1. Splitting a colour with an unnecessary partial pour
What it looks like: You pour three units onto a bottle with room for two. One unit stays behind, and a colour that was in two places is now in three.
Why it hurts: Every extra fragment needs another pour and, worse, another piece of space at the right time.
The fix: Before pouring, check that the target has room for the whole block on top. If it does not, look for a different target — or make a different move entirely.
2. Spending an empty bottle on a single unit for no gain
What it looks like: A loose unit is in the way, so it goes into the empty bottle without a plan for getting it back out.
Why it hurts: An empty bottle accepts any colour; once it holds one unit it accepts exactly one colour. You have converted your most flexible space into your least flexible.
The fix: Only park a unit if it exposes something you need right now, and prefer the colour that has other loose units elsewhere so the bottle can grow into a finished colour.
3. Pouring to make the board look tidy
What it looks like: Two pours that merge small amounts of colour, neither of which frees a bottle or unlocks anything.
Why it hurts: Neatness is not progress. Only two measures matter: how much free space you hold, and how many fragments each colour is split into.
The fix: Ask what a pour achieves before making it. If the answer is 'it looks better', skip it.
4. Emptying a completed bottle
What it looks like: A bottle holds four of one colour, and it gets poured out to 'make room'.
Why it hurts: Nothing under the top of a finished bottle is different, so emptying it cannot expose anything new. It only costs moves and space.
The fix: Treat a finished bottle as sealed. The game on this site blocks this pour for you, but the habit matters on other versions too.
5. Losing the last matching top-colour pair
What it looks like: Two bottles were showing the same colour on top. A pour removes that, and now every bottle shows a different colour.
Why it hurts: With no empty bottle and no matching tops there are no legal pours at all — a hard deadlock.
The fix: Keep one matching pair in reserve as your escape hatch. When two pours look equal, take the one that preserves a pair elsewhere.
6. Working on the most fragmented colour first
What it looks like: The colour scattered in four places looks urgent, so it gets attention before anything else.
Why it hurts: It needs the most space and the most pours, and it usually cannot be finished until other colours have homes.
The fix: Start with the colour at two fragments. Finishing it frees a bottle, which is what makes the scattered colour possible later.
7. Undoing too late
What it looks like: You realise a pour was wrong, then make five more pours hoping the position recovers.
Why it hurts: Each extra pour moves you further from the branch point and makes undo more expensive to use.
The fix: Undo immediately, or restart. A restart on a board you now understand is often the fastest route to a clean solve.
A two-question check before every pour
- Does the whole block fit, or am I creating a new fragment?
- After this pour, can more colours use my remaining space, or fewer?
If the answers are "it fits" and "the same or more", the pour is at worst harmless. Those two questions prevent mistakes 1, 2, 3 and 5 on their own.
Try the check on levels 16 to 20 in the browser game: six colours, two spare bottles, enough room to see the effect of a bad pour without losing the board immediately. The strategy guide explains the reasoning behind both questions, and solving difficult levels covers what to do once a board has already gone wrong.