How to play Lightyard
Lightyard is a real-time switchyard puzzle. A stream of pulses arrives on a fixed schedule, and you throw the yard's levers while it moves: stamp each pulse at its gates in the right order, and send it home before the line jams. Clearing a level is the first test. Clearing it at par is the puzzle.
The rules
Every level runs on a shared clock. Pulses join their emitter's line on a fixed schedule, and the Next strip above the board shows the next four still to come, with the marks each one carries. You never build or draw track: the yard is laid, and only the levers change.
Pulses and outlets
Each pulse is a cyan circle, amber square or green diamond. Deliver every pulse to the outlet with its shape.
Levers
A lever holds its position until you change it. Swipe it toward a route, or tap the first square of the route you want. Tapping the lever itself turns it to its next route.
Marks, in order
Many pulses carry marks — ring, bar, diamond or hex — shown as chips riding behind them. A marked pulse must be stamped at the matching gate before it may leave, and a pulse with two marks takes them in order. A gate refuses any pulse it is not next in line to stamp, and an outlet refuses a pulse that still owes a mark.
Jams
Gates take time to stamp, and they hold one pulse at a time. Feed one gate too hard and the line backs up into its emitter. Every emitter has a gauge; when it overfills, the line jams and the run ends.
Racks, merges and loops
A rack queues up to two pulses and releases them in order. Where two routes merge, the merge takes from each side in turn. A loop carries a pulse back to an earlier point, which gives you a second pass.
How a run ends
A wrong outlet, a refused gate, a pulse that skipped its stamp, an overfilled emitter, or a line so full nothing can move. The game names the cause, and a retry is immediate and free.
Controlling the clock
Hold the board to slow the line to a third of its speed, or turn on Relaxed speed to run every level a third slower. Both count as assistance. Pausing or leaving the app stops the clock.
A level every day
The Daily tab offers one free level each UTC day, the same for everyone and always a board with gates. It plays as ordinary campaign play, and its stars count toward that level.
Strategy tips
The habits that clear a yard, and then clear it at par.
- 01Read the Next strip before you touch anything.It shows the next four pulses and the marks each still owes. Read them as a run of destinations, not one pulse at a time.
- 02Work backwards from the outlets.Trace each pulse from its outlet back to the emitter: which gates it needs, in what order, and which levers it crosses. A pulse that reaches its second gate before its first is refused, so plan the order, not just the route.
- 03Count the changes, not the pulses.Levers keep their position, so pulses in a row bound for the same route cost nothing extra. List the routes each lever must give, in order. Every change in that list is a flip, which gives you a rough budget before you start.
- 04Never flip "just in case".Every change counts, including one you later undo. On a three-way lever, swipe toward the route you want, or tap it, instead of tapping the lever round: each tap is a separate flip. Pointing at the route a lever already shows costs nothing.
- 05Time flips between pulses.A pulse takes whatever route the lever shows when it leaves the lever, so a flip made while it waits there still redirects it. The safe window is after the previous pulse has left and before the next one arrives. When levers sit in a row, set the downstream one while the pulse is still travelling toward it.
- 06Share the stamping.A gate stamps one pulse at a time, and a rack only takes two. When two gates can give the same mark, alternate between them instead of feeding one. Watch the emitter gauges: a gauge that keeps rising means one gate is doing all the work.
- 07Clear first, then chase par.Any clear counts, whatever the flip count. Play once to learn the timing, then replay with a plan. Over par means some flip in your plan can be avoided. The pause screen shows how many flips you have left at par.
How par and three stars work
Par is the fewest switch flips that can clear the level, found by an exhaustive solver. Every level is tested so it's winnable at par and lost one flip under par. Three stars is always possible, and never free.
| Stars | What it takes |
|---|---|
| ★★★ | Clear in par flips or fewer, with no special and no slowing |
| ★★ | Clear within par plus half of par (rounded up), or par plus 2, whichever is more. For example, par 5 allows up to 8 flips, and par 10 allows up to 15 |
| ★ | Any clear |
Assisted runs stop at two stars. Using any special, holding the board to slow it, or playing at Relaxed speed marks the run as assisted. The HUD shows "Assisted", and the run earns at most two stars however few flips you use.
There are two stars boards. The Open board, the default, ranks everyone on the same 40 levels of chapters 1 and 2, free or Pro. The Full ladder board ranks all 200 levels and is for Pro players. The server replays the moves you made with the same engine before the stars count, and each level counts once, at your best verified run. A run played while a coaching card is up isn't ranked. Offline wins are sent when you reconnect.
Sparks and specials: Peek, Hold and Shield
You earn one Spark for each new star, meaning stars above your previous best on that level. You can hold up to 99. Specials are bought only with Sparks, never with money, and none of them changes a level's par.
| Special | Cost | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Peek | 1 Spark | Shows every pulse still to come for the rest of the run. |
| Hold | 2 Sparks | Pauses the emitters for six ticks, and later arrivals move back by the same amount. Pulses already on the paths keep moving, and racks keep releasing. |
| Shield | 3 Sparks | Arms one charge. The next pulse that would enter a wrong outlet, or a gate it isn't marked for, goes back to the end of its emitter's queue and keeps its marks. If that overfills the emitter, the level still ends. |
Use specials to get past a level that's beating you, then come back without them for three stars.
The ten chapters
There are 200 levels in ten chapters of 20. Marks arrive by level 3 and jams by level 5, and each later chapter adds one new idea. Every level is proven solvable.
| # | Chapter | New idea |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | First Light | Switches, marks and jams |
| 2 | Prism Hall | Two gates, two marks in order |
| 3 | Spectrum Works | Three colours, three-way switches |
| 4 | The Racks | Racks hold pulses back |
| 5 | Loopline | Loops give second chances |
| 6 | Twin Emitters | Two lines at once |
| 7 | Diamond Forge | The diamond gate |
| 8 | Hex Works | The hex gate, and two marks in order |
| 9 | Rush Hour | Faster, denser lines |
| 10 | Signal Core | Everything at once |
Free vs Pro
The rules are the same on both tiers, and there are no ads, lives or energy on either one.
| What you get | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Levels | First 40 (chapters 1–2) | All 200 |
| Stars, par and progress | Included | Included |
| Sparks and specials | Earned in play | Earned in play |
| Open stars board (chapters 1–2) | Included | Included |
| Full ladder stars board (all 200) | Not included | Included |
| Cloud save | No | Included |
Pro comes with the one-time Lightyard Full Game Unlock, or with StackForge Play Pass, a monthly or annual subscription that gives Pro in Lightyard and every StackForge game. Cloud save works when you're signed in, and keeps the better result on every level when it merges with a new phone.
FAQ
How do you get three stars in Lightyard?
Clear the level in par flips or fewer, with no special, no holding the board and Relaxed speed off.
What counts as a flip?
Any change to where a switch points. Tapping the path a switch already shows is not a flip. Tapping a three-way switch to turn it counts once per tap, so swipe or tap the path you want directly.
Can you buy Sparks or specials?
No. Sparks come only from earning new stars, and Peek, Hold and Shield are bought only with Sparks. A run that uses one earns at most two stars.
How many levels are free?
The first 40, which is chapters one and two. Pro opens all 200 levels and adds cloud save.
Why was my pulse refused at a gate?
A gate only stamps a pulse whose next mark is its own. A plain pulse, or one that still owes an earlier mark, is refused and the run ends. Check the chips behind the pulse: the first chip is the gate it needs next.
What does "Jammed" mean?
An emitter's line backed up until its gauge overfilled. Spread the stamping across gates, and keep levers from sending a whole run of pulses to one slow gate.
Do I need an account for the stars board?
No. Winning a level puts you on the stars board without signing in. Cloud save, which comes with Pro, is the feature that needs you signed in.
What happened to Lumen Light?
Lightyard is Lumen Light, rebuilt as a switchyard: marks and jams from the opening levels, a new board, icon and name. Your stars and cleared levels carry over.