CHUTE

The pitch

CHUTE is a factory puzzle with no conveyor belts: gravity is the conveyor. A hopper pours grey parts, a bin wants red ones, and between them is empty space — a part only moves on a part, so you lay a chute and it falls. Tap a painter into the line and the parts leave it red. A ramp turns the stream, a splitter deals left, right, left, right, a mould reshapes, a filter sorts, a merger stacks one part on another. Nothing is dragged or wired: the machine is what you tapped, and the parts pour through it while you watch. Then a hopper pours faster than one painter can paint, the queue stacks up, and the fix is the best move in the game — a second line. 96 levels in eight wings, each wing one new idea (mixing paint, wear, lifts and pipes, grime, pistons and fans, a robot arm), a Daily Shift with a new order every day and a streak, and a crew of eight who talk back. No timers and no lives: you build first, then press Start.

Controls & how it runs

Goal: fill every bin with the parts it asks for before the hoppers run dry. Build the whole line from hopper to bin with ramps, chutes, painters, moulds, splitters, filters and mergers, then press Start and watch it run. A spilled part is gone; a slow machine just makes a queue. Mouse or touch to place parts: pick a tool, then tap a cell; tap a ramp again to flip it. Keyboard: 1-9 pick a tool, Space starts the run, R restarts the level, Esc pauses. Three stars and a score per level — fewer lost runs is more points.

Getting a run going takes exactly one press: Press start, up top, and the game boots inside this page — nothing downloads in the background and no form wants your details before the first jump. The cabinet is drawn for a flexible screen and listens to mouse, keyboard or touch, whichever the game prefers. It reshapes itself for tall and wide screens alike, so phone, tablet and desktop all get the full picture. Given a fullscreen button, use it — scores look better at full size, that's just science.

Pro tips for puzzle cabinets

• Count what's missing, not what's there. In matching and logic boards the empty spaces and absent pieces usually draw the shape of the solution for you.
• Solve the corner first. Constrained edges and locked pieces have the fewest options, which makes them the honest starting point of almost every board here.
• If you're stuck, change the order, not the plan. Many boards on this row are the same moves played in a different sequence — the lock was the order all along.

CHUTE — quick-fire questions

Does CHUTE cost anything to play?

Not a token. The cabinet is free from the first run to the five-hundredth — no wallet, no sign-up, no toll booth hiding three levels in. The adverts around the page are what keep the floor's lights on.

What sort of game is CHUTE?

It stands on our Puzzle row — that's the family it plays most like. The pitch above is the publisher's own rundown of what it throws at you and what it hands back.

Can I play CHUTE on my phone?

Happily, yes. It runs inside the browser on phones and tablets the same way it does on a computer. It reshapes itself for tall and wide screens alike, so phone, tablet and desktop all get the full picture.

Do I need to install anything first?

Nothing whatsoever. CHUTE is an HTML5 game: hit the start button and it boots on this page, and shutting the tab sweeps the cabinet clean behind you.

Before you wander off

Personal best banked, or still chasing it? Either way the full Puzzle row is powered on and waiting — Boards, bubbles and blocked exits: 139 puzzle cabinets for players who like their pressure quiet and their solutions sudden. Think first, tap second, gloat third.