How to play One Step Late
A daily logic puzzle: three new boards every day, the same for everyone. You step where you choose, and your shadow repeats the move you made the turn before. You can see the holes and never walk into them; your shadow cannot, and follows you straight in. Bring yourself to the sun and your shadow to the moon at the same moment, in as few moves as the par, then share your result without spoiling the board. Missed a day? Every earlier day stays playable.
The rules
- Tap or press Space to open today's three puzzles: Easy, Medium and Hard.
- Move with the arrow keys or WASD, or swipe or tap toward a cell; each move steps you one cell.
- Your shadow then repeats the move you made on the previous turn. The arrow on it shows that next step, and turns red when the step is into a hole.
- Walls, the board's edge and each other block you both. If your shadow falls, the move that aimed it at the hole is taken back, and both moves still count.
- Finish with you on the sun and your shadow on the moon at the same time. Undo and restart do not give moves back, so match the par for a star.
- Press Share (or C) to copy a spoiler-free result, and come back after midnight for the next three.
- Missed a day? The arrows beside the day on the title screen (or the comma and period keys) open every earlier day. Those do not count toward your streak.
A worked example
Say your shadow starts right beside you and there is a hole two cells to your right. You move right — nothing chases you yet, since your shadow has no earlier move to repeat. You move up next, and now your shadow repeats your first move and steps right, straight into the hole.
That turn is taken back: you and your shadow both return to where you stood before it, as if it never happened — except it still counts as a move spent. You try again, moving up first this time so the shadow has a safe move to echo later, then move right yourself once it is clear of the hole.
The pattern this teaches: the shadow never reacts to the board, only to you one turn ago, so a move that is safe for you can still be fatal for it one turn later. Reading the board one move ahead of your own step, not just your own, is the whole puzzle.
One tip for the par
Work backward from the finish: the move that must land your shadow on the moon is the same move you have to make one turn earlier, on the sun. Planning the last two moves as a pair first usually fixes the rest of the route.