Question 1

Where should I start on the Five-Point Star?

Accepted Answer

Start at the five points. Each arm is a thin, well-exposed strip of tiles, so the tips give you the easiest early matches. Work each spike inward toward the body, which also opens the concave notches between the arms and relieves pressure on the crowded center.

Question 2

Why is the center so hard to clear?

Accepted Answer

All five arms converge into a dense, multi-layer pentagon at the middle, so those tiles are capped from above and boxed in on every side. They have the least exposure on the board. Peel the arms back first to remove that surrounding pressure, then unstack the core from the outside in rather than digging straight down into it.

Question 3

The arms all look the same, how do I avoid matching the wrong tiles?

Accepted Answer

Because the five spikes are near-identical, a tile's partner often sits at the tip of a different arm. Before you take any tip tile, glance across all five points to confirm its match is actually free. When two free tips can be paired, clear them even if they sit on opposite arms.

Question 4

How hard is this layout and can it become unwinnable?

Accepted Answer

It is a 4 out of 5, among the tougher geometric boards because of its packed center. It cannot become truly unwinnable, since each board is built backwards from a solved state, but it is easy to box yourself in with poor ordering. The Shuffle button re-deals the remaining tiles into a new solvable layout whenever you stall.