Puzzle runs
The arcade is the fast end of WoodChess. A run hands you one tactical position at a time and
scores what you manage before it ends, so the measure is not whether you can find the move but
how far you get. Everything else about the puzzles is unchanged: they come from the same
corpus of tactical positions.
Spark
Two minutes to start. Every puzzle you solve adds time back, and a puzzle above your level
adds more. A miss takes time away and moves you on. The run ends when the clock does, and the
score is simply how many positions you solved before it ran out.
The Ten
Ten puzzles at one level with the clock counting up instead of down. A miss costs twenty
penalty seconds rather than the run, so The Ten always finishes and always gives you one
number to beat next time. It is the gentlest of the three and the better place to start.
Three Matches
No clock at all. You have three matches, a miss burns one, and the third miss ends the run.
Nothing gives a match back, and every puzzle you solve makes the next one harder, so the score
is simply how many positions you solved before the climb caught up with you.
How difficulty is chosen
Each mode sets difficulty by a fixed curve rather than by guessing your level. Spark and Three
Matches open with easy positions and climb a step for every puzzle you solve, so two runs of
the same length face the same puzzles; The Ten holds one level for all ten. Nothing you do in a
run affects your puzzle rating.
No account needed
Runs are open to everyone, signed in or not. Each finished run leaves a record of the
positions you saw, with a link to replay any of them on the board at your own pace.