What is the Light Switch Puzzle?

The Light Switch Puzzle is based on Lights Out, a mathematical puzzle game originally released by Tiger Electronics in 1995. It is solvable using linear algebra over the field GF(2).

What does the Light Switch Puzzle train?

It trains combinatorial thinking, forward planning, and systematic problem-solving. Players who find the mathematical pattern behind the puzzle improve their ability to reason about state-space transformations.

Can every Light Switch Puzzle be solved?

Not every configuration of Lights Out is solvable — only about half of all configurations have a solution. MindPlay only generates solvable puzzles.

Is the Light Switch Puzzle free?

Yes, completely free with no account required.

Light Switch Puzzle · MindPlay

How to play

Click any light to toggle it and its orthogonal neighbors (up, down, left, right).

Goal: turn all lights off.

Plan ahead — every click affects multiple lights at once.

Lit — on

Dark — off

easy

3×3 grid

medium

4×4 grid

hard

5×5 grid

All-time stats

easy

wins 0

medium

wins 0

hard

wins 0