Bolt Bench A free screw puzzle: unscrew bolts, build toys
Unscrew coloured bolts into matching crates to free stacked plates, then build wooden toys for your shelf across 100 levels.
About Bolt Bench
Bolt Bench is a cosy workshop puzzle about taking things apart in the right order. Wooden, steel and glass plates are stacked on your workbench, each one held down by two to four coloured bolts. Tap a bolt and it spins out with a satisfying ratchet, then flies into the crate of its colour. Fill a crate with three bolts and it slides away while the next colour rolls in.
The catch is the stack. A bolt can only come out when no plate above it covers its head, so you have to dig from the top. When a plate is left hanging on its last bolt it swings down like a pendulum and settles in a new spot, sometimes uncovering the bolt you need and sometimes covering it up. Bolts of the wrong colour can wait in a spare rack with five sockets, but if the rack overflows the level is over. Every tap is a small decision: which bolt frees the most, which colour the next crates want, and where that swinging plate will end up.
Later levels bring glass plates that crack a little every move they sit exposed. Clear their bolts before the glass shatters, or its bolts drop into your rack all at once. Bigger boards add more colours, more layers and tighter racks, with a gentle breather level after every tough stretch.
Every level you finish builds one part of a handmade wooden toy. Five levels make a toy, and twenty toys fill the shelf: a rocking horse, a steam train, a wind-up robot, a carousel and more. A new daily board arrives each day for everyone, with a best time to beat and a streak to keep.
All 100 levels are checked by a solver, so every board can be cleared with the five sockets you start with. Undo and an extra socket are there when you need a hand, and the game saves your progress after every move, so you can stop and pick up where you left off.
How to play
Tap a bolt to unscrew it. Bolts under another plate are dimmed with a dashed ring and can't come out until the plates above them are gone. A bolt that matches the open crate goes straight in; any other colour waits in the spare rack. Three bolts close a crate and the next colour slides in, pulling its bolts out of the rack. A plate on its last bolt swings down; with no bolts it falls away. Clear every bolt to win, and don't let the rack overflow. On a keyboard, use the arrow keys to pick a bolt and Enter or Space to take it, U to undo and E for an extra socket. P or Esc pauses and M mutes.
Controls and devices
- Controls: Touch, Mouse, Keyboard
- Works on: phones, tablets and computers
- Screen: portrait orientation
- Price: free, no download or sign-up
FAQ
- What happens when the spare rack is full?
- If a bolt needs a socket and all of them are taken, the level ends. You can watch an optional ad once per level to add a socket and keep going, or retry the level.
- Is every level solvable?
- Yes. Every one of the 100 levels and every daily board is proven solvable by a solver using only the five starting sockets, without boosters.
- How do I earn three stars?
- Clear the level without boosters and keep the rack at or below the star mark under the sockets. Using undo, an extra socket or the revive still clears the level with one star.
- What do glass plates do?
- A glass plate cracks once for every move you make while it has a free bolt you don't take. The badge shows the moves left. Take its last bolt in time to save it, or it shatters and its bolts drop into your crate or rack.
- How do I get more boosters?
- You start with two undos and one extra socket. Every finished toy, one per five levels, adds one of each, up to five.
- Does my progress save?
- Yes. Your levels, stars, toys and the level in progress save automatically on this device, and to your account when you're signed in.
Credits
- Game design, code and sound: Playora Games
- Generated UI skin, bolt heads, toys, plate textures, background and thumbnail (see CREDITS.md): Codex CLI image tool (OpenAI)