Play Pearl loop puzzle (Pearl) online Works — plays right here, unlimited puzzles
Guide updated October 2026 · Runs via WebAssembly (native port)
Pearl is a loop-drawing puzzle. Draw a single closed loop through the centres of squares, moving only horizontally and vertically. Black and white circles, the pearls, say how the loop behaves where it passes them. The loop need not visit every square. The puzzle is ready below; drag across squares to draw the loop.
Controls — what does what
| Action | Keyboard | Mouse / touch |
|---|---|---|
| Draw or remove a loop segment | Shift+Ctrl+arrow | Left-click an edge between squares |
| Draw a run of segments | Enter to start, arrows, Enter to finish | Left-drag through squares |
| Mark an edge as 'no loop here' | Shift+arrow | Right-click an edge |
| Cancel a keyboard drag | Space, Escape or Backspace | - |
| Undo / redo | U or Ctrl+Z / R or Ctrl+R | Game menu |
FREE This is the complete game, free. Open source under the MIT licence: the complete puzzle, with a new grid every time.
Pearl is from Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection, © Simon Tatham and contributors, used under the MIT licence. Built from source by scripts/build-puzzles.mjs.
How to play
- Draw one closed loop that never crosses or touches itself, joining centres of neighbouring squares.
- The loop must pass through every pearl.
- On a black pearl the loop turns a corner, and it goes straight through the squares on both sides of that corner.
- On a white pearl the loop goes straight, and it turns in at least one of the squares just before or just after.
Sizes and difficulty
The Type menu offers 6x6, 8x8, 10x10 and 12x8 grids, each at Easy or Tricky. Custom sets the size, and an 'allow unsoluble' option that shows every possible clue and skips the uniqueness check: it makes very large grids practical, but the answer may not be unique or reachable by pure logic.
Solving tips
A black pearl next to the edge must turn away from it, and its straight arm extends two squares. Two black pearls side by side point away from each other. Three white pearls in a line must all run across that line, not along it. Mark impossible edges with crosses as you go; once a square has two crosses, the loop's path through it is fixed.
Where this puzzle comes from
Pearl is part of Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection, a set of about forty logic puzzles written by Simon Tatham and contributors and released under the MIT licence. Every grid is generated on the spot, so the supply never runs out, and for the grid-logic puzzles the generator makes sure each has exactly one solution, reachable by reasoning rather than guessing. The version here is the collection's own code compiled to WebAssembly; the Game menu can save a puzzle to a file and load it again, and the Type menu changes the size and difficulty.
Frequently asked questions
Does the loop have to go through every square?
No. Only the pearls must be on the loop. Other squares can be left empty.
Is Pearl the same as Masyu?
Yes. Nikoli publishes the puzzle as Masyu. This version comes from Simon Tatham's collection, and the Preferences can switch it to a style where the loop runs along grid lines instead.
Is Pearl free to play here?
Yes, with no limit on the number of puzzles. Pearl is open-source software under the MIT licence, and every grid is generated fresh when you press New game.
Does it work on a phone or tablet?
Yes. A tap works as a click and the puzzle resizes to fit the screen. Puzzles whose controls use the right mouse button are easier with a mouse.
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Want a game like this on your own site?
Pearl loop puzzle (Pearl) isn't ours to give away — we host it, we didn't write it. But eleven of the games here we did write from scratch, and those are free for anyone to put on their own page: one line of HTML, no account, no permission, no attribution beyond a credit line.