How to play Consensus
Consensus is a free daily puzzle. Everyone gets the same network each day, and the goal is to make every node agree on one color in as few taps as you can.
The board
The board is a network of 10 to 16 nodes joined by links. Each node is teal or amber and shows a number: its quorum. The quorum is how many of its linked neighbors must share a color before the node switches to that color. A quorum is always more than half of a node’s links, so a node can never be pulled both ways at once.
Every board starts at rest: no node already has its quorum in the other color.
Tap, then watch it spread
- Tap a node. It flips to the other color.
- That color spreads outward in waves. Each wave checks the neighbors of the nodes that just switched, and any of them that now reach their quorum in that color switch too.
- The wave stops when no neighbor reaches its quorum. Only the color you tapped spreads, and nothing far from the tap changes on its own.
Par and stars
Par is the fewest taps that can solve the board, found by checking every possibility, so every puzzle can be solved in par.
- Solve in par: Perfect consensus, three stars.
- One tap over par: Strong consensus, two stars.
- More than that: Consensus reached, one star.
Stars and points are just for fun. They have no monetary value.
The daily puzzle
- A new puzzle every day at midnight UTC, the same for everyone.
- One attempt: there is no undo, so think before you tap. Your progress survives a page reload.
- Monday and Tuesday are easy (10 nodes, par 2), Wednesday to Friday medium (13 nodes, par 3), and the weekend hard (16 nodes, par 4).
- After you solve it, you can step through a par solution. The next day, yesterday’s puzzle and its solution stay available.
- Missed a day? Every past puzzle is in the archive, to play again with its par solution. Archive games don’t count toward your stats or streak.
Tips for your first boards
- Look for chains of nodes with a low quorum. A tap next to them can run a long way.
- Decide early which color you’re aiming for. A tap spreads the color the node turns into, so tap nodes of the other color.
- Count links before you tap: a node with three links and a quorum of 2 needs two neighbors on its side.
- Stuck? Try Practice: unlimited boards at every level, with a reset button.
Your stats
Streaks, stars and badges live on this device only. See them on the Stats page, and share a result card that shows your taps without spoiling the solution.