The goal
Jump the balls over one another until only one is left on the board. If that last ball ends up in the center hole, even better: it is worth more stars.
The board
It is the English board, shaped like a cross, with 33 holes: a 7-by-7 square with the four 2-by-2 corners cut off. The center hole sits right in the middle of the cross.
The colors of the balls are just for decoration: they all count the same.
How to jump
- Pick a ball that has a neighbor right next to it and an empty hole just past that neighbor.
- The ball jumps over the neighbor in a straight line: up, down, left or right. Diagonal jumps are not allowed.
- It lands in the empty hole right behind the neighbor, and the jumped ball comes off the board.
- Each jump goes over exactly one ball and leaves one fewer ball on the board.
- A ball with no jump available can't be picked up: the game tells you so and nothing happens.
When you tap a ball, every hole it can land in lights up with a green ring.
The 7 levels
Each level starts with a classic pattern of balls on the same 33-hole board, from easiest to hardest:
- Level 1: Cross
- 6 balls
- Level 2: Plus
- 9 balls
- Level 3: Fireplace
- 11 balls
- Level 4: Pyramid
- 16 balls
- Level 5: Arrow
- 17 balls
- Level 6: Diamond
- 24 balls
- Level 7: Full board
- 32 balls, with only the center hole empty
Every level can be solved down to one ball in the center hole.
When a level ends
You clear a level only when one ball is left, in any hole. If there are no jumps left and two or more balls remain, you will see NO MORE JUMPS with two ways out: UNDO, which takes back the last jump, and RESTART, which sets the level up again from the start.
Stars and points
- 3 stars
- One ball left, in the center hole.
- 2 stars
- One ball left, in any other hole. This is also the most you can get on a level where you used a HINT.
- Star points
- Each star is worth 100 points times the level number: 100 on level 1, 200 on level 2, and so on up to 700 on level 7.
- Speed
- Up to 100 points per level. The bonus starts full and drains over time, hitting zero at 4 seconds per jump in the level: level 1, which takes 5 jumps, runs out at 20 seconds. Time spent paused doesn't count.
A whole game is worth at most 9,100 points.
Undo and hint
- UNDO
- Takes back your last jump, and the jumped ball returns to its hole. You can undo as many times as you like, and it never costs you a star.
- HINT
- Lights up a ball and the hole it should jump to: a jump that can still get you down to one ball, in the center hole if possible. If the center is out of reach, the hint tells you.
- Dead end
- If the board as it stands can no longer get down to one ball, the hint tells you how many jumps to take back.
- The cost of a hint
- Ask for a hint on a level and that level is worth 2 stars at most, even if you finish in the center.
Saved game, leaderboard and controls
- Saved game
- The game saves your current level and score on your device. When you come back, from level 2 on, you can choose RESUME or START OVER.
- Restart level
- From the pause screen, RESTART LEVEL sets the level up again, with the score you had before it.
- No lives
- There are no lives: you can never lose a level, since you can always undo or restart.
- Leaderboard
- After level 7, the score for the whole game goes to the site's TOP 5.
- On a computer
- The arrow keys or W A S D move between holes, Enter or Space picks up a ball and jumps, Z undoes and H shows a hint.
Tips for beginners
- Start with the balls on the arms of the cross and leave the middle for last.
- Avoid leaving a ball stranded far from the others: with no neighbor, it can't jump and nothing can jump over it.
- Think a few jumps ahead. Every jump opens one hole and fills another.
- On the full board, the first jump always lands in the center hole, because it is the only empty one.
- Took a wrong turn? UNDO never costs a star; a hint does.
Peg solitaire variations
Peg solitaire has been played for centuries, and the board changes from place to place. Besides the 33-hole English cross, there is the 37-hole French board, and some versions allow diagonal jumps. In many homes the challenge is to start with a full board and finish in the center hole. On Selminha.com, the board is the English one, jumps are straight lines only, and a level is cleared with the last ball in any hole, with more stars for the center.