Set Line Width to Thin before you start the clock. Adjusting settings mid-run costs seconds you cannot recover.
25 named boards, previewable and untimed
ArrowsGame Challenge Mode
This page holds the 25 named picture-boards — arrow layouts that draw a rooster, a unicorn, an @ sign — and it starts the timed sprint. Those are not the same thing, and the difference catches people out: the gallery is the showcase, the sprint is the test.
The named collection"The 25 named boards are levels 1–25 of the main library, previewable in full before you touch them. The 5:00 sprint does not use them — it draws from level 361 upward, where boards average 133 arrows."
— ArrowsGame mode reference
25 boards that draw something
Ten of them are 60×60 and genuinely large — the Gourd packs 221 arrows, the most of any board in the game. The remaining fifteen are 42×42 and much tighter, between 36 and 72 arrows. The previews above are rendered from the real board data, so what you see is exactly what you get.
- C1–C10 are 60×60: 105 to 221 arrows, the showpieces
- C11–C25 are 42×42: 36 to 72 arrows, quick enough to clear in a sitting
- Every board is previewable in full before you commit — nothing is hidden
- All 25 pass the same solvability check as the rest of the library
The picture is not the puzzle
A recognisable shape says nothing about difficulty. C5 Dove and C7 Iron Man carry almost the same load — 105 and 109 arrows — yet Dove opens with 22 playable moves against Iron Man's 16. Read the border, not the image.
Big boards are not harder boards
C3 Gourd holds the most arrows in the game at 221 and still opens with 31 free moves. C2 Elephant has 19 fewer arrows but only 24 openings. What matters is how much of the board is playable at the start.
Use Thin line width here
On a 221-arrow board the default stroke puts neighbouring arrows close enough to misread. Thin adds visible space between them, which is why it is the usual choice on the 60×60 set.
The ten large boards, measured
"Opening moves" counts the arrows that already have a clear lane to the edge before you touch anything — a better guide to how a board starts than its arrow count.
| Board | Arrows | Opening moves | Share playable |
|---|---|---|---|
| C5 Dove | 105 | 22 | 21.0% |
| C7 Iron Man | 109 | 16 | 14.7% |
| C9 Little Bee | 132 | 31 | 23.5% |
| C4 Square | 147 | 20 | 13.6% |
| C1 Rooster | 155 | 28 | 18.1% |
| C10 Mickey Mouse | 155 | 19 | 12.3% |
| C8 Pikachu | 156 | 24 | 15.4% |
| C6 ABC Letters | 196 | 24 | 12.2% |
| C2 Elephant | 202 | 24 | 11.9% |
| C3 Gourd | 221 | 31 | 14.0% |
Five minutes against the hard band
Starting a run gives you 5:00 on the clock and a board from level 361 or later — the stretch where boards run 88 to 171 arrows and average 133. Clear one and another loads immediately with the clock still running. Your score is how many you finish before it hits zero.
Gallery versus sprint
| The 25 named boards | The 5:00 sprint | |
|---|---|---|
| Which boards | Levels 1–25 | Levels 361–536, drawn at random |
| Arrow count | 36 – 221 | 88 – 171 (avg 133) |
| Preview first? | Yes, all of them | No |
| Timer | None | 5:00, counts down through boards |
Quick answers before you start
Does the sprint use the 25 named boards?
No, and this is the most common misunderstanding about this page. The named boards are levels 1 to 25; the timed run pulls from level 361 upward. You can play the named ones untimed from the gallery.
What happens when I clear a board mid-run?
Another one loads straight away and the clock keeps going. The run ends only when the timer reaches zero, so your score is boards cleared rather than a single completion.
Which named board is the hardest?
By raw arrow count, C3 Gourd at 221 on a 60×60 grid. In practice the tight 42×42 boards like C24 Transformers at 72 arrows can be fiddlier, because the lanes are far shorter.
Do the challenge boards use a different rule?
No. One rule governs every board in the game: an arrow leaves only when its full lane to the edge is clear. The timer changes the pressure, never the logic.
What a five-minute run rewards
The sprint is not testing whether you can solve a hard board — you already can, given time. It tests how fast you find the first safe move on a board you have never seen, which is a genuinely different skill.
Open on the border, always
With 133 arrows and no preview, hunting the interior burns the clock. Sweep the four edges for a free exit, take it, and let the cascade tell you where the board wants to open.
Abandon a bad read fast
Thirty seconds spent proving an interior arrow is blocked is thirty seconds gone. If two sweeps find nothing, restart — a fresh board is worth more than a stubborn one.
Set the display before you start
Thin line width and the display mode you prefer should be chosen before the clock starts. Adjusting settings mid-run costs real seconds you cannot get back.