Ducklark Games

Pondful

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Picture a little square marsh split into coloured ponds, and a brood of ducklings that each need a spot of their own. That's Pondful. Every row, every column and every pond gets exactly one duckling, and no two of them may sit side by side, not even corner to corner. Tap a square once to cross it off and twice to settle a duckling there, and bit by bit the grid gives itself up. There is always exactly one answer and you can always think your way to it, so you never have to guess.

A new grid comes out each day, the same one for everybody: a smaller one on Monday, nine by nine by the weekend, with a clock running if you like a little race. When you want more, the Levels tab starts at five by five and keeps climbing all the way to ten by ten. On your first grid Tiny talks you through it step by step, and later, if you get stuck, the Hint button has Tiny explain the next move in plain words. Roady, Tiny and Rusty sit on the dock under the board, and the pond behind them follows your time of day and the season.

It suits anyone who enjoys sudoku-style logic but would like something softer to look at. Pondful is free and plays in any web browser, made by a small studio on Long Island. The full rules and some solving tips are in how to play Pondful.