Settings on the home screen.
Can every level be solved?
Yes. Every level is checked when it is made, and its shortest way is known. The solution page of each level shows exactly that way.
Is there a timer?
No. Paint Trail has no clock. Only your moves count, and you can play offline without ads.