Robot Connections

Robot Connections builds its field out of machine parts and cartoon androids, then applies connect rules to them: two identical robots clear when a line can join them with a direct run or at most two turns. The theme is what marks it out from the rest of the connect shelf; the geometry is what you actually play.

There are fifteen levels, and they get harder in a predictable way — more tiles, tighter packing, fewer routes that stay open after a few pairs come off. Each level is timed, so the field has to be emptied before the countdown finishes if you want to see the next one. The Krismas grid sits on the same shelf of gentler boards.

The centre is where the difficulty lives. Robots in the middle have no free room for a line to travel, so the standard opening is to clear inward and keep paths available rather than tidying the edges first. Quick decisions are worth more than perfect ones under a running clock. The onet explainer answers the questions this board raises.

The build accepts mouse and touch input, and the full screen toggle on this page is the sensible first click — a two-turn route across a dense field of androids is hard to see when the tiles are small. Christmas Connect Deluxe sets out another one-layer board on the same rule.

1. Find two identical robot tiles.
2. Check that a straight line or a route with no more than two turns can connect them.
3. Select both to take them off the field.
4. Clear every android before the level timer runs out.
5. Work through all fifteen levels, each one denser than the last.

• Clear from the middle out — central androids block their own routes and strand you late in a level.
• Decide quickly — the timer punishes deliberation more than it punishes an ordinary match.
• Plan two pairs ahead — removing the wrong robot can close the only path another pair had.
• Expect the squeeze — by level twelve or so the field is packed and open routes are scarce.
• Use full screen — enlarged tiles make near-identical machine designs distinguishable at a glance.