Screw Crew Tips: Solving the 3D Screw Puzzle

Games to try

• 

  Screw Crew

  Sort · 200 levels

• 

  Chick Sort

  Sort · 230 levels

• 

  Hexa Nest

  Sort · 200 levels

• 

  Tile Trio

  Match · 200 levels

• 

  Pixel Hatch

  Logic · 200 levels

How Screw Crew works

Tap a screw that is on top to spin it out. It flies into the box of its colour. Each box holds three screws, and when a box is full, its OvO carries it away and a new box arrives.

If there is no open box for a screw's colour, the screw waits in a tray with five slots. When a plate loses its last screw, it drops away and reveals the screws underneath. Free every plate before the tray fills up to win. You can drag to tilt the board and peek around it.

Unscrew the waiting colours first

The boxes on screen tell you which colours are safe right now. A screw that matches a waiting box goes straight in and costs you nothing. A screw that does not match takes up one of your five tray slots.

So the first question for every tap is: does this screw match an open box? If several do, pick the one that helps complete a box, because a full box leaves and brings in a new colour, which may match screws already in your tray.

Manage the 5-slot tray

The tray is your safety margin. Five slots sounds like a lot, but they fill quickly on later levels. Keep at least one slot open for emergencies whenever you can, and avoid sending screws to the tray just to see what is underneath unless you have a clear plan.

Screws in the tray are not lost. When a box of their colour arrives, they can move into it, which frees the slot again. Planning which box comes next helps you decide whether a tray screw will soon clear itself.

Look under the plates

Dropping one plate can expose many screws at once, so the order in which you free plates matters. Before you start, tilt the board to see how the plates overlap. A plate held by only one or two screws is often a good early target, especially if it covers a large area.

On the other hand, uncovering lots of screws when the boxes do not match them can flood your tray. Ideally, free a plate when the boxes on screen are likely to accept what is underneath.

Using Hint, Shuffle and Hammer

Screw Crew offers Hint, Shuffle and Hammer boosters, plus Continue when a level would end. Hint points to a useful screw when you are unsure. The Hammer is the strongest emergency tool, helpful when one stubborn piece is in the way. Shuffle mixes things up when the colours on offer do not suit the board.

Because every one of the 200 levels has been replay-checked to be solvable, it is worth retrying a level once with a different opening before spending boosters.

Why Screw Crew feels different

Many screw puzzles are flat. Screw Crew is a real-time 3D board you can tilt, and the plates physically drop away as you free them. That makes it a little more visual than other sort games: you are reading layers, not just colours. If you enjoy that layered planning, Tile Trio and Pixel Hatch use similar thinking in 2D.

Where to play

Screw Crew is free to play in your web browser at ovo.games and in the OvO.games app for iPhone, iPad and Android. The first 40 levels are free for everyone with ads; OvO Pass unlocks every level and removes ads. For more colour-sort puzzles, see our Chick Sort and Hexa Nest guides.

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