Koi Loose

Koi Loose is a calm, tricky escape puzzle set in a lantern-lit garden pond. Every pond is packed with koi, some short, some long and curled around corners. Tap a koi and it swims straight ahead from its head, out of the pond and away. But if another fish is in its lane, it bumps nose-first into it and you lose one of your three hearts. Free every koi to clear the pond. Clear it without a single bump for three stars.

It starts gently and gets properly knotty. Long dragon koi bend through the reeds and need a clear run. Sealed koi stay put until the fish carrying their matching pearl escapes. Koi caught in a whirlpool turn a quarter clockwise every time another fish leaves. And pufferfish puff up a little more with every escape, so set them free before their count runs out, or pop.

There are 150 ponds across six gardens: Moon Pond, Lantern Garden, Blossom Falls, Maple Shrine, Snow Garden and Dragon Gate. Each has its own light, water and drifting petals, leaves, snow or sparks. The first ponds are handmade to teach you the ropes, and the rest are built by a generator that guarantees every pond can be solved. A fresh Daily Pond keeps your streak going. The biggest ponds pan and zoom, and a hint will always light up a koi that can swim free.

It's all real-time 3D: glossy clear-coated koi that bend and wriggle as they swim, rippling water with moon glints, caustics dancing on the stones, stone lanterns, lotus flowers and a soft, plucked night-garden soundtrack. It plays in portrait or landscape with touch, mouse or keyboard.