At level 95, the target picture itself becomes part of the puzzle. On a mystery level, some cells of the picture show a ? instead of their colour. As you swipe, more of the picture is revealed, until you can see all of it.
How the reveal works
The rules are fixed and fair:
- At the start, 40% of the picture's cells (rounded up) are shown. The rest show ?.
- Every swipe that moves a pane reveals more. The remaining cells are shown in equal batches.
- The batches are sized so that after par − 1 swipes the whole picture is visible. If you are on the perfect route, you see the full answer before your final swipe.
- Hidden cells can be any kind of cell: glass colour, a mix, empty, or stone.
- The order in which cells appear is fixed for each level, so replaying a level reveals the same cells in the same order.
- When you solve the level, the full picture is shown.
The panes themselves are not hidden. You can always see every pane, its colour and its rail.
The challenge: planning with partial information
On normal levels you can work out the entire solution before you swipe. On mystery levels you usually can't, at least at first. Instead you work in steps:
- Solve what you can see. Use the shown cells to place the panes they pin down. A visible mixed cell, a visible empty cell or a visible stone cell often fixes a pane's position completely.
- Make a swipe you are sure about. Every swipe reveals more, so a confident early swipe gives you more of the picture for free.
- Re-read the picture after every swipe. New cells may change your plan.
- Use what the panes tell you. Even hidden cells can be worked out. Each pane covers exactly as many cells as it has. If a cyan bar of three must fit in a row where two cyan cells are visible, the third is probably next to them.
Thinking in possibilities
A good mystery-level habit is to keep two or three possible answers in mind and choose swipes that are useful for all of them. For example, if a pane has to end at the left edge in every possible answer, swipe it first. It costs nothing, it reveals more cells, and it will never need to move again.
Tip. Avoid "testing" swipes that you would need to undo. Undo puts the panes back, but the swipe still counts toward your total and par is unforgiving on long mystery levels.
Stars on mystery levels
Scoring is the same as everywhere: three stars for par or par + 1, two stars up to a little more, one star for any solve. See par, stars and perfect solves. Because the full picture appears just before your last perfect swipe, a perfect solve is always possible, but it takes careful reading.
Hints on mystery levels
Hints work as normal: the gold hint button shows the next best swipe from your current position, using the real target, even the hidden parts. Using a hint does not cost stars, and it also reveals more of the picture once you make the swipe.
Mystery and frost never mix
Frosted glass hides the colour of panes. Mystery pictures hide parts of the target. PaneSlide never combines the two on one level, because hiding both the glass and the answer would leave too much to guesswork. Every level must be solvable by reasoning.
Why mystery pictures?
Mystery pictures are the last of the nine special kinds taught in Levels mode. By level 95 you have learned to read the picture very well. Mystery levels ask you to do it with less, to trust the rules you know, and to make confident moves before the whole answer is clear. Beat chapter 5's boss at level 100 and mystery pictures will keep appearing in later chapters alongside the other kinds.
Play from level 95 on the level map.
Mystery pictures arrive at level 95, in the Lantern Market. See Lantern Market and Lavender Loft tips.