About LogicBot
LogicBot is the closest thing on the site to actual programming. You are not steering a robot in real time — you are writing a short program up front, pressing Run, and watching it succeed or fail exactly as written.
The interesting constraint is space. The MAIN track has only a handful of command slots, always fewer than the number of moves the route requires. The only way to fit the route is to notice that part of it repeats, put that part in the P1 subroutine, and call P1 from MAIN. LogicBot is really a puzzle about spotting repetition.
The rules in full
- The robot starts on the arrow tile, facing the direction the arrow points.
- Every glowing tile must be lit before the level counts as solved.
- Commands: Forward moves one tile, Left and Right turn in place, Jump climbs one level up or drops any number down, and Light switches on the tile you are standing on.
- Tiles sit at different heights. A lighter tile is one step higher than a darker one, and Forward cannot climb — only Jump can.
- MAIN runs top to bottom. P1 is a subroutine: calling P1 from MAIN executes the whole P1 track, then returns.
- An illegal move — walking into a wall or into a height you cannot climb — is ignored rather than fatal. It simply wastes a step.
- You can reset and edit the program as many times as you like.
A worked example
Imagine a spiral of twelve tiles where the route is: forward, forward, light, turn right — repeated three times, then a final forward and light.
Written out longhand that is fourteen commands, and MAIN only has eight slots. But the repeated block is exactly four commands: Forward, Forward, Light, Right.
So put those four in P1. MAIN then becomes P1, P1, P1, Forward, Light — five slots for a fourteen-command route, with three to spare.
The general shape of every LogicBot solution looks like this. When a level seems impossible, you are not missing a clever move; you are missing the repeating block.
Strategy tips
Trace the route on paper first — Work out the full sequence of moves before you place a single command. You cannot spot repetition in a route you have not written down.
Look for the period, not the pattern — The repeating block is often four or five commands long and starts in an unintuitive place. Try aligning the repetition at different offsets.
Light early — Lighting a tile as you pass costs one slot; coming back for it later costs several. Fold Light into the repeated block whenever the geometry allows.
Use failed moves deliberately — Because a blocked Forward is ignored rather than fatal, a P1 that occasionally bumps into a wall can still be the shortest correct program.
Read the heights before routing — A route that looks two tiles shorter is worthless if it needs a climb your commands cannot make. Check the shading first.
Frequently asked questions
- How often does LogicBot appear?
- It is one of three Game of the Month entries and rotates into the featured slot every third month. You can play it off-season as practice at any time.
- Do I need to know how to code?
- No. The commands are icons and the subroutine is just a second list. Programmers will recognise the idea of a function call, but nothing is written in text.
- Is the shortest program always required?
- No — you only need a program that fits the available slots and lights every tile. Fewer commands is a nicer solve, not a requirement.
- Why did my robot ignore a command?
- Forward into a wall or into a tile more than one step higher is silently skipped. Use Jump to climb.
Want to go deeper? Read the full LogicBot strategy guide.