Games / Puzzle Games / Kite Lines / Guide
Kite Lines
Kite Lines is a pair matching puzzle on a hilltop kite festival. Tap two matching tiles, and if a string can join them with two bends or fewer, they fold into little kites and fly off into the sky. Then the wind blows, and every tile left on the board drifts.
Quick answers
Does Kite Lines work on my phone?
Yes. Kite Lines works with touch on phones and tablets, and with a mouse or keyboard on a computer. It runs in the browser you already have, so there is no app to download.
Do I need an account to play Kite Lines?
No. Just open it and play, with no sign-up. If you like, a free account (username only, no email, for players 13 and older) puts your scores on the leaderboards and backs up your progress so it follows you to any device.
Is there a daily challenge in Kite Lines?
Yes. Kite Lines has a new daily challenge every day, the same one for every player, with its own daily leaderboard. Find it alongside the others on our daily challenges page.
Is Kite Lines OK for kids?
Yes, players of any age can enjoy it. There is no chat and no way to message other players, and nobody needs an account to play. Accounts are for players 13 and older, so younger players just play and their progress stays on their device. For ages 4 to 11 we also have learning games in their own kids area, with no ads, no accounts and no tracking.
What is Kite Lines?
Connect pairs puzzles are a long-time favourite with people who like mahjong solitaire: every tile has a twin, and twins only go together when a line can join them without too many turns.
Our version is set at a kite festival. The tiles are sheets of paper stamped with ink pictures (swallows, carp, plum blossoms, lanterns, moons and our own brush numbers 1 to 9), and every pair you clear keeps flying above the board as a record of your game. It's free, it plays in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer, and there's nothing to download.
How to play
- Pick two twins. Tap a tile and it lifts. Tap a tile with the same picture and the game looks for a string between them. You can also drag from one tile to its twin.
- Two bends at most. The string runs through empty spots only, in straight pieces, and it may turn no more than twice. That's up to three straight pieces.
- Use the outside. There's an empty lane all the way round the board. Strings can run out into it and back, which is how two tiles on the same edge often meet.
- When it can't reach. If no string fits, it draws out to where it would snag and gives a little shake, so you can see what's in the way. Nothing is lost.
- Clear the board. When the last pair flies, every kite climbs into the sky and you get your stars.
Controls on phone and computer
On a phone or tablet you tap or drag, and a mouse works the same way. On a keyboard, the arrow keys move a ring around the board and Enter or Space picks the tile under it. H is a hint, U undo, S shuffle, C calm, B put back, M mutes and Esc pauses.
Turn a phone sideways and the helpers move to a column at the side so the board gets the whole height. Settings has a high contrast mode and a large pieces mode.
The wind
This is the part that makes Kite Lines different. A weathervane at the top shows the wind. After every pair you clear, each tile drifts as far as it can in that direction, into the gaps, the way things fall with gravity. Calm means nothing moves.
From level 25 the wind turns. The vane shows how many pairs are left before it changes and which way it will blow next. So you can plan: clear a pair now before a drift slides a tile out of reach, or leave a gap the next wind can use. A drift can also line two twins up for you.
Festival hills and new pieces
There are five hills with 300 boards between them, and the sky changes through the day as you climb: dawn on Spring Hill, golden hour on the beach, lantern light at the festival. A new piece arrives every 8 to 12 levels with a gentle board that shows it off first. About one board in five is marked Tricky and needs a little planning, and the board after it is always an easy one.
| Hill | Levels | What's new |
|---|---|---|
| Spring Hill | 1 to 40 | Calm boards, then a steady wind from level 10, side winds from 18 and turning winds from 25 |
| Kite Beach | 41 to 100 | Shells that block strings and drifting tiles. Clear 2 pairs next to one and it washes away (big shells need 3). Later, a tide wind that swings back and forth |
| Rice Terraces | 101 to 160 | Tied tiles. Two tiles share a bow, and the one with the knot has to go first. Later, ribbons with three tiles |
| Mountain Pass | 161 to 220 | Clouds that hide a tile until one of its sides opens up. Thick clouds need two open sides |
| Lantern Festival | 221 to 300 | Bigger boards, swirling winds and every piece mixed together |
Stars, helpers and getting stuck
Clear a board with no hints and under its time for 3 stars (about 4 seconds a pair; the stars at the top of the board show what you're on course for). Over the time, or with one hint, earns 2 stars, and any clear earns 1.
- Hint lights up a pair you can join now and tells you why it's a good one. Your first hint on every board doesn't use one of your saved hints, though it still counts as a hint for stars and the daily no-helpers bonus.
- Put back returns your last pair. It's free once on every board and doesn't count as a helper.
- Undo takes back a pair any time you have one.
- Calm stops the wind for the next 3 pairs.
- Shuffle deals the pictures still on the board over the same spots, and it always leaves a board you can clear.
If no pair can be joined, the game says so and gives you a free shuffle. It never costs a star. There are no lives and no energy. Helpers are earned from Today's goals, star gifts every 25 stars, finishing a hill, kite sets and Big Kite stamps, and they're only used when you tap them.
Daily Sky and Big Kite
The Daily Sky is the same board for everyone on the same day, changing at midnight UTC. Each weekday has its own flavour: a big calm board on Sunday, a steady wind on Monday, a turning wind on Tuesday, shells on Wednesday, bows on Thursday, clouds on Friday and a festival mix on Saturday. Your first finished run of the day goes on the leaderboard and your streak. Replays are practice, and one missed day a week bends your streak instead of breaking it.
| Daily Sky score | Points |
|---|---|
| Each pair | 20 |
| Clearing the board | 1,000 |
| Flow: a pair within 3 seconds of the last | 10 more for each pair in the run, up to 50 |
| Time bonus | 600 minus your seconds |
| No Hint, Undo, Calm or Shuffle used (Put back and the free shuffle when stuck don't count) | 300 |
Every week (Monday to Sunday, UTC) there's also a Big Kite board shaped like a kite: a carp, a butterfly, a star, a box kite, a dragon and more. Every pair you clear paints a piece of the picture, and finishing it earns that week's stamp plus a Calm and an Undo. The all-time leaderboard is your total stars from the 300 boards.
The kite book
The kite book holds 36 kites in six sets: carp, bird, box and butterfly kites come from clearing levels, star kites from flying Daily Skies, and dragon kites from Big Kite stamps. Each full set gives one of every helper. The kites you've collected fly over the hill on the title screen.
Tips and strategy
- Look at the edges first. Tiles on the outside rows can almost always reach the lane, so two twins on the same edge are an easy pair.
- When a picture has only two tiles left, they can only go with each other. If one of them is buried, clear around it early.
- Before you take a pair, check the vane. In a down wind, clearing low tiles makes the column above drop, which can block a string you were counting on.
- Save Calm for a board with a strong turning wind, right before the turn that would wreck a good layout.
Questions
Is Kite Lines free?
Yes. It's free to play in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer, with no download and nothing to buy.
Can every board be cleared?
Yes. Every board is built so that it can be cleared, and every one of the 300 levels, the Daily Skies and the Big Kite boards are checked by a solver. A shuffle always leaves a board you can still clear.
Why won't two matching tiles join?
A string needs a path of empty spots that turns no more than twice. When it can't reach, it draws to where it snags so you can see the tile in the way.
Is there a time limit?
No. The clock never ends a board. Finishing quickly only adds a third star on levels and a time bonus on the Daily Sky.
Does my progress save?
Yes. The board you're on is saved after every pair, so you can close the tab and pick up exactly where you left off.
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