About

The 6×6 Light Out version was manufactured by Tiger and sold as the Lights Out Deluxe. This version allowed you to play several different versions of the game. The normal game has moves where each button press changes its own light and the four lights horizontally and vertically adjacent to it. A game with a different type of move is also possible - each button press changes its own light and the four lights diagonally adjacent to it. Thus instead of a normal cross (+) you now do a diagonal cross (×). Not only are two move types available, there are also three puzzle types, the normal game and two others. In the Lit-Only game you are only allowed to press lit buttons, and pressing an unlit button has no effect. In the Toggle game you must alternately press lit and unlit buttons. All three game types can be played with either move type. For all 6 move/game combinations there are 150 built-in puzzles. The number of positions: There are no quiet patterns for either move type, so all 236 = 68,719,476,736 possible light patterns are possible. Solution for Lights Out Deluxe (move type +): Number the rows 1-6, the columns A-F. For each light on row 1, press the button beneath it on row 2 to turn the light off. This way row 1 is completely unlit. Repeat step a for rows 2-5, so that now you only have lights on row 6. If the light at A6 is on, press A1 and C1. If the light at B6 is on, press D1. If the light at C6 is on, press A1 and E1. If the light at D6 is on, press B1 and F1. If the light at E6 is on, press C1. If the light at F6 is on, press D1 and F1. Repeat steps a-b, chasing the lights down and it will be magically solved. As there are no quiet patterns on this board size, this solution will always use the minimal number of moves if you cancel out duplicate moves from the two chases (or restart the game once you know which buttons to press on the top row). Solution for Lights Out Deluxe (move type ×): Number the rows 1-6, the columns A-F. Press a combination of buttons on row 2 such that the lights on row 1 are switched off. This seems tricky, but is quite easy once you know how. First switch off lights A1, C1, E1 from left to right as follows: 1. If A1 is on then press B2. 2. If C1 is on then press D2. 3. If E1 is on then press F2. Next switch off lights A2, A4, A6 from right to left as follows: 1. If F1 is on then press E2. 2. If D1 is on then press C2. 3. If B1 is on then press A2. Now row 1 is completely unlit. Repeat step a for rows 2-5, so that now you only have lights on row 6. If the light at A6 is on, press F1. If the light at B6 is on, press E1. If the light at C6 is on, press D1. If the light at D6 is on, press C1. If the light at E6 is on, press B1. If the light at F6 is on, press A1. Note how the button pattern to press on the top row is the mirror image of the light pattern on the bottom row. Repeat steps a-b, chasing the lights down and it will be magically solved. For this move type there are again no quiet patterns, so this solution will always use the minimal number of moves if you cancel out duplicate moves from the two chases (or restart the game once you know which buttons to press on the top row). An interesting thing about the diagonal cross shape is that if you were to colour the game square like a chess board, then each move only affects squares of one colour. This shows that this puzzle therefore actually consists of two independent puzzles that are solved simultaneously. In the regular or lit-only game, you can actually solve one of these sets completely before tackling the other. Lit Only and Toggle games: The lit-only game is solved in nearly the same manner as the normal game. Chase the lights down until the only lights left are those on the bottom row. This light-chasing might be a little tricky if the button you wish to press is not lit, but at this point it does not matter if you do more moves than necessary. Simply do whatever moves you need to do on the unsolved rows to light up the button you want to press, and then press it. Eventually you will have only lights on the bottom row, and you can find out which buttons were supposed to be pressed on the top row, just like in the normal solutions above. Restart the game and solve it again, starting with the button presses on the first row. You may need to use a few extra moves on the rows below to enable you to press a button that is unlit. If so, try to look ahead so that you will not press buttons that you will have to press again later on. I have proved that any position that is solvable in a normal lights-out game is also solvable in the lit-only game. The proof of this is given on the Lights Out Mathematics page. The Toggle game is slightly more difficult. Often the method as described for the lit-only game will solve the puzzle with few enough extra moves to allow you to pass to the next level. Sometimes it is more tricky though, and then you will first have to solve the position using the regular game rules. As you do so, make a note of which buttons form the solution. Then play it in the Toggle manner, choosing the solution buttons in such an order that they are alternatively lit and unlit. Note that the built-in puzzles always have an order in which it is possible, i.e. it is not necessary to do moves other than those involved in the normal solution. Puzzles with an even number of moves therefore start with an unlit button-press, those with an odd number of moves with a lit button-press. The theory behind the Toggle game can be found on the Lights Out Mathematics page. The 6×150 built-in puzzle problems can be solved using the above methods. You can also look up the solutions on this page. 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