Unbolted is a layered screw puzzle about pulling panels apart in the right order. A stack of metal plates sits on the board, screwed together at overlapping points. Every screw heads the plate it was driven into and clamps everything beneath it, and a screw can only come out when no plate sits on top of its head. Tap your way down through the layers until the whole stack has fallen away.
The tension comes from the tray. Every screw you pull flies into a five-slot tray, and three screws of the same colour clear out automatically. Pull in the wrong order and the tray clogs with colours that do not match, leaving the board jammed with nowhere to put the next screw. Reading which plates cover which screws - and in what order they come free - is the entire skill.
There are thirty boards with a difficulty curve that starts with flat, uncovered plates and ends with stacks a dozen layers deep where buried screws only appear once the plates above them are gone. A fresh board is published every day, generated from the date so every player gets the same puzzle, with a streak counter for anyone who makes it a habit.
How to play Unbolted
- Tap a screw that sits on the topmost plate at its position. A covered screw shakes and refuses to move.
- Removing a screw frees every plate it clamps. A plate with no screws left drops off the board.
- Watch the tray: five slots, and three screws of the same colour clear automatically.
- If the tray fills, the board jams. Use Undo to take back one move, or +Slot for a sixth space.
Tips & strategy
Work the colours, not the screws. The tray is the real opponent.
- Before tapping, scan for screws whose colour already sits in the tray - pulling one either clears or stays useful.
- Top plates first is the default, but not always right: a top screw of the wrong colour may be worth leaving while you clear a match elsewhere.
- A screw that clamps two or three plates at once is worth more than it looks - it can drop a whole cluster and expose a buried row.
- Buried screws are not lost. Note which plates cover them, and make those plates your next target.
- Keep at most two of any colour in the tray. The moment a third is reachable, take it - an unused clear is wasted tray space.
- Save Undo for the moment the tray hits four. Rewinding one bad pull is cheaper than restarting the board.
Controls
| Input | Action |
|---|---|
| Tap a screw | Unscrew it (if its head is exposed) |
| Tap a covered screw | It shakes - clear the plate above first |
| Undo | Take back the last screw |
| +Slot | Add a sixth tray space, once per level |