Lights Out Game
Press a light to flip it and its four neighbours. Switch every light off in as few presses as you can.
How to play the lights out game online
- Open the Mode select and choose Random puzzle, Levels or Set up & solve. The page opens in Random puzzle.
- In Random puzzle, pick a Size from 3×3 to 7×7 and a Difficulty of Easy, Medium or Hard, then select New game for a new puzzle.
- In Levels, choose any of the 30 levels from the Level select. They are ordered easiest first, but you can play them in any order.
- Click or tap a light to press it. Each press flips that light and its neighbours.
- Check the chips after each press. Moves counts your presses, Minimum shows the fewest presses needed from the start, and Left shows the fewest needed from where you are now.
- If you are stuck, select Hint. It highlights one light that belongs to a minimum solution, and each hint lowers Left by exactly one.
- Select Undo to take back a press, or Restart to return to the starting position.
- When the last light goes dark, the game shows “All lights out!” with the number of presses you used.
You can also play with the keyboard. Press Tab to reach the board, use the arrow keys to move between lights, and press Enter or Space to press the focused light. Press F for fullscreen. In Random puzzle and Levels, Show solution marks a minimum solution from your current position.
What are the lights out game rules?
Each press flips the light you press and its four direct neighbours above, below, left and right. Diagonal lights are not affected, and the board does not wrap around at its edges. A corner light flips 3 lights in total, an edge light flips 4, and a light in the middle flips 5. The goal is to make every light dark, and there is no timer or score apart from the number of presses.
Does the order of presses matter in lights out?
No, the order never matters. Pressing the same light twice cancels out, so the solution is simply a set of lights, each pressed once. This is why the game marks a solution with blue dots rather than a numbered sequence. The Minimum chip is the smallest number of lights in such a set that solves the puzzle from its starting position.
Are all lights out puzzles solvable?
No. Whether a pattern can be solved depends on the board size. On 3×3, 6×6 and 7×7 boards, every pattern can be solved, and each has exactly one set of presses. On 4×4, only 1 pattern in 16 can be solved. On 5×5, only 1 pattern in 4 can be solved, so a single lit corner light, for example, has no solution. Some press sets change nothing at all, and a pattern has to line up with them to be solvable. Random puzzles and levels are built by pressing lights on a dark board, so they are always solvable. In Set up & solve, a pattern that cannot be solved shows “–” for Minimum.
What is a good lights out game strategy?
A reliable approach is to work out which lights to press, not to guess. A well-known method, called light chasing, works row by row. On a 5×5 board, the top row decides the rest of the solution: if a light in one row is lit, pressing the light directly below it in the next row turns it off. Working down the board this way leaves only the last row to check. This game does not show that method. Instead, it solves the puzzle for you, and its Hint button points to a light from a minimum solution.
How does the solver find the fewest presses?
The solver treats each light as a yes-or-no question: press it or not. It sets up the rules as a system of equations where each value is either 0 or 1, then solves that system with Gaussian elimination. On 4×4 and 5×5 boards, several press sets can solve the same pattern, so the solver checks each candidate and keeps the one with the fewest presses. The result is exact, not an estimate.
Frequently asked questions
Is this lights out game free, and do I need to sign up?
Yes, the game is free to play in your browser. You do not need an account, and there is no sign-up step.
Can I play the lights out game on a phone?
Yes. Tap a light to press it. The board scales to the screen and fits 375 px and 320 px phone widths without sideways scrolling.
Is my lights out game saved?
Your progress is saved in your browser on this device only. The current random puzzle, your presses on any unfinished level, your best results and your settings are kept. Reloading the page restores your exact position.
What does the Minimum number mean?
Minimum is the fewest presses that solve the puzzle from its starting position. It is calculated exactly by the solver, so you can compare your result with the smallest possible number.
Why did the Left number go up?
Left is recalculated after every press. If you press a light that is not part of a minimum solution from your current position, the fewest remaining presses can rise. Use Undo to take back that press.
Can I enter my own pattern?
Yes, in Set up & solve. Pressing a light there flips only that light, so you can copy a pattern from another game or a book. If the pattern is solvable and has at least one light on, select Play this puzzle to play it as a random puzzle.
Does the game have sounds, timers or leaderboards?
No. The game has no sound, timer, leaderboard or move limit. The only count it keeps is the number of presses.
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