RinseWash every tile clean: the rules of Rinse
Learn Rinse on its first boards: pour above the dirt, let the water carry it away, and wash every tile before the tank runs dry. Stars, undo and the hint.
, updated , 4 min read
The first board in Rinse is a row of white tiles with a crust of brown grime on top, and a tank that holds a few pours. Pour once over the middle, and the water runs along the row, scrubs it and carries the grime off the ends. Every tile comes clean, and the level is washed.
One rule: dirty water runs downhill
Tap above the dirt to pour. The water falls, lifts the grime off every tile it touches and carries it along. But water only holds dirt while it moves:
- falling water carries the most
- sliding water carries a little
- still water carries none
So dirty water drops its grime again wherever it slows down, often on whatever sits below it. Grime only leaves the board over the edges and, later on, through drains. The level is washed when no grime is left anywhere, on a tile or in the water, and clean water left standing is fine.
Aim, then pour
You can tap anywhere in a column to pour straight into it. Or touch and slide first: a nozzle rides along the top of the board, and a dotted line with a ring shows where the water will land. Lift your finger, and it pours.
A pour is one tap, so how fast your finger moves never matters. Each pour uses one from the tank, and Pours left at the top says how many you have. Dirty tiles counts what is still to wash.
Level 1 walks you through aiming and pouring with a short guide, and How to play in Settings brings it back whenever you want it.
Stars, undo and running out
Every level has a goal: the fewest pours that wash it clean.
- Three stars: washed within the goal.
- Two stars: one pour more.
- One star: any other clean finish.
The star meter at the top drops a star as your pours run past the goal. Undo puts the board and the tank back to before your last pour, and Restart begins the level again.
If the tank runs dry and the water settles with grime still left, the level is over. The card says how many dirty tiles are left and offers One more pour, Restart or Levels. In the Android app, One more pour comes from a short video you choose to watch, once a try.
Something new each chapter
Each chapter adds one new piece, and its first level is small enough that the piece explains itself:
- First rinse: pouring, and washing every tile.
- Downhill: dirty water runs down onto whatever is below.
- Drains: here the water can only leave through the grates.
- Mud: mud holds water back, and one splash knocks it loose.
- Baths: a bath holds whatever reaches it, so fill it clean first.
- Plugs: knock out a muddy plug to let a bath drain.
- Trays: a tray tips its water out once it is full.
After that the pieces come together, and the later chapters ask you to plan each pour before you tap.
When you are stuck
The light bulb at the top right is the hint. It lights the column to pour into next and where that water will land. It follows a way to wash the level clean from the board as it stands, so it still helps after a pour that did not go to plan. If the water left can no longer wash the level clean, the hint says so, costs nothing, and the screen offers Undo.
Every hint on the first 15 levels is free. After that the Android app gives you 3 free hints a day, and a hint beyond those asks for a short video you can choose to watch. With the Supporter pack every hint is free.
A few habits
- Wash from the top down. Whatever you clean high up may be dirtied again by water from above.
- Watch where water slows. That is where it drops its grime.
- Fill a bath with clean water before any dirty water reaches it.
- When a pour goes wrong, undo it. It costs nothing.
After the first chapter, a daily puzzle opens too, the same for everyone, with a streak to keep. There is more about the game on its page.