Daily Brains · find the hidden law, then break exactly one of its clauses.
Rulebreak is the rule-discovery puzzle in Daily Brains (/daily). A handful of small boards of coloured shapes all obey one hidden law. The law is made of one to three clauses, shown as wax seals. Below them sits a workbench board. Change no more than the allowed number of squares so the workbench breaks exactly one clause: not zero, not two. Each test reports only how many clauses broke, never which, so you have to understand the law, not guess at it.
STORY & LORE
Why exactly one
Breaking an unknown rule is easy: change anything and something usually breaks. Rulebreak asks for a surgical break instead. You may change only the minimum number of squares (one or two), and the result must break exactly one clause while keeping the others. On harder laws the workbench starts out already breaking two or three clauses, so the job is to repair all but one. The generator measures how often a random change would succeed and throws away any law where that is more than 12% (Easy), 8% (Normal), 6% (Hard) or 4% (Genius).
Every law is pinned down
The laws come from a family of about 160 clauses about counts, positions, neighbours, symmetry, colour and shape, nested rows, exceptions, Boolean logic and odd arithmetic (prime and square numbers). Before a puzzle is shown, the validator lists every other law in the family with the same number of clauses that also fits the examples and the workbench's starting state. Every one of those rival laws must accept exactly the same answers within the change budget, so the examples always carry enough information.
HOW IT PLAYS
Playing
Pick a shape and a colour from the palette, then tap a square to place that piece. Tap the same piece again, or use the eraser, to clear a square. Squares that differ from the starting board get a dashed pink frame. The Changes chip counts them, and the game refuses a change beyond the budget. Test checks the board. A tested board joins the panel on top with its result, so a test that stays lawful becomes one more lawful example. Undo and Reset are free. Keyboard: arrows move, Space places, C, S and T pick a shape, Y, R and B a colour, X the eraser, Enter tests, U undoes, Shift+R resets, H reveals a clause.
Tiers and modes
Easy: one clause, 3×3 boards, the workbench starts lawful. Normal: two simple clauses on 4×4 boards. Hard: two clauses, at least one about relations between pieces (touching, rows, colour-shape counts), usually two changes. Genius: three clauses including nested rules, exceptions, logic or unusual maths. Daily gives every player the same four laws, generated from the puzzle number with a weekly theme per tier. Classics are four handmade laws, one per tier. Practice deals fresh laws without scoring.
Scoring
A tier is worth 400 (Easy), 600 (Normal), 800 (Hard) or 1000 (Genius) on the first test, 70% on the second and 45% on the third. Each revealed clause (the Hint button) takes 20% off. After three failed tests the law is revealed with one answer. Your first solve of the day is the day's score and keeps the streak. Solving on the first test with no hints is a perfect day. If all four tiers stay unbroken, the day counts as lost.
Sharing
The share card lists each tier you finished with a mark per test (■ the breaking test, □ a miss, · unused) and the score. It never shows the boards or the law.
THE TIERS
| Tier | Board | Clauses | Changes | Starting board | Random-change cap | Difficulty band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | 3×3 | 1 (simple) | 1 | lawful | 12% | up to 7 |
| Normal | 4×4 | 2 (simple) | 1 | lawful or breaks both | 8% | 7–12.5 |
| Hard | 4×4 | 2 (one relational) | 1–2 | lawful or breaks both | 6% | 12–17 |
| Genius | 4×4 | 3 (one abstract) | 1–2 | breaks 2 or 3 | 4% | 17+ |
THE CLASSICS
| Tier | Name | Clauses | Starts | Answers / possible changes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | The lonely piece | Every row has a piece. | lawful | 1 / 81 |
| Normal | One of two | Every circle is red. Every row has a piece. | breaks both | 8 / 144 |
| Hard | Good neighbours | Every red piece touches a blue one. Pieces of the same shape never touch. | breaks both | 365 / 9,864 |
| Genius | Mirror, mirror | Mirror image top to bottom. Touching pieces share a shape or a colour. Every row with a triangle also has a circle. | breaks 2 | 70 / 9,864 |
REWARDS
| Event | Reward |
|---|---|
| Solve the day's first law | 15 Tickets |
| Perfect day (first test, no hints) | +25 Tickets |
| Loophole (first solve) | Bronze · 10 Tickets |
| Surgical (perfect day) | Silver · 20 Tickets |
| Repeat Offender (3-day streak) | Bronze · 15 Tickets |
| Crime Wave (7-day streak) | Gold · 40 Tickets |
| Outlaw (30-day streak) | Legendary · 100 Tickets |
| Constitutional Crisis (break a Genius law) | Gold · 25 Tickets |
| Perfect Crime (Genius, first test, no hints) | Legendary · 50 Tickets |
| Case Law (all four Classics) | Silver · 20 Tickets |
VERSION HISTORY
- Prototype launch in Daily Brains: Easy, Normal, Hard and Genius laws every day, four handmade Classics and unlimited Practice.
- Rule engine with about 160 clauses, a validator that enumerates rival laws to prove the examples pin down the answers, a random-change cap per tier and a measured difficulty band.
- Scoring by tests and hints, not speed. Streaks, statistics, a spoiler-free share card and saved progress.