Gnome Sweet Gnome

Gnome Sweet Gnome

a fence-building puzzle

Sir Croakwell, a smug toad wizard in a purple hat, winks as he holds a whoopee cushion

He'll never make it home.

A garden gnome has run away and is heading home by the shortest path. Build wooden fences on the lines between tiles so the walk is too long for him. Use as few fences as you can.

Easy7x7 garden Hard9x9 garden See how it plays Play
No fences. The gnome takes the shortest path home. Moves left 13

How a level works

  • The gnome

    He always heads home by the shortest path, and he only has so many steps in him. Stumps count as one step.

  • Your fences

    Build them on the lines between tiles, all before he sets off. Make his walk longer than his move limit, but always leave him a way through. Par is the fewest fences that work.

  • The garden

    Rivers and rocks stop him. Bridges and hollow stumps let him through. You can fence the lines beside a bridge or a stump, and up to two sides of the gnome and of his house, but never a river, a rock or the edge of the garden.

Where the build is at

  1. Website liveThis page, auto-deployed from GitHub.
  2. Rules lockedShortest-path gnome, terrain, par scoring.
  3. Puzzle engineExact par solver and a level generator that keeps only the good ones.
  4. Playable buildThirty levels on the Play page, tuned for phones.
  5. Rules v4Fences on the lines between tiles, up to seven on the hardest levels, hints, and a new daily level every day.
  6. Polish and launchMore level packs and a domain.