Arcade Whale
Arcade Whale OriginalMade in-house, free to play
Snip
- Developer
- Arcade Whale
- Genre
- Puzzle
- Released
- Updated
- Platforms
- Browser (desktop, mobile, tablet)
- Orientation
- Landscape
- Players
- Single player
How to play
Desktop Drag across or click a rope to cut · H hint · R reset
Touch Swipe or tap a rope, or tap its shape (small sideways board: tap to aim, tap again to cut)
About Snip
Snip is a rope-cutting physics puzzle. Coloured objects hang from ropes above a field of deflector pegs, and buckets wait below. Cut a rope and the object falls, bounces off whatever pegs are in the way, and lands somewhere — ideally in the bucket that matches it.
The pegs are what make it a puzzle rather than a drop test. An object rarely falls straight into its bucket; it glances off a peg, changes direction, and arrives somewhere you have to predict rather than hope for. Reading the peg layout before cutting is most of the game.
Order matters as much as aim, because some pegs flip after a shape rides them. A cut early in the level can turn a peg that a later shape needed, so levels that look like several independent drops are usually one ordered sequence in disguise.
That makes the useful habit patience: work out the full sequence before the first cut rather than snipping the obvious rope and improvising. A wrong cut is never a disaster, because the shape springs back onto its rope and the pegs reset, but every miss costs one of your three hearts and the stars that go with it.
Hint and Reset are there for when a sequence goes wrong. Click and drag across a rope to snip it on desktop, or swipe across it on mobile; a tap on the rope or just beside it cuts it too. On a small sideways phone screen, tapping a shape first previews its fall; tap it again to cut. Runs in the browser with nothing to install, and there is no timer, so planning is free.
Swipe across a rope to snip it — click and drag on a desktop, a finger swipe on a phone — or simply tap the rope. The shape underneath falls, and where it lands is decided by the pegs in its way: a peg pushes it one column left or right, and a shape only counts if it reaches the bucket of its own color. A shape that lands anywhere else springs back onto its rope and costs a heart.
What turns this into a puzzle is that half the pegs FLIP after something rides them, so the path a shape takes depends on everything you dropped before it — the order you cut in is the entire decision. The first six levels are a tutorial where any order works; from level seven onward every board has an order that works and orders that do not. Hint shows the next cut and Reset restarts the board.
The levels do not run out. They climb from a two-shape drop with no pegs at all to boards of seven shapes, and after the hand-made ones new boards keep coming: one of the hardest boards, mirrored or recoloured, with one more piece whose timing matters, never the same board twice in a row. Each level unlocks the next, and the game opens on the furthest level you have reached.
Frequently asked questions
How do I cut a rope?
Click and drag across the rope on desktop, or swipe across it on a touchscreen. A tap on the rope works too, and a swipe or tap that lands just beside a thin rope still cuts the nearest one. You can also tap the shape itself. On a phone held sideways, where the board is small, the first tap only shows where the shape will fall and a second tap on it cuts, so a mis-tap costs nothing. The object hanging from the rope then falls and bounces off the pegs below.
Why do objects not land where I expect?
The deflector pegs change an object's path as it falls, so objects rarely drop straight down. Reading the peg layout and predicting the bounce before cutting is the main skill in the game.
Does the order of cuts matter?
Yes. Some pegs flip after a shape rides over them, so every cut changes the path of the shapes that fall after it. Most levels are a single ordered sequence rather than several independent drops.
Can I undo a cut?
There is no undo, and you do not need one. A shape that misses its bucket springs back onto its rope and the pegs return to how they were, so the board is the same as before the cut. The miss costs a heart, and Reset restarts the level whenever you want a clean try.
What happens when a shape misses its bucket in Snip?
It falls to the wrong spot, then springs back up onto its rope, and the pegs return to how they were, so the board is exactly as it was before the cut. The miss costs one of your three hearts. A wrong guess never ruins the board, but it does cost you stars.
What happens when I run out of hearts?
An Out of hearts card appears with the board still waiting behind it. Retry starts the level again with three fresh hearts.
How do stars work in Snip?
Your stars match the hearts you have left when the last shape lands, never fewer than one. Flipping gates by hand also caps the result: one or two flips limit you to two stars, and three or more to one. For three stars, clear the level with no misses and no manual flips.
Can I flip a gate myself?
Yes. Click or tap one of the brass flipping gates to switch the way it points. It does not cost a heart, but it does count against your stars, so it works best as a way out of a board you cannot read rather than as the plan. On a phone held sideways, the first tap selects the gate and shows what a flip costs; a second tap flips it.
Does Snip run out of levels?
No. The first six levels are a tutorial, then the boards get harder, growing from two shapes to seven. After that new boards keep coming: one of the hardest boards, mirrored or recoloured, with one extra piece whose timing matters, and never the same board twice in a row. Each level unlocks the next, and the game reopens on the furthest level you have reached.
Can I see where a shape will land before I cut it?
On a computer, hover over a hanging shape and a dotted line traces its fall, ending in a ring if it reaches its bucket or a red cross if it will miss. The Hint button shows the same path for the best next cut. You get one free hint per level.
