How to play Artisan of Glass

Updated July 2026

Every puzzle is a window waiting to be built. You carve the board into glass panes; the rules tell you where the cuts can go. Solve it and the window glows — here's what finished ones look like. There are exactly three rules.

The three rules

1. Panes follow the shapes. Each puzzle allows a small set of pane shapes, shown above the board. Every pane you paint must be one of them — in any rotation.

2. Touching panes need different colors. Here's the twist that makes it a real puzzle: if two panes of the same color touch side by side, they fuse into one pane — which then usually breaks rule 1 by being the wrong shape. Fusing isn't a penalty; it's information.

3. Strips keep apart, staples hold together. Some boards carry little marks: a strip on an edge means the two cells beside it belong to different panes; a staple means they belong to the same pane. These are your anchors — every solve starts from them.

Controls

Pick a color, paint cells to form panes. The eraser removes; undo and redo are unlimited. There are no move limits and no penalties, and the timer is optional — experiments are free, so make many.

Hints

You get 3 free hints a day. A hint doesn't nudge — it paints an entire correct pane onto the board. The optional Premium subscription raises the daily allowance; the price and billing period are shown in the app before you subscribe.

Board sizes

Four sizes: from the 5×4 Mini (a two-minute coffee puzzle) through 6×6 and 8×6 boards up to the 8×8 Master, which will genuinely chew on you. Best times are tracked per size, if racing yourself is your thing.

Honest tips for bigger boards

Start at the staples. A staple tells you two cells share a pane — often that forces the pane's shape immediately.

Strips cut the search space. A strip is a wall. Ask: which allowed shape can even live against it?

Count before you paint. If the allowed shapes are all 4-cell, a region of 6 free cells can't be finished with one pane. Arithmetic first, painting second.

Use fusing deliberately. Not sure where one pane ends? Paint the neighbour in the same color and watch what fuses — the board is telling you where the cut must go. Undo is free.

Corners are honest. Like in shikaku, border cells have fewer possibilities. When stuck in the middle, go back to the edges.

Frequently asked

How many puzzles are there?
More than 2,300 hand-designed windows across four board sizes — then endless puzzles generated on your device.

Does it work offline?
Yes. Puzzles are generated and solved on the device; no account, no connection needed to play.

Can I save the windows I finish?
Yes — share them or save them straight to Photos.

Two tiny tutorial boards and you're fluent.