Complete controls
How to solve a Unique Strip Lab puzzle
1. Start an original level
Select Paper Row, Upright Loom, or Ink Switch from the level map. The introduction states the grid dimensions and exact goal. Start Workshop opens one uncut connected grid. A completed level remains marked only in this browser; every level can still be selected and replayed.
2. Draw or remove internal seams
Pointer users can tap one seam or press and drag across neighboring seam controls. An active cut appears as a light line with a dark outline. Tapping the same seam again removes it and reconnects those adjacent cells. Keyboard users can Tab to a labelled vertical or horizontal seam and press Enter or Space. Controls name their row, columns, orientation, and open or cut state.
3. Read the live inspector
The Regions total updates whenever an adjacency changes. Invalid size/shape counts a region that bends, branches, disconnects, or contains more than three cells. Region-size circles expose oversized groups directly. Duplicate strips counts repeated normalized length-and-color signatures among otherwise legal regions. A vertical A–B and horizontal B–A conflict because reversing a strip does not create a new signature.
4. Undo, reset, or ask for a layered hint
Undo restores the immediately preceding seam set. A drag across several seams records each changed segment, making every step reversible. Reset clears all cuts while leaving an undo snapshot. Hint 1 restates the first relevant rule. Hint 2 diagnoses the current invalid region or repeated signature. Hint 3 highlights one seam that differs from the enumerated solution; it does not reveal the whole answer.
5. Complete and replay
The puzzle completes only when every connected region is a straight one-, two-, or three-cell strip and all normalized signatures are unique. Because the published grid has one enumerated cover, passing those checks identifies the verified partition. The result shows active cut count and offers Replay Level or Next Level. Replay returns to an empty seam set.
The board scales to a 390 CSS-pixel viewport without horizontal overflow. Large invisible seam hit areas surround the visible cut line, focus remains visible, color is not the only status signal, and motion-reduction preferences stop hint pulsing. Report a barrier through the Contact page.