Daily Harbor puzzle and streaks

What the Daily Harbor is

Every day Harbor Escape publishes one new puzzle, called Daily Harbor in the game and numbered from the first one on 1 October 2026 (Daily Harbor #1). It is a Berth Sort level: load every freighter, park what does not match, and do not let the berths fill up. What makes it special is that everyone gets the same puzzle on the same day, so you can compare results with friends. The Daily Harbor unlocks once you have cleared Berth Sort level 8 (or Classic level 10), and lives under More Modes on the home screen.

When a new puzzle appears

The puzzle changes at midnight UTC, not at your local midnight. When you are online the game uses the server's clock, so changing the date on your device does not unlock tomorrow's puzzle early. After you finish, the daily panel shows a countdown to the next one ("Next in …").

Difficulty by weekday

Day (UTC)	Difficulty
Monday, Tuesday	Easy
Wednesday, Thursday	Medium
Friday, Saturday	Hard
Sunday	Peak

From Friday to Sunday the puzzle also has a time limit. It is generous — about eight seconds per boat on the board — but it means you cannot think forever on the weekend puzzles.

Your first try is the one that counts

Only your first attempt deals exactly the same colors as everyone else's. If you fail and retry, the layout stays the same but the boat colors and freighter order are dealt again, just like a retry in the main mode. For the leaderboard, what matters is your first clear of the day and how many attempts it took. After you have cleared it, "Play again (practice)" lets you replay the puzzle for fun; practice runs do not change your result, streak or rewards.

That makes the daily puzzle a good place to slow down. Before your first tap, check the freighter queue, count the boats of each color and look for the boats that block the most others — the same habits described in our hard levels guide.

Streaks

Your streak is the number of days in a row on which you cleared the Daily Harbor. It stays alive through today as long as you cleared yesterday's puzzle, so you can play any time before midnight UTC. Missing a full day breaks it.

Streak freezes

For every five days of streak you earn a streak freeze, and you can hold up to two. If you miss a day, your freezes are used automatically the next time you clear a daily puzzle, and the game tells you "A freeze saved your streak". A freeze covers one missed day each, so a gap longer than the freezes you hold will still end the streak — do not plan a three-day break on two freezes.

Rewards

• Your first clear each day earns 15 stars.
• Streak milestones pay a bonus: 15 stars at 3 days, 30 stars at 7, 14 and 21 days, and 45 stars at every 30-day mark.

Stars from the Daily Harbor go into the same pot as all other stars, so a daily habit is one of the steadiest ways to rebuild your harbor. See the harbor rebuilding guide for what to spend them on.

The leaderboard

On the website and in Telegram, the Daily Harbor has a leaderboard for today's puzzle, with a Friends tab and a Global tab. Only your first clear of the day is ranked. Players are ordered by these rules, in this order:

1. Cleared on the first try beats needing more tries; then fewer attempts beats more.
2. More stars.
3. Fewer berths used at the busiest moment.
4. Fewer boosters used.
5. Faster time.
6. If everything else is equal, whoever finished earlier.

So the leaderboard rewards a clean, careful first attempt far more than speed: time only decides ties. On the Global tab you appear as "Captain" with a number unless you switch on "Show my name"; your friends always see your name.

Sharing your result

After clearing, the Share button creates a small text card with a grid of colored squares, one per move, plus your attempt number and streak. It shows how you played without revealing the solution, so friends can still solve the puzzle themselves. Missed days covered by a freeze show up as ice cubes.

Tips for the daily puzzle

• Play it first. Do the Daily Harbor before your regular levels, when you are fresh — the first attempt matters most.
• Take your time on weekdays. Monday to Thursday have no time limit, so there is no reason to rush the opening.
• Avoid boosters if you are ranking. Boosters are allowed, but they count against you in a tie-break.
• Keep the streak cheap. On a busy day, a quick clear keeps the streak and the 15-star reward; practice and perfection can wait.