Tips for hard levels

Know which levels are hard

Berth Sort follows a fixed rhythm inside each chapter of ten levels. Every fifth level from level 15 is a Hard level (15, 25, 35 … 95), and every tenth level from level 20 is Super Hard (20, 30, 40 … 100). The game announces them with a "Hard Level!" or "Super Hard Level!" banner before you start. They are worth the effort: the new stars you earn there are doubled on Hard levels and tripled on Super Hard ones.

Two other things change on those levels. First, the timer is real: on normal levels the clock only decides the third star, but on Hard and Super Hard levels running out of time ends the attempt. Second, they combine the special pieces you have met so far — the Super Hard levels are the chapter "boss" puzzles. In between, the chapters also contain gentler levels: from level 21, the fourth level of each chapter (24, 34, 44 …) is a small 5 × 5 puzzle, and the ninth (29, 39, 49 …) is a sprint without a timer.

Before the first tap: read the board

1. Read the freighter queue

Look at the current freighter and the ones lined up behind it. On most levels you see three freighters; on some (level 10 is the first) you only see the next one, and on a few — such as levels 27, 38 and 45 — only the current one. The less you can see ahead, the more careful you have to be about parking.

2. Count the colors

Every freighter takes exactly three boats, so each color appears in multiples of three (counting boats still waiting in garages). Quickly count the boats of the current freighter's color. If three of them are free or nearly free, the first freighter is easy. If one of them is buried at the back, that boat decides your opening.

3. Find the blockers

For each boat of the current color, trace the line from its bow to the edge. Which boats stand in the way? Boats that block several important boats at once are the ones to move first — even if it means parking them.

4. Check your berth budget

Look at the berth row. The number of open berths is your budget for mistakes, and the gold star marker shows the par line for two and three stars. From level 12 on, most levels give you no spare berth beyond what a good solution needs, so every unnecessary park can be the one that loses the level.

During the level: protect your berths

• Park only colors you can see coming. A parked boat whose freighter is next in the queue will board on its own in a moment. A parked boat whose color is nowhere in sight blocks a berth for a long time.
• Keep the last berth empty. When only one berth is free, every move must either board a boat directly or set up a freighter that will empty a berth. If neither is possible, it is time for a booster or a restart.
• Prefer moves that open lanes. When several boats can leave, pick the one that frees the most other boats, especially long boats lying across several lanes.
• Look for chains. If two parked boats share the color of the freighter after next, finishing the current freighter can trigger a chain: the next freighter fills from your berths and leaves at once, emptying them.
• Deal with specials early. Reveal mystery boats, start melting ice and free key boats before you need them. Special pieces are cheapest to handle while you still have berths to spare. The special boats guide has a tip for each.

Worked example: the buried last boat

The freighter is purple and needs one more boat. The only purple boat left is at the back of the harbor behind a yellow boat and a blue boat. You have two free berths, and the queue shows blue next, then orange.

1. Moving the blue boat first is the safe choice: blue is the next freighter, so once purple leaves, the parked blue boards right away.
2. The yellow boat is the costly one. Yellow is not in the queue, so if you park it, that berth stays taken for a long time.
3. Before parking yellow, ask whether a Call boat is worth it here: it would load the buried purple straight onto the freighter without parking anything.

Without boosters, the right line is often: park blue, park yellow, send purple, and immediately make clearing yellow's freighter a priority. With one Call boat in stock, using it here saves a berth that may decide the rest of the level.

Retry smart

From level 4 on, every retry keeps the same layout of boats, rocks and obstacles but deals new colors and a new freighter order. That has two consequences:

• Learn the structure, not the colors. What carries over between attempts is which boats block which, where the long boats sit and where the specials are. A solution based on "tap the red one first" will not work twice.
• A bad deal is not your fault. Some deals are tighter than others. If an attempt goes wrong in the first few moves, restarting is often faster than fighting it out — and the game quietly makes the next deal a bit gentler after a couple of losses in a row.

Use your tools on the right levels

• Hint first. Every attempt includes one free hint. On a level that has beaten you, use it on the opening move to see what a good start looks like.
• Freeze on timed levels. On Hard and Super Hard levels, a Freeze at the start gives you 15 seconds to plan without the clock running.
• Call boat for buried boats, Extra berth for emergencies. See the boosters guide for the details of each.
• Spend stars where they pay back. Because Hard and Super Hard levels multiply the stars you earn, a booster bought for one of them is often paid back by the reward.

When you are really stuck

Step away from the level for a while and play something else — the Daily Harbor, a few Classic levels, or a Tide Challenge run. The skills carry over, and stars from other modes keep your harbor growing. When you come back, a fresh deal and a rested eye often solve a level that seemed impossible.