The fastest way to get better at Tents is to mark grass before you place tents: far from trees first, then around every tent. Then count every row and column, and keep an eye on trees that are running out of room. We measured these tips on all 150 of the game’s levels, and the numbers below come from those tests.
These build on how to solve Tents. If you haven’t played before, start with the rules.
Solving tips
1. Mark grass far from trees first
A square with no tree beside it can never hold a tent. Marking them all is the first move on every one of the game’s levels, and it settles 40% of the open squares on Easy, 37% on Medium and 36% on Hard before you’ve thought about anything.
2. Look for the 0s
A row or column numbered 0 is all grass. 49 of the 50 Easy levels have one, 47 Medium and 40 Hard.
3. Mark grass more than you place tents
About three quarters of all the squares settled on the game’s levels are grass: 76% on Easy and 75% on Medium and Hard. Grass is what shows you when a line has just enough room left, so mark it as soon as it’s certain.
4. Count lines both ways
A finished line works in two directions: a line with all its tents is grass everywhere else, and a line with just enough open squares is all tents. On the game’s levels the second kind is about half of them: 47% on Easy, 54% on Medium and 56% on Hard.
5. Follow what you just changed
Every move changes some rows and columns, and that’s usually where the next move is. On the game’s levels, the next move is in a row or column the last one touched 69% of the time on Easy, 71% on Medium and 68% on Hard.
6. Check the trees, not just the lines
When counting stalls, go round the trees. A tree with only one square left beside it gets its tent there. And when a line has only a few places left, list the ways its tents could fit while leaving every tree a tent of its own: that’s every arrangement, and every Hard level needs it.
Tips for playing on PeerPuzzles
7. Tap for a tent, again for grass
A tap places a tent, a second tap marks the square as grass, and a third clears it. On a computer, right-click goes the other way, straight to grass. Undo (or Ctrl/Cmd + Z) takes back a move.
8. Let the numbers and Stuck? help
A row or column number turns teal once it’s met and red when it can’t be. Tents that touch, tents with no tree beside them, and trees that can’t all get a tent of their own are ringed in red. And if you’re stuck, Stuck? (or H) highlights where to look and names the technique, without filling anything in for you. If one of your squares is wrong, it rings that square first.