Bridge Links for beginners: count each bridge and connect every island.
Learn single and double bridges on a new eight-island board, follow seven deductions, and check why matching every number is only part of the goal.
Bridge Links is our implementation of the familiar islands-and-bridges logic puzzle. You change connections between islands, rather than filling a picture or moving tiles. Each island needs an exact number of bridges, and the finished board must form one connected network.
This first lesson uses one small board with eight named islands. You will practise the controls, build a complete answer, and test a tempting mistake: satisfying every local number while leaving separate groups. Common bridge-puzzle rules are described in our own words; the board, explanation, and implementation here were prepared for H5 Free Fun.
Know what the number counts
An island's number is the total number of bridge lines touching it. Two parallel lines between the same pair count as two, even though that pair is only one connection. There can be zero, one, or two bridges in a permitted lane.
A lane runs straight horizontally or vertically to the next island in that direction. You cannot connect diagonally, turn a bridge around a corner, pass through an island, or cross an existing bridge. Different bridges may meet at their common island. Finally, every island must be reachable from every other by following bridges. There is no rule requiring a single loop, and a branch at an island is allowed.
Load the eight-island beginner board
Choose Load beginner board so all connections start empty and Edits is zero. Letters A–H name the islands; the following digit is its required bridge total. Dots are empty space, not extra islands. Rows and columns in this drawing run from one to seven:
A4 . . B2 . . C1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D4 . . . . . E5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F1 . . G2 . . H3
A sees B to its right and D below. C is in A's row, but B blocks a direct A–C lane. Likewise, D prevents a direct A–F bridge. Seeing two islands somewhere along a line is not enough: only the nearest island in that direction is available.
Practise one connection before solving
Select A, then B, to add one bridge. The selection clears after the pair is handled. Select A and B again for a second parallel bridge. Selecting that pair a third time removes both, cycling its count from zero to one to two to zero. Choosing only the first island does not change a bridge or increase Edits; choosing that same island again cancels the selection.
Use a tap or click, or Tab to an island button and press Enter or Space. Every accepted change to one pair counts as one edit. A refused move adds no edit. The controls refuse an invalid lane, a crossing, or a change that would exceed an island number; they do not tell you which globally correct connection to choose. Choose Clear connection before selecting a pair to remove its single or double bridge directly. This matters when an island cannot accept a second line: a refused doubling does not remove the first one. Clearing an occupied pair counts as one edit; clearing an empty lane makes no edit. Switch back to Cycle bridge count for the solving route.
Try A–B three times: the bridge counts become 1, 2, and 0 while Edits becomes 1, 2, and 3. Undo last edit restores the double bridge and brings Edits back to 2. Now choose Retry this board to start the actual lesson at zero. Undo can also reopen the last state after a win.
Build the answer in seven deductions
In the steps below, “double AB” means select A, then B, twice from an empty lane. A single connection needs that pair selected once. Leave every lane described as zero empty. Begin after Retry, without keeping marks from the control experiment.
- A needs four: its only neighbours are B and D, and each lane can carry at most two bridges. Both must therefore be doubled: AB = 2 and AD = 2. Edits: 4.
- B is already complete: the two AB lines use its entire total of two. BC and BG must stay empty; more bridges at B would exceed its number. Edits: 4.
- C needs one: BC is unavailable because B is complete, leaving only CE. Place a single CE bridge. Edits: 5.
- E still needs four: CE contributes one to its target of five. Its other lanes are DE and EH. Each can supply at most two, so both must be doubled. Edits: 9.
- D is complete too: AD contributes two and DE contributes two, giving its required four. DF must stay empty. Edits: 9.
- F needs one: DF is empty, so its single bridge must go to G. Place FG = 1. Edits: 10.
- G needs one more: BG is empty and FG contributes one to G's target of two. Place GH = 1. H now receives two from EH and one from GH, reaching its target of three. Edits: 11, and the board is complete.
The route uses four doubled connections and three single ones: eleven bridge lines across seven occupied lanes. Its eleven accepted edits are a reproducible replay, not a minimum-action or ability score. Removing a double connection is one edit even though it removes two lines, so edits and the current bridge total are different measurements.
Reveal the complete lane ledger and island totals
AB 2 AD 2 BC 0 BG 0 CE 1 DE 2 DF 0 EH 2 FG 1 GH 1
- A: AB 2 + AD 2 = 4.
- B: AB 2 + BC 0 + BG 0 = 2.
- C: BC 0 + CE 1 = 1.
- D: AD 2 + DE 2 + DF 0 = 4.
- E: CE 1 + DE 2 + EH 2 = 5.
- F: DF 0 + FG 1 = 1.
- G: BG 0 + FG 1 + GH 1 = 2.
- H: EH 2 + GH 1 = 3.
One path through the network is B–A–D–E–H–G–F, and C joins it through E. Every island is included. The possible vertical BG lane and horizontal DE lane would cross in the middle; BG is empty, so the two DE lines have no crossing.
Do the numbers alone prove a win?
Try this paper check separately from the eight-island board. Four islands sit at the corners of a square, each labelled 2. Can you finish by putting a double bridge across the top and another across the bottom, with no vertical bridges?
P2 Q2 R2 S2
Check the disconnected-pairs answer
Every number would match, but P and Q would form one group while R and S formed another. There would be no route between those groups, so that arrangement is not solved. One single bridge on each of the four sides satisfies every 2 and connects all four islands. This is why the game checks both the island totals and the complete network.
Choose a reset that fits your next attempt
Retry this board removes every bridge, selection, and edit while keeping the same island numbers and positions. Retry, Load beginner board, and New puzzle return the action to Cycle bridge count. Load beginner board returns to this exact lesson board after trying another puzzle. New puzzle switches to a different checked puzzle and clears the current attempt. The initial release uses a finite prepared collection, so boards can repeat after you have visited the collection.
Your attempt stays in the current browser tab. Refreshing or closing the page loses its bridges and undo history; the beginner practice address reloads the same lesson board, while a normal new-puzzle session is not saved. There is no timer, account, payment, or reward for viewing an advertisement.
If you become stuck, check the nearest-neighbour lanes, count double lines twice, and look for an isolated group. You can remove or undo an unsupported connection. A uniquely checked puzzle does not promise that any single deduction method will finish every board, or assign a difficulty level to your attempt.