To solve an Alcazar, find its weak points

© 2013 - Jérôme Morin-Drouin
alcazar.theincrediblecompany.com

In this article, I reveal what is probably the most useful Alcazar solving technique, using level 4 of the December series as an example. I strongly recommend that you try it before reading. You can visit the website to print it, or try it directly here, by drawing in the image with your mouse.

Although it's not the most difficult Alcazar, it's not an easy one. I have seen good Alcazar players who took more than 30 minutes to solve it. If you are struggling more than you would like, maybe all you need is the following technique.

When you are ready, click here to read the rest of the article

The main rule of Alcazar is: cross every square exactly once. There are normally 6 ways to cross a square, but when a square has a wall, only 3 possibilities are left.

Squares with two walls have only one possibility. It's a good idea to start the puzzle by filling them.

This usually provides a very good start, but in our case, the result is quite disappointing: only 5 squares are filled, and there are still 12 possible exits. Trying to guess the rest of the solution could take a while. Fortunately, every Alcazar has weak points.

Let's focus on the small room in the upper-right corner and ask: what would happen if we would do what is shown here. This would create a small closed loop in the corner. So we can't do that.

This leaves 2 ways to fill that square: going either left-up or left-right. In any case, we have to enter this square on the left, and we can already draw this line.

We can use the same technique another time nearby. We notice that going up and right (shown here under the ?) would create a closed loop again. Discarding this possibility, there are only two ways to cross that square: up-left or right-left. Conclusion: we have to exit this square from the left.

With this new clue, I'm sure you can finish the puzzle by yourself. Have fun! Leave a comment if you need more help, or if you want to share some of your own techniques.

And now that you are an expert, enter the secret code invisible-air on the website, and you will unlock an even more difficult puzzle.