Good Fences

1. You start with a simple shape called a Kernel. To construct a Fence, you will completely surround the kernel using copies of it.

2. Every part of the kernel has to be surrounded, even the corners. The shapes on the left don’t make a Good Fence because the circled corner is still exposed. The shapes on the right work, but there’s an extra shape that isn’t part of the Fence; it doesn’t help or hurt to have it there.

3. No courtyards: there can’t be any internal holes in the area surrounded by your Fence. If you create any, they’ll be highlighted in red and the Fence won’t count.

4. Fenceposts must line up. Sometimes, a long side of a shape will be broken into smaller segments, marked with notches. When the shapes are placed next to each other, the notches have to align. Otherwise, the shape won’t count as part of the Fence.

5. Use two fingers to pan and zoom in the play area.

6. The Kernel can create unlimited copies of itself. Just press on the Kernel and drag out new copies as needed.

7. The active shape will have a Gizmo attached to it with four circles. Drag a circle around the shape to rotate it.

8. Sometimes you’ll need to create a mirror image of a shape (it’s not necessary for this Kernel, but it’ll come into play later!). Drag from a Gizmo circle through the centre of the shape to reflect it.

9. When you bring a shape into close alignment with the Kernel and the current Fence pieces, it’ll snap into position and become part of the cluster.

10. Don’t worry, you can always detach pieces and move them around again.

11. If you press and hold on a fence piece, you’ll get a copy of it instead of detaching it. This can be useful for creating a second copy of a piece that’s turned in a direction you need.

12. When dragging tiles, a recycling icon will appear in the bottom-right corner of the screen. Drag tiles onto that icon to discard them.

13. Things get more interesting when you attempt to solve the Min and Max challenges. A Min Fence is one that uses the smallest possible number of pieces (four in this case), and a Max Fence uses the largest possible number (ten). The target numbers for Min and Max change from puzzle to puzzle. For some puzzles, the Min and Max are the same. How many pieces will you need? Figuring that out is part of the challenge!

14. The ultimate Challenge is Two. To earn the Two badge, you must surround your Good Fence with another Fence! For simple shapes that’s easy. The puzzles that offer the Two Challenge are usually far from simple.