Lights Out is a simple puzzle game consisting of a five by five array
of lights, each of which can be on or off. The object of the game is
to make all of the lights go off. When you click on a light, that
light and its four neighbors reverse state, so that if a light were on, it
would turn off, and vice versa. The four neighbors of a square are
the squares directly above, below, left, and right of that square.
Each puzzle has multiple solutions, but some take more moves than
others. The ultimate object of the game is to solve each level in the
minimum number of moves necessary. The game keeps track of the number
of moves you made and you can compare that with the optimum number.
Playing the game
This game has 25 levels which start easy and get more difficult as you
move up. When you clear one level, it automatically moves to the next
one. Some of the levels look easy, but actually are more tricky than
you would expect.
If you get completely lost on a level and you want to start it over,
simply click on the "Reset" button, and that will reset the board to
its original state for that level. If you totally give up and want to
look at the answer, click on the "See solution" button. You will see
a little animation of the solution being executed.
Finally, if you are curious about levels later on or want a bigger
challenge, you can warp to any level you want. The levels go from 1
to 25 with 1 being the easiest and 25 the hardest. In fact, level 25
is so difficult that if you get the solution, I will be very
impressed! To warp to a level, type in the level you want and then
click the "Warp to level" button.
Theory
Lights Out is a simple game to play, but the theory behind the game
and its solutions is much more interesting. The game is in many ways
like the Rubik's cube and involves many mathematical concepts. Click
here to see how the theory works for
the game and its solution.