Doodle Guard: Draw to Save

The pitch

Doodle Guard is a physics drawing puzzle on notebook paper. Draw one line with your finger, it turns into a real object and falls, then water balloons, angry bees, tomato cannons, bowling balls and watermelons come for a cartoon hero. Keep the hero safe until the timer ends and save ink for three stars. Endless levels, 11 heroes and 7 pens to collect.

Controls & how it runs

Press and drag anywhere on the paper to draw a single line, then release. The line becomes a physical object and the hazards start. Protect the hero until the timer runs out: a dome over the hero stops bees and balloons, a wall stops cannon tomatoes. You cannot draw through the ground or the hero. Use less ink to earn more stars. Works with mouse and touch; R restarts the level.

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.

Doodle Guard: Draw to Save — quick-fire questions

Does Doodle Guard: Draw to Save 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 Doodle Guard: Draw to Save?

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 Doodle Guard: Draw to Save 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. Doodle Guard: Draw to Save 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.