How to play Apsis: the rules in two minutes

Apsis is a puzzle about getting out. There is a small planetary system on the screen: a warm sun, a few faint orbits, and arrows resting on them. You have one move, the tap, and one goal: send every arrow out of the system.

This guide covers everything you need for your first levels. Level 1 also opens with a short guide on the system itself, which you can skip and replay any time from How to play in Settings.

One tap, one straight line

Tap an arrow and it flies straight the way it points. It does not follow its orbit. The orbits are only where the arrows rest, and every flight is a straight line from where the arrow sits.

What happens next depends on one thing: whether anything is in the way.

• If the path is clear, the arrow zips off, fades past the edge of the system and is gone for good. A soft note rings as it goes.
• If another arrow is in the way, the tapped arrow lurches forward to the exact point where it touches, both arrows flash coral, and it springs back to where it was. That costs one heart.

A miss never changes the board. The arrow is back in its place and you can carry on; all you lose is the heart.

Three hearts a level

Every level starts with three hearts. They are the only pressure in the game: there is no timer and no move limit, and you can take as long as you like over each tap.

When the last arrow leaves, the hearts you still have become your stars. Clear a level without a single miss and you earn three stars. Lose all three hearts and the level ends with a sheet that says “Out of hearts”, with Retry as the big button, which puts every arrow back. There is more on scoring in three stars and hearts.

Hold to see where it goes

You do not have to guess. Put a finger on an arrow and keep it there: the arrow lifts and its path appears, a dotted line over a faint band, all the way out to the rim.

The band is exactly as wide as the arrow. That matters, because an arrow is not a thin line: it is a pill with some width to it, and it can clip the corner of a neighbour its centre line would miss. If any part of another arrow touches the band, the way is blocked.

The hold also forgives a wrong press:

1. Lift your finger on the arrow and it launches, just like a tap.
2. Slide onto a neighbour and that one lifts instead, with its own path showing, so a press that caught the wrong arrow is put right before anything counts.
3. Slide out into open space and the arrow settles back down. Nothing is launched and no heart is lost.

The guide shows the way and the width, never the answer. Judging whether the band is clear is the puzzle.

The kinds of arrow

Every arrow rests with its centre on an orbit. It can point straight out, away from the sun, or along its orbit in either direction. From level 16 some arrows are long, 80 units instead of 44, so they sit in more paths. From level 31 some point at an angle, 45 degrees between straight out and along the orbit, and later levels add diagonals that point inward and fly past the sun. No arrow ever points straight at the sun.

The levels that introduce something say so in one line of text at the bottom of the screen: “Tap an arrow to launch it”, “Only a clear path gets out”, “Hold to see where it goes”, “Long ones block more” and “Some fly off at an angle”. After that, the board speaks for itself.

Stuck? Ask for a hint

The light bulb at the top right dims the screen around one arrow that can leave right now, and draws its way out. It picks the free arrow whose launch frees the most others, so it teaches you how a good player reads the board. Any touch puts it away. Here is how the hint works.

The button at the bottom is restart: every arrow goes back where it started, with three fresh hearts.

If you play in a browser, the keyboard works too: H for a hint, R to restart, Enter for the next level or a retry, and Esc to go back.

Your first five minutes

1. On level 1, tap each arrow and watch where it goes. All three are free.
2. On level 2, before each tap, look along the arrow’s direction. Is anything in the way?
3. From level 3, hold before you tap. It costs nothing and shows you the band.
4. After each launch, look again. An arrow that leaves opens a path for the ones it was blocking.
5. Don’t chase three stars yet. Clear first, then come back for a clean run.

Every level can be cleared, and none depends on luck or speed. For habits that save hearts, read the beginner tips.