Lost MonstersEasy puzzles, solved step by step
Easy challenges are solved in two to six moves. Most of them need at most one helper: a monster that moves first so that Roland, the green monster, has something to stop against.
Here are two easy boards from the game, picked because each one teaches a trick you will need again. For each one: the board, the idea behind the best solution, and every move with a picture. Every challenge in Lost Monsters has a known best solution, found by a computer that tried every possible move, so these are the shortest ways there are.
- One stopper saves fourteen moves: The exit sits in the bottom row with nothing next to it. One pink helper fixes that.
- Clear the doorstep: A pink monster sits on the one square Roland needs. Move her one square and the way is open.
One stopper saves fourteen moves
Easy · Best solution: 3 moves. Stars: 3 moves for all five (the crown), up to 5 for four, up to 7 for three, up to 11 for two, up to 15 for one.
The exit is in the bottom row, a little right of the middle. Roland, the green monster, is close by: one square above the bottom row, near the right edge. It looks like two quick moves, but the exit has a problem: nothing stands next to it, so Roland slides straight over it.
Without help, Roland needs 17 moves to stop there. With one helper it takes three.
Want to try it yourself first? Play this challenge
The trick
Look for a monster whose path ends right beside the exit. Louiii, the pink monster, is in the middle of the board, in the column just left of the exit. If she slides down, the bottom wall stops her right next to it, and she becomes the wall Roland needs.
The best solution, move by move
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1. Louiii down. She slides all the way down her column and stops on the bottom row, right next to the exit on its left side.
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2. Roland down. One square, into the bottom row. The wall below stops him.
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3. Roland left. He slides along the bottom row and stops on the exit, because Louiii is now in the way. Three moves, five stars.
This is the most common pattern in the game: first build the wall, then send Roland. Many easy challenges have the same idea in a different place.
Play this challenge and see if you can do it without looking.
Clear the doorstep
Easy · Best solution: 4 moves. Stars: 4 moves for all five (the crown), up to 6 for four, up to 8 for three, up to 12 for two, up to 16 for one.
The exit is near the top left corner, right under a bump in the top wall. Two squares below it sits Louiii, the pink monster. Roland is far away in the lower middle of the board.
Roland cannot solve this one alone: there is no route that ends on the exit without moving someone else first.
Want to try it yourself first? Play this challenge
The trick
Ask where Roland has to come from. The bump in the wall above the exit can stop him, so he must slide up into the exit, from the square two below it. That is exactly where Louiii is standing. She is not a helper here, she is in the way.
The pits on this map are just as useful as walls: one of them stops Roland in the right column, another one stops Louiii after a single square.
The best solution, move by move
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1. Louiii down. She moves only one square, because a pit stops her. The square below the exit is free now.
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2. Roland up. He slides up his column until a pit stops him, on the same row as the freed square.
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3. Roland left. He slides left and stops on the freed square, because the next pit is right behind it. He is now directly below the exit.
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4. Roland up. He slides up and stops on the exit, held by the bump in the top wall. Four moves, five stars.
When the square you need is taken, a small move of the monster on it is often all it takes. It does not have to go far, only out of the way.
Play this challenge and see if you can do it without looking.