Questions and answers
About the game
What is Pour Works?
A water sort puzzle game for Android, also known as a colour sort or liquid sort puzzle. You pour coloured liquid between glasses until every glass holds one colour. It has 1,170 campaign levels in nine chapters, 22 challenge boards, a real-time River mode with 560 levels, and a daily challenge.
Is it the same game as Water Sort?
Yes. The game was first published as Water Sort and is now called Pour Works: Water Sort. It is the same app with the same progress, and it has grown a great deal since.
Is it free?
Yes, it is free to play. There are optional in-app purchases: coin bundles, a one-time starter bundle and a double daily reward. No level is locked behind a purchase.
Which phones does it run on?
Android 8.0 or later, on phones and tablets.
Does it need the internet?
Not to play. Every level, including the daily challenge, is stored in the game. A connection is needed only for the store and for cloud save.
Do I need an account?
No. Signing in to Play Games is optional and only adds cloud save.
In which languages is it?
Eleven: English, German, Spanish, Turkish, Simplified Chinese, Hindi, Arabic, Portuguese for Brazil and for Portugal, Japanese and Korean.
Is there a time limit?
Not in the campaign. You can think about a pour for as long as you like, and a move limit counts pours, not seconds. Only the River runs in real time.
Levels and stars
How many levels are there?
1,170 in the campaign, 22 challenges and 560 on the river: 1,752 in all, plus a daily board.
Can every level be solved?
Yes. Levels are generated and then checked by a solver, and a board ships only if the solver has solved it. Levels with hidden colours pass a second test, so that they can be won without guessing.
How do I get three stars?
Match par, the fewest pours the level can be solved in. Within three pours of par is two stars.
Is three stars always possible?
Yes. Par is the shortest solution a solver found for that exact board, not an estimate.
Do I have to get three stars to go on?
No. Any solution clears a level and opens the next.
How do I open the next chapter?
Clear ten levels in the chapter before it. You do not have to finish a chapter first.
What are the challenges?
Twenty-two harder boards on a bonus track, where rules from different chapters meet. Each opens when you clear the campaign level it sits beside.
What is the fourth star?
A stricter replay of a board with glasses of two sizes.
Why is there no par on Big Boards?
These boards are too large for an exact shortest solution to be proven, and the game does not ask for a par it cannot stand behind. Finishing one is three stars.
Why is there no Hint on Big Boards?
For the same reason: a hint has to be a move that is known to win. Trial is offered there instead.
Playing
How do I pour?
Tap a glass, then tap the glass to pour into. Liquid goes onto the same colour or into an empty glass, and one pour moves as much of the top colour as fits. Tap the selected glass again to put it down.
I am stuck. What can I do?
Undo takes back a pour, Hint shows a move that still wins, Extra Glass adds room, and Restart is free.
The game says Game Over. Did I lose the level?
No. It means no pour is possible: every glass is full or finished and no two tops match. Take a pour back, add a glass, or restart.
A glass will not open.
A number on its lock counts down with your pours. A coloured lock opens when that colour is finished in another glass.
Liquid went into a glass and will not come out.
That glass is a drain, marked with a down arrow.
Can I leave in the middle of a level?
Yes. The board is saved as it stands, and Continue on Home picks it up.
A level I had started was reset.
An update can rebuild a level. When that happens to a board you had part-played, the game opens it fresh and tells you so. Your stars and progress are kept.
The River and the daily challenge
What is River mode?
A real-time mode. Part-filled glasses drift past, and you fill each one from your own glasses before it gets away.
What happens when I miss a glass?
It comes round again, but each miss costs a star and the third ends the run. Starting again is free.
Do I have to finish the campaign to play the River?
No. River is on Home from the start, and both of its ladders are open.
What does the daily challenge pay?
Power-up charges, and double on day seven.
I missed a day. Is my streak gone?
Not after one day: yesterday's board stays open through today. After two missed days the week starts over.
Tools, coins and purchases
How do I get more power-ups?
From the daily challenge, from level-ups and milestones, and from the Shop for coins.
How do I earn coins?
By clearing levels. More stars pay more, and the first clear of a level pays most.
Does tapping the + on a tool buy it?
No. It opens an offer. Nothing is bought until you confirm.
I bought something and changed phones.
One-time purchases are restored from Google Play when you are online. Coin bundles you have bought and spent are not.
Colours, looks and settings
I cannot tell some of the colours apart.
Switch on Liquid labels for a number on every colour, Liquid textures for a pattern, or both.
Can I turn off the vibration?
Yes: Settings → Haptics.
The pours are too slow.
Set Settings → Pour speed to Fast.
Does a different glass change the puzzle?
No. Glassware and backgrounds change the look only.
Where is the tutorial?
Settings → Help & tutorial, and Help at the top of every board.
Progress and data
Where is my progress kept?
On your phone. If you sign in to Play Games under Settings → Cloud save, a copy is kept with your Play Games account as well.
Will my progress survive a new phone?
With cloud save, yes: sign in on the new phone and it comes back.
How do I start over?
Settings → Reset all progress. It cannot be undone. One-time purchases stay owned.
Where is the privacy policy?
Under Settings → Privacy policy.
How do I report a problem or suggest something?
Settings → Send feedback opens an email to the maker in your mail app.