flow_solver

Fast automated solver for Flow Free in a single C or Python file.

Full writeup of C version at https://mzucker.github.io/2016/08/28/flow-solver.html.

Python writeup at https://mzucker.github.io/2016/09/02/eating-sat-flavored-crow.html.

Building the C version

No dependencies to install, just do this:

cd /path/to/flow_solver
mkdir build
cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
make

Using the C version:

From the build directory, try:

./flow_solver ../puzzles/jumbo_14x14_01.txt

Using the Python version:

Make sure you have pycosat installed. If not, try:

pip install pycosat

Then, from the project root directory, try:

./pyflowsolver.py puzzles/jumbo_14x14_01.txt

Puzzle file format

Plain-ASCII file, one line per row of puzzle. Use the following characters to specify color:

Letter	Color
R	red
B	blue
Y	yellow
G	green
O	orange
C	cyan
M	magenta
m	maroon
P	purple
A	gray
W	white
g	bright green
T	tan
b	dark blue
c	dark cyan
p	pink

Any non-alphabetical, non-newline character becomes a blank space. Puzzle size is set by the number of characters before the first newline.