A game by Kemal Efe · the secret gate
Crack the code. Save the flock.
Help the little girl open the gate and bring the chickens home.
Bring the chickens home!
Ready to try Level 1?
You’re doing well! Try finding the pairs yourself. After two mistakes, the yellow helper comes back.
Press Play, then select a pair for the little girl to touch.
How to play
The chickens need to get home before the wolves catch them. Help the little girl open the gate!
Press Play. Point to two blocks next to each other. The yellow frame suggests one helpful pair. When hints are hidden, a light frame shows the pair you are choosing. Click, or press Touch blocks, and she will run over and touch them. Put all the green blocks together and all the gold blocks together, with the empty space at the gate. Then the chickens can run inside!
Choose Classic to start with alternating colors, or Random for a new mix. Choose 3 to 20 pairs. Every random puzzle can be solved. Changing the starting layout begins a new round.
A good choice earns 1 point and moves the blocks. A wrong choice costs 1 point and the blocks stay where they are. In Level 0, one yellow frame always shows a helpful pair. After three successful rounds, you can choose to try Level 1: hints wait until two mistakes, then go away after a good choice. With 3–6 pairs, you can keep Level 0 or change Help level. From 7 pairs onward, there are no hints, even after mistakes.
With 9 pairs or more, every legal pair moves into the empty space. You can make mistakes or return to an earlier position. Moves that undo progress cost 1 point; preparatory moves that keep progress unchanged are free. Every chicken that reaches safety earns 10 points. Both final color orders open the gate. If you finish in the other color order, move penalties are refunded; extra dog calls still cost points. No hints or remaining-move count are shown.
You can also click the yard to let her walk around. Walking does not count as a try. With three pairs, the last move uses the extra space at the right-hand end.
Click or tap your dog when a wolf gets too close. He will chase one wolf away for eight seconds before it starts coming back. You can call him as often as you need. The first two calls each round are free; every extra call costs 1 point. As soon as he chases one wolf away, call again to send him after the next wolf.
Slide Wolf speed from 0 to 10. Zero lets you practise while the wolves stay still. You can change the speed while you play. If a round is too hard, the wolves slow down next time. Level 0 keeps your chosen pace after a win. In Level 1, save all three chickens without a mistake and the next round gets a little faster. Start over begins again at the first round.
After a few seconds on the start or score screen, a demo plays automatically with the game’s sounds. The large DEMO label means the game is playing itself. Press Play, choose a pair of blocks, or click the dog to start your own game immediately. The banner changes to Your turn. Demo points do not change your progress. Tap for sound enables audio if your browser needs a click first.
After three easy wins in a row at the same size, Click here to get the game up to your level offers one more pair, up to 20. The choice is yours.
After a successful rescue, choose Click when ready for next level below the blocks to play the next round.
Pause lets everyone take a break. The game also pauses when you leave this tab. Arrow keys choose a pair; Space or Enter tells her to go.
The puzzle algorithms are described in Kemal Efe’s “Generalizations and Optimal Solutions for Coin Sorting Puzzles”, 17th International Conference on Computer Games (CGAMES), 2012, pp. 180–187.