Carillon's daily field: when it changes and how to clear it fast

Carillon's daily puzzle gives every player the same field, and it changes at 12:30 in the afternoon in India. How the clock, taps and streak work, and how to be quick.

Shravan GoswamiShravan GoswamiMakes the gamesShravan runs Chaosmos. He designs the games, plays every build on his phone, and decides what ships., 5 min read
A Carillon daily field of glowing dots in five colours, every dot still waiting, set inside a faint clock face that reads half past twelve

Carillon has a daily puzzle now. Once a day a new field of dots appears, the same field for every player, and you clear it against a clock. Here is how it works, when it changes, and what helps when the seconds are ticking.

The short version

  • It opens after the first chapter, 20 levels in, from the Daily puzzle button on the title screen.
  • Everyone plays the same field on the same day.
  • A clock takes the place of the stars, and your time is your score.
  • There is no hint in the daily.
  • Your first solve of the day is the one that counts.
  • Solve it on its own day to keep your streak going.

When the field changes

The field changes at 12:30 in the afternoon, India time. That is 7:00 in the morning UTC, and midnight at UTC-7.

Three timelines for India, UTC and UTC-7, with one dashed line through 12:30, 7:00 and 0:00 where the daily puzzle and its leaderboard change

Why such an odd time? Play Games starts each day’s leaderboard at midnight UTC-7, all year round. If the field changed at midnight in India instead, one day’s leaderboard would mix times from two different fields. So the field changes at the exact moment the leaderboard does, and every time on a day’s board is for the same dots.

One thing follows from this if you play in India. In the morning you are still on the field that started the afternoon before, and the date on the card says so. A field dated Saturday is the one you play from Saturday 12:30 until Sunday 12:30. The daily screen always shows how long is left, under “Next puzzle in”.

For a lot of people that makes it a nice lunch-break puzzle: a fresh field just as the afternoon starts.

What a daily field is like

Daily fields use only what the first chapter teaches. Tap a dot and it pops and sends out a ring, every dot the ring touches pops in turn, and dots come in three sizes, with a bigger dot ringing further. There are no pairs, no heavy bells and none of the later chapters’ marks, so nothing new turns up while the clock is running.

The week climbs from Monday to Sunday. A Monday field has about 16 to 20 dots and can be cleared in three taps. A Sunday field has 30 to 35 dots and needs five. The fields in between grow a little each day.

You get the same spare as in the levels: the fewest taps the field needs, plus one. The dots at the top of the screen show how many taps you have left.

If you run out, Retry puts the whole field back. The clock does not stop for a retry, and the daily has no extra tap for a video, so running out costs you real time.

Clearing a field quickly

With no hint to lean on, these are the things that save the most seconds.

Find the dots nobody else can reach. A dot that no other dot’s ring can touch will only pop if you tap it. So it has to be one of your taps, and finding those dots first gives you most of your plan before you touch anything. Reach, sources and decoys explains this with pictures.

Count before you tap. If you have found three dots that must be tapped and you have four taps, you know you have one tap to cover everything else. That one number tells you whether to look for a big chain or to keep your spare safe.

Look past the big dots. A big dot rings furthest, and it feels like the right first tap. But if another dot’s ring already reaches it, it will pop in that chain anyway, and your tap may do more somewhere else.

Hold a dot to see its reach. Holding a dot shows how far its ring will go before you commit. It takes a second, and on a Sunday field it can save a retry.

Do not chase the shortest plan. In the levels, three stars ask for the fewest taps. The daily only asks for time, so a plan that uses your spare tap but is clear in your head is better than a perfect plan you are still working out.

Your streak and the calendar

The Daily puzzle screen shows today’s field, your current streak, your best streak and how many days you have solved, with the month laid out as a calendar under them.

Carillon's daily puzzle screen at night: today solved in 0:47, an 11 day streak, and a November calendar with the solved days filled in blue

A day counts for your streak when it is solved on its own day. Miss a day and the streak breaks once that day is over, unless you keep it. Any missed day from the last week can be kept with a short video or a Streak keeper, and the streak carries on.

The calendar goes back to the very first daily, so a new player has plenty to look back on. Today’s field is always free. A past day opens after a short video, then stays open, and with the Supporter pack every past day is free. Its time is saved on the calendar, but a past day is not on the leaderboard and does not count for your streak.

Sign in with Play Games

If you sign in, your first time each day goes on today’s leaderboard, fastest first. You will also find a leaderboard for the longest daily streak, and four daily achievements: Daily habit for your first one, then Full week, Full month and Hundred days for streaks of 7, 30 and 100 days. Your progress is saved to your Google account too.

When you finish, the share button sends your time and your streak to a friend. Since everyone has the same field that day, it is a fair race.

See you at 12:30

The field is waiting on the title screen once your first chapter is done. There is more about Carillon on its page.

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