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Ferries

Get every animal across the river. Only those with an oar can row, and the cards say who can't be left together.

What is Ferries?

Ferries is a river crossing puzzle, the old one with the wolf, the goat and the cabbage, played by animals: get everyone across in a little boat, a few at a time. Only the animals with an oar can row, and each card says who can't be left together unless someone calm is there to keep the peace. Easy puzzles have four or five animals and nobody to bring back; expert ones have seven, a boat of two and fifteen crossings or more.

Expert Ferries puzzles

Expert puzzles have seven animals, now and then six, and a boat that seats two. Par is fifteen crossings or more, with two or three bring-backs, and the obvious crossing often leads astray, so plan before you row. Expert puzzles are for practice only.

Practice gives you puzzles you haven't solved yet, as many as you like, and keeps your best time without hints. Every puzzle is made and checked by a computer, and its par is the fewest crossings that get everyone across.

How to play Ferries

  1. Everyone starts on the near bank, at the top. Get every animal to the far bank, at the bottom, in the boat. It seats two or three.
  2. Tap an animal to put it in the boat, and tap it again to take it out. Then row across. Only animals with an oar can row, so one of them has to be aboard every time.
  3. Each card says who can't be left together: the fox can't be left with the chick unless the dog is there. The cards are checked once the boat lands, on both banks, with whoever is in the boat counted on the bank it's tied up at. A crossing that would leave trouble on either bank doesn't happen.

Getting in and out of the boat is free; only crossings count. Passengers stay in the boat when it lands, so a rower can go straight back. On a computer, the number keys put the animals in and out of the boat, and Space or Enter rows. Undo has no limit, and Ctrl+Z takes a crossing back. Every puzzle has a par, the fewest crossings that get everyone across, worked out by a computer; you're ranked by time.

Solving tips

  • Bring someone back. The trick in most puzzles is a crossing back with an animal that was already across, so it isn't left with the wrong company. It feels like going backwards, and it's often the only way.
  • Look at both banks. Before you row, check who stays behind as well as who arrives: the bank you're leaving has to be safe without the boat's passengers.
  • Watch the guards. A card's guard keeps the peace only where it is. Moving it moves the trouble.
  • Stuck? A hint shows who to put in the boat, then where to row, on a shortest way across. No crossing ever leaves you stuck for good: you can always row the same passengers straight back.