Zero Squares Game Review

Zero Squares Game Background

Zero Squares is a slide puzzle game where players slide colorful boxes into frames of the matching color.

MiscGames published this game on September 9, 2022.

How to Play Zero Squares

Press the A key, the Enter key, left click on the welcome screen, or click the welcome screen with a mouse to start the game.

Press the WASD keys or the arrow keys to slide the colorful blocks around the game. Blocks slide from edge to edge until they run into something.

If you make a mistake press the R key or tap on the level reset button in the lower right corner to restart the game.

Basic Gameplay Advice

The goal of the game is to get each solid colored box over the frame of the same color. As soon as the color box moves into the frame both the box and the frame disappear. A level is considered beat when all of the boxes and frames have disappeared.

For the first 5 levels there is only a red box. From levels 6 onward additional box colors like blue are added to the mix. From stages 11 onward you can face 3 or more boxes. From stage 16 onward you can face 4 or more boxes. From level 20 onward you can face 5 or more boxes. When you slide any box the game moves all remaining boxes in the same direction.

Boxes can act as stops for each other until they are matched with their frames.

From levels 21 onward some stages have gaps in the outer walls.

From stage 26 onward one frame can be blank, taking the color of whichever square touches it, then it acts like an ordinary frame.

Advanced Playing Tips & Strategy

Rather than looking for the easiest boxes to match with their frames look at which ones will be hardest to match – in positions in the middle of the playing field that are hard to reach – and keep the other boxes active for as long as you can in order to use them as temporary stops to align the harder moves.

On stages with an uncolored frame you must color it with the correct frame color before doing anything else. If another color runs into it first that level will be impossible to beat, so you will need to reset it.

Educational Aspects

This game is much more difficult than it looks at first glance. Those who beat it should feel a sense of accomplishment for strong problem solving skills.

Player Age Recommendations

This game is best for players in middle school and beyond. Younger children might get frustrated by how deceptively difficult the game is.