How to play Color Flood

Color Flood — spelled Colour Flood on the British side of the Atlantic — is a flood-fill puzzle on a 14×14 board of six colours. You start by owning the top-left corner tile, plus any touching tiles of the same colour. Each move, pick a colour from the buttons under the board: your whole region turns that colour and swallows every neighbouring tile that matches it, so it grows. Turn the entire board into one colour within 25 moves to win.

Only the colours touching your region can gain you anything, and the region never shrinks, so every move is a choice about which direction to grow. The board shows your region with a light outline, and the move counter and par sit above it.

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How many moves does it take to win?

Every Daily and Solo board is solved by a computer before you get it, and a board is only dealt if it can be cleared in 21 moves or fewer — so it is always winnable, with at least four moves to spare under the limit of 25. The solver’s count is shown as par, and it usually lands between 17 and 21.

Clear the board in par or fewer for three stars, within two moves of par for two, and anywhere up to 25 for one. Par comes from a solver that looks three moves ahead rather than checking every possibility, so a sharp player can sometimes beat it — the result screen tells you when you do. A player who simply grabs the biggest patch each turn usually needs several moves more than par, which is why planning matters.

Tips & strategy

• Head for the centre first. Tiles in the middle have four neighbours, edges three and corners two, so a central region touches far more of the board.
• Look two moves ahead. The best colour is often the one that sets up a huge swallow next turn, not the biggest grab now.
• Wipe colours out. Once a colour is gone from the board you never need it again, and each colour you finish is one fewer move at the end.
• Watch for long snakes of one colour reaching across the board — taking that colour early opens a path into the far side.
• Do not chase isolated single tiles. They will be swallowed later anyway when a neighbouring colour arrives.
• In VS mode you cannot pick the bot’s current colour, so take the colour it needs before it can — and wall off open ground near your corner.

Daily board, Solo and VS Bot

Daily gives everyone the same board for the same date, with a new one at midnight in your time zone; clearing it builds your daily streak. Solo deals a fresh board every time, each with its own par. VS Bot turns the board into a territory battle: you flood from the top-left, the bot from the bottom-right, 15 moves each, and whoever holds more tiles at the end wins. The bot comes in Easy, Medium and Hard.

Colour-blind symbols can be switched on from the menu — each colour then carries its own shape, on the tiles and on the buttons — and on a keyboard the keys 1 to 6 pick colours while R restarts the board.

Colour Flood, Color Flood or “flood it”?

All three names describe the same idea: a flood-fill puzzle where one region spreads across a grid by changing colour. The format became popular as a quick browser and phone game in the late 2000s and is now usually called flood it or colour flood. Skorven’s version is its own, built from scratch, and adds solver-checked boards with a par, a daily board and a head-to-head mode.

Color Flood FAQ

Is Color Flood the same game as Colour Flood?

Yes. Color Flood and Colour Flood are the same game — only the spelling differs between US and British English. Some people also search for it as "colourflood" or "flood it".

Is every Color Flood board solvable?

Yes. Every Daily and Solo board is solved by a computer before you see it, and a board is only used if it can be cleared in 21 moves or fewer. With 25 moves allowed, you always have at least four to spare.

How many moves do you get?

You get 25 moves to turn the whole 14×14 board into one colour. Each board also has a par — the number of moves the solver needed, usually between 17 and 21.

What does par mean in Color Flood?

Par is the solver’s move count for that board. Clear the board in par or fewer moves for three stars, within two over par for two stars, and in any number up to 25 for one star. Beating par is possible.

Is the daily board the same for everyone?

Yes — everyone gets the same board for the same date, and a new one arrives at midnight in your time zone. Clearing it keeps your daily streak going.

How does VS Bot mode work?

You flood from the top-left corner and the bot from the bottom-right, taking turns for 15 moves each. You cannot pick your own colour or the bot’s, and whoever owns more of the board at the end wins. The bot plays at Easy, Medium or Hard.

Is Color Flood free, and does it work on phones?

It is completely free, with no download or sign-up, and it plays on phones, tablets and computers. Colour-blind symbols can be switched on from the menu, and the keys 1–6 pick colours on a keyboard.