Stacks guide
How to play Stacks
Stacks is a colour sort puzzle with little monsters. After a pyjama party every family is mixed up across the poles. Move them around until each pole holds one family, and every family wears its crown.
Stacks rules
The rules in one minute
Every family has as many monsters as a pole has slots, and there are one or two empty poles to work with. You only ever move the top of a pole:
- Tap a pole. The top monster hops up, and every monster of its colour right below it comes along.
- Same colour or empty. Tap another pole: they land on their own colour or on an empty pole, as many as fit.
- Never on another colour. A pole with a different colour on top shakes its head and nothing moves.
- One family, one pole. A full pole of one colour gets its crown and is done. Crown every family to solve the level.
There are no wrong moves in Stacks: a move the rules do not allow simply does not happen, and Undo costs no stars. Every level is checked when it is made, so it can always be solved.
Sleepers
Dark monsters are asleep
From Normal on, some monsters sleep under the top one. They hide their colour until you dig them out, so part of every plan is finding out who is down there.
- Dark ones are asleep. You do not know their family yet, and they cannot be moved.
- Uncover one and it wakes up. As soon as a sleeper is on top, it shows its colour and its face.
- Families wake together. Every sleeper of the same colour right below it wakes up too, so a whole group is ready to move.
Reading the board
How many slots are left?
The monster on top peeks out of its capsule and can hide the end of the pole. Three small signs tell you how much room there is at a glance.
- The cap marks the end. Every pole has the same number of slots. The little cap on top shows where it ends, until the pole is full.
- Lights in the foot. One light per monster, but only while a pole holds a single family. Mixed poles stay dark.
- One slot left: it ducks. When there is room for just one more, the top monster pulls its head into its capsule.
- Full: crown. The last one fills the pole, the cap gives way to a crown.
How to play
Stacks in Beasties, step by step
The poles in the middle, three tools below them: Undo, Pole and Restart. Your monster peeks over the top edge and cheers for every crown.
- Tap, then tap. First the pole you take from, then the pole you put on. A wrong target shakes, nothing is lost.
- Out of room? Extra pole. For 10 stars you get a small pole with one slot, right next to the others. With it the level gives two stars at most.
- Make it longer. Each extra slot costs double the last one: 20, 40, 80 stars, until it is as long as the others.
- Undo is free. Take back as many moves as you like, it costs no stars. The moves still count toward the target, a bought pole stays, and monsters you have seen stay awake.
Fewer moves, more stars. Every level has a move target, the shortest solution plus some room, and the line under the stars counts your moves. Stay within the target for 3 stars. Further on, a star falls after each stretch of moves, and with all three gone the level is lost until you restart it. An extra pole caps the level at two stars. Spend your stars on monster parts, level packs or an extra pole when you are stuck. The extra pole is only for the level you are playing.
Difficulty levels
Four difficulties, fixed levels
The boards below are level 1 of each difficulty. Harder does not just mean more poles: every difficulty mixes many short poles with only three slots and a few long ones with many slots. What grows is the number of sleepers and how easily you get stuck.
Chill
3–6 slots · 5–8 poles
Two empty poles and a few sleepers at most. Easy sorting.
Normal
3–7 slots · 5–10 poles
About a third of the monsters sleep. Think one move ahead.
Tricky
3–8 slots · 4–9 poles
Only one empty pole and few ways through. Many moves lead into a dead end.
Devilish
3–8 slots · 4–10 poles
One empty pole and only one way through. Every wrong turn ends in a dead end.
Within one difficulty, level 1 and level 999 ask for the same. 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. All of them are the same for every player in the same order, so the solutions on this site match your app, from level 1 to 999 on every difficulty.
Stacks strategy
Four tricks for tight spots
Most levels are lost in the first few moves, when the free room gets used up without a plan. These four habits keep you moving.
Tip 1
Keep a pole empty
An empty pole takes any colour, so it is your way out of every jam. Use it last, not first.
- An empty pole is your joker. Any colour may land on it, so it gets you out of almost every jam.
- One parked monster blocks it. Put a single monster there and the pole only takes that colour now.
- Stack on colours first. Undo it and look for a matching colour. The empty pole stays free for later.
Tip 2
Join, then move
Two runs of the same colour on different poles? Put them together before you move them anywhere, then they travel as one group.
- Look for split families. The same colour lies on top of two poles.
- Join them first. Put one onto the other. Now they are one group.
- Then move them in one go. A group moves together, so one move does the work of two.
Tip 3
Dig for sleepers
A pole full of sleepers hides what you need. Clear it early, and every move shows you one more monster.
- Sleepers hide your plan. As long as they sleep, you do not know where they belong.
- Dig there first. Clear the pole with the most sleepers. Every move wakes the next one.
- Now you can plan. With everyone awake, every family finds its pole.
Tip 4
Finish a family
Three of a kind under one stranger? Move the stranger and bring the last one home. A crowned pole is done and out of the way.
- A family is almost home. Three of them already sit together, one stranger on top.
- Finish it. Move the stranger away and bring the last one home. The pole gets its crown.
- One pole less to think about. A crowned pole is locked, so the rest gets simpler with every crown.
Stuck? Undo costs no stars, though the moves you take back still count. Go back a few moves and try another order before you buy an extra pole.
Solutions
Stuck on a level?
Every level has its own solution page, free and Pro. You see the start of the level and the solution one move at a time, or let it play to the last crown.
FAQ
Stacks questions, short answers
What is the goal in Stacks?
Sort the monsters so that every pole holds one family only. A full pole of one colour gets a crown, and when every family wears its crown the level is solved.
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.
Which moves are allowed?
You move the top monster of a pole, together with every monster of the same colour right below it. They may land on an empty pole or on their own colour, as many as there is room for. Monsters that do not fit stay where they were.
What are the dark monsters?
Sleepers. You do not know their colour until they come to the top of a pole. Then they wake up, together with every sleeper of the same colour right below them.
Is Undo really free?
Yes, Undo costs no stars. Take back as many moves as you like: monsters you have already seen stay awake, and an extra pole you bought stays too. The moves you take back still count toward the move target, though. Restart the level to count from zero again.
How do the stars work?
Every level has a move target: the length of the shortest solution. You cannot see the sleepers, so you get some room on top. Within it you keep all three stars. Go further and a star falls after each stretch of moves; the line under the stars tells you how many moves are left until the next one. An extra pole caps the level at two stars. The solution pages show the target of every level.
What does the extra pole cost?
The first slot costs 10 stars, and each further slot costs double the one before: 20, 40, 80 and so on, until the extra pole is as long as the others. It only lasts for the level you bought it in, and that level then gives two stars at most.
Can I lose a level?
Only with far too many moves: when the third star falls, the level is lost. Restart it and all three stars are back. There is no timer, and a move the rules do not allow simply does not happen.
Is level 37 the same for everyone?
Yes. The levels are fixed and come with the app: the same puzzles in the same order for every player. New levels are only added at the end.
Does Beasties need the internet?
No. Beasties works completely offline, and there are no ads.