About Outline
Outline is a free arrow line puzzle, the pull-out picture game that has been everywhere lately, built for the browser with nothing to install. Every level is a picture drawn as winding lines, and every line ends in an arrowhead. Tap a line and it slides out of the picture in the direction its arrow points, but only if nothing is in its way. Tap a line that is blocked and it bumps back, which costs one of your three drops.
The puzzle is the order. Lines near the edge usually leave first; the ones in the middle have to wait for whatever crosses their path. Sixty pictures in six packs run from 10x12 sketches, a heart, a cup, a house, through doodles, studies and figures to 22x26 gallery pieces like a penguin, a crab and an octopus. Later packs have more lines, longer lines and deeper chains of what must go before what.
Every level is generated and checked by a solver so it can always be finished, and because pulling a line never blocks another, you can never paint yourself into a corner: as long as you have drops left, a way through exists. No bumps earns three stars; three hints per level point out a line that can go but cap you at two. Lose all three drops and the level simply restarts.
It is an original TabSpawn game drawn on a canvas, with four colour sets (paper, night, mint and slate) you can switch any time for your eyes. Progress is saved in your browser and your star total goes to the public Top 10. It works with a finger on a phone or tablet and a mouse on a laptop or Chromebook.
How to play
- Look at the picture: it is made of lines, and each line ends in an arrowhead.
- Tap a line. It slides out of the picture in the direction of its arrow and disappears.
- A line only leaves if the path in front of its arrow is empty. If another line is in the way, yours bumps back and you lose a drop.
- Work from the outside in. Pull the lines whose arrows point at open space first; they free the ones behind them.
- Clear every line to finish the level. No bumps is three stars; hints show a line that can go but cap you at two.
Controls
| Tap / click a line | Pull it out along its arrow |
|---|---|
| H | Hint: highlight a line that can go |
| R | Restart the level |
| P | Switch colour set |
| M | Sound on or off |
| N | Next level after a win |
Tips
- Follow the arrow with your eye all the way to the edge of the sheet before you tap. Anything crossing that path means a bump.
- Long lines that snake through the middle are usually last. Clear the short outer lines around them first.
- When you are down to one drop, spend a hint rather than a guess: the hint never lies.