Store Page
Understand
All Discussions Screenshots Artwork Broadcasts Videos News Guides Reviews

Understand

Store Page
Understand > Guides > Randomiser's Guides
74 ratings
Complete Rule Guide for All Levels
By Randomiser
This guide explains what each of the rules represented by dot under each level are. It does not show a solution for the boards themselves, allowing you to still solve the line-drawing puzzle yourself.

The fun in Understand comes from the moments where you start out completely lost and gradually build up your knowledge about a level. The game is rewarding with its Aha moments if you persevere, and the level always gives you enough information to figure it out yourself. There were even some levels that took me multiple sessions to get completely. But I understand being completely stuck can be frustrating. Thus, I urge you not to look at this guide unless you're really, really lost and have been stuck on the same level for a very long time.

Each rule is listed from left-to-right as they appear in-game, so you can choose which rule to reveal based on which ones are confounding you the most.
In most levels, the last rule is the most important and spoilery one, and the other rules come in common types that appear in other levels. However, in some cases multiple rules are equally unique or important. I've marked these rules with "SPECIAL" so you do not accidentally reveal them thinking they are a normal rule. If you do not see this mark for a level, assume the final rule is the most spoilery.
3
2
2
2
   
Award
Favorite
Favorited
Unfavorite
Created by
Randomiser
Offline
Category: Achievements, Gameplay Basics, Maps or Levels, Walkthroughs
Posted
Updated
17 Nov, 2020 @ 12:43am
28 Jul, 2021 @ 2:41pm
5,459 Unique Visitors
116 Current Favorites
Guide Index
Overview
Chapter 1 
Chapter 2 
Chapter 3 
Chapter 4 
Chapter 5 
Chapter 6 
Chapter 7 
Chapter 8 
Chapter 9 
Chapter 10 
Chapter (11) 
? (The end) 
Chapter - (12) 
Comments
Chapter 1
Theme
This is the starting world. It will introduce you to most common types of rules that will appear in later levels.

1-1
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square

1-2
  1. Start on square
  2. End on circle

1-3
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Avoid UP triangles

1-4
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Collect all UP triangles

1-5
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Collect all stars
  4. Avoid triangles

1-6
  1. Start on sun
  2. End on sun
  3. Collect squares
  4. Avoid circles

1-7
  1. Collect all of one shape
  2. Avoid all of the other shape

1-8
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Fill every space on the grid

1-9
  1. Collect all circles
  2. Collect all squares
  3. Don't touch two of the same shape in a row

1-10
  1. SPECIAL: Start at top left
  2. SPECIAL: End at top right

1-?
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Collect exactly one star
  4. Avoid triangles
Comment:Think outside the box
Chapter 2
Theme
From here on out, worlds are mostly based on a specific theme that will be explored in all its levels. This theme is hinted towards by the image next to level 1 of each world, in this case the square, 2 circles, and 3 triangles.

Chapter 2's theme is Counting

2-1
  1. SPECIAL: Start on shape there is more of
  2. SPECIAL: End on shape there is only one of

2-2
  1. SPECIAL: Collect shapes there are the most of
  2. Avoid other shapes

2-3
  1. SPECIAL: Don't collect 2 of the same shape
  2. SPECIAL: Collect each type of shape

2-4
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Collect exactly 4 shapes

2-5
  1. Start and end on the same shape
  2. Line length must be 7

2-6
  1. SPECIAL: Collect shapes there are an even number of
  2. Avoid other shapes

2-7
  1. SPECIAL: Start on shape there are exactly 3 of
  2. SPECIAL: End on shape there are exactly 2 of
  3. SPECIAL: Line length must be 4

2-8
  1. Any shape you touch, collect all of
  2. The number of collected shapes must equal the number of uncollected shapes

2-9
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on circle
  3. Avoid triangles
  4. Line length must be prime

2-10
  1. Collect all shapes
  2. There are 4 spaces between connected shapes

2-?
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Avoid triangles
Comment: Moving back and forward between boards may help you understand what's going on
Chapter 3
Theme
Chapter 3's theme is Areas
This is another important aspect that will be further explored in future worlds. There will now be a distinguishment between the space you cover by drawing, referred to as the line, and the spaces you leave untouched, referred to as "Areas".

3-1
  1. Avoid all shapes
  2. Areas must contain exactly one type of shape

3-2
  1. Avoid all shapes
  2. No area can contain two of one shape

3-3
  1. Start at circle
  2. End on square
  3. There are exactly two areas

3-4
  1. Collect all stars
  2. Avoid triangles
  3. There is exactly one area

3-5
  1. Start on a circle
  2. End on a circle
  3. Avoid squares
  4. An area cannot contain more than one square

3-6
  1. Start on a circle
  2. End on a circle
  3. Avoid squares
  4. Each area must contain two untouched shapes

3-7
  1. Start on a circle
  2. End on a square
  3. Avoid triangles
  4. Each area contains exactly one triangle
  5. All areas must be the same size as the line you draw

3-8
  1. Avoid all shapes
  2. All areas contain one circle
  3. All areas contain a different amount of squares

3-9
  1. Collect all circles
  2. Avoid all squares
  3. All areas must be a size of 3

3-10
  1. Avoid all shapes
  2. All areas must contain exactly 2 of each shape that appears in them

3-?
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Avoid other shapes
  4. An area cannot contain more than one type of shape
  5. All areas must contain exactly 2 of one shape
Comment: Rules are only tested once you've finished drawing the line
Chapter 4
Theme
World 4's theme is Area shapes
You will often be asked to consider multiple areas at once

4-1
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Avoid triangles, and there is one triangle in each area
  4. All areas must be the shape of a square

4-2
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Avoid triangles
  4. All areas must be a rectangle with one of the dimensions being 1

4-3
  1. Avoid circles
  2. SPECIAL: All areas must be L-shaped, with arms of equal length
  3. All areas must contain a circle

4-4
  1. Avoid all shapes
  2. All areas must contain exactly 1 circle and square
  3. All areas must be the same shape

4-5
  1. Avoid all shapes
  2. All areas contain a star
  3. SPECIAL: All areas must be the same shape
  4. SPECIAL: Areas cannot be in the same orientation

4-6
  1. Avoid squares
  2. There are exactly 2 areas
  3. One area must be double the size of the other area

4-7
  1. Avoid squares
  2. There are exactly 2 areas
  3. Areas fit together to make a square

4-8
  1. Avoid squares
  2. There are exactly 3 areas
  3. Two areas fit together to form a third

4-9
  1. Collect all circles
  2. Avoid squares
  3. All squares must be in one area
  4. Areas with squares must be able to be cut into 2 of the same shape

4-10
  1. Collect all circles
  2. Avoid squares
  3. All squares must be in one area
  4. Areas with squares must be able to be cut into 2 of the same shape, with one of the halves being rotated

4-?
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Avoid triangles
  4. SPECIAL: The area the line covers must be the same shape in all boards
Comment: The final rule gives away this level's gimmick. Once again, moving between boards should give a clue about what's going on
Chapter 5
Theme
World 5's theme becomes clear soon after starting it: Numbers. Count the number of dots on a tile and treat it as a number

5-1
  1. Collect all numbers
  2. Do not touch a lower value number after a higher value one

5-2
  1. Collect all numbers
  2. Each number you touch must be exactly 1 away from the previous number

5-3
  1. Collect all numbers
  2. Each number you touch must be equal to the line's length at that point

5-4
  1. Collect all numbers
  2. Each number you touch is equal to the number of empty tiles you touch directly after it

5-5
  1. Avoid all numbers
  2. Each number is equal to the size of the area it's in

5-6
  1. Avoid all numbers
  2. Each number is equal to the number of tiles you touch adjacent to it

5-7
  1. Avoid all numbers
  2. Each number is equal to the number of tiles you touch diagonally next to it

5-8
  1. Avoid all numbers
  2. There must be at least 2 areas
  3. SPECIAL: The numbers in each area add up to the area's size
  4. All areas are the same size

5-9
  1. Avoid all shapes
  2. Each number is equal to the number of tiles you touch to the right of it, extended infinitely

5-10
  1. Avoid all shapes
  2. Each number equals its shortest distance to the line

5-?
  1. Start on a circle
  2. End on a circle
  3. Collect all numbers
  4. The side you enter/exit a number on must the same side you started/ended on in the board of that number
Comment: This one's gimmick is spoiled in the last rule. 5-?-6 through 5-?-9 is perhaps my favourite set of levels in the game
Chapter 6
Theme
World 6's theme: Symmetry

6-1
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Avoid triangles
  4. Touched tiles must have horizontal symmetry

6-2
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Avoid triangles
  4. Touched tiles must have vertical symmetry

6-3
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Avoid triangles
  4. Touched tiles must have 180-degree rotational symmetry

6-4
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Collect exactly 1 star
  4. Touched tiles must have 180-degree rotational symmetry, with a star as its center

6-5
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Collect all stars
  4. Touched tiles are a 180-degree rotation of the untouched areas

6-6
  1. Avoid circles
  2. Collect all tiles where circles would be if the board were mirrored horizontally

6-7
  1. SPECIAL: Collect all shapes that would be in the same place if the level were mirrored horizontally
  2. Avoid all other shapes

6-8
  1. Collect all squares
  2. Avoid circles
  3. There are exactly 2 areas
  4. Areas are 180-degree rotations of each other

6-9
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Avoid triangles
  4. There is exactly one area
  5. Untouched areas have horizontal symmetry

6-10
  1. Avoid all shapes
  2. All shapes of the same type are in the same area
  3. Areas must have 180-degree rotational symmetry, including the locations of shapes inside of them

6-?
Comment: Any of the rules for this one may be a spoiler:
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Collect all stars
  4. Avoid triangles
But something's off...
Chapter 7
Theme
World 7's theme: Direction

7-1
  1. Collect all triangles
  2. Exit each triangle in the direction it's pointing

7-2
  1. Collect all triangles
  2. Enter each triangle from behind

7-3
  1. Collect all triangles
  2. Enter and exit each triangle in the direction it's pointing
  3. SPECIAL: Collect all of one direction of triangle before touching a triangle of a different direction

7-4
  1. Touch the tile each triangle is pointing to
  2. Avoid the tiles directly behind a triangle

7-5
  1. SPECIAL: Collect the first triangle any other triangle is pointing towards
  2. Avoid all other triangles

7-6
  1. Touch the front and back of all triangles
  2. Avoid triangles
  3. Touch the back of a triangle before touching its front

7-7
  1. Collect all triangles
  2. Avoid tiles directly in front of and behind triangles
  3. The area behind each triangle is larger than the are in front of it

7-8
  1. Avoid triangles
  2. Move once in the direction each arrow is pointing

7-9
  1. Avoid triangles
  2. Touch exactly 1 tile in front of each triangle, extended infinitely

7-10
  1. Collect all triangles
  2. Exit a triangle in the direction it's pointing
  3. After touching a triangle, move in the direction it's pointing until you can't any more

7-?
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Collect all triangles
Comment: Think about exactly is preventing you from winning, and how you can make it a non-issue
Chapter 8
Theme
Chapter 8's theme: Shapes
These will be familiar if you've played The Witness

8-1
  1. Avoid all shapes
  2. Each symbol must be the same shape as the area it's in

8-2
  1. Avoid all shapes
  2. Each symbol must be the same shape as the area it's in, after being rotated 90-degrees

8-3
  1. Avoid all shapes
  2. Each area contains exactly one shape
  3. Each symbol must be the same shape as the area it's in
  4. Each area must have a different size multiplier

8-4
  1. Avoid all shapes
  2. All symbols in an area must fit together into that area's shape

8-5
  1. Avoid all shapes
  2. All symbols in an area must fit together into that area's shape, with any rotation

8-6
  1. Avoid all shapes
  2. Each area contains exactly 2 symbols
  3. The smaller symbol can be subtracted from the larger symbol to create the shape of the area they are in

8-7
  1. Avoid all shapes
  2. Draw each shape using the line. One shape must be drawn before moving onto the next

8-8
  1. Avoid all shapes
  2. The line matches the shape of each symbol put together

8-9
  1. Avoid all shapes
  2. The symbols in each area can be put together to form a square

8-10
  1. Avoid all shapes
  2. The symbols and the area they are in can be put together to form a square

8-?
  1. Draw a line that spells the name of the game
Comment: So many references
Chapter 9
Theme
Chapter 9's theme: Corners

9-1
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Collect all stars
  4. Each star must be on a line corner

9-2
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Collect all stars
  4. Turn exactly 4 times

9-3
  1. Collect all stars
  2. Avoid circles
  3. Only turn counterclockwise

9-4
  1. Collect all stars
  2. Always turn

9-5
  1. Collect all stars
  2. Don't make any turns between stars

9-6
  1. Avoid all shapes
  2. Areas must contain exactly 1 type of shape
  3. All of one type of shape must be in the same area
  4. Areas do not contain any 2x2 squares

9-7
  1. Collect all squares
  2. Avoid circles
  3. There is exactly 1 area
  4. Circles must be in a corner of the area (exactly two adjacent sides are covered)

9-8
  1. Avoid squares
  2. Areas contain exactly one square
  3. All areas are connected diagonally to another area by their corners

9-9
  1. Collect all circles
  2. Avoid squares
  3. Turn exactly once between circles

9-10
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Collect all stars
  4. The line segment before a star is the same length as the segment after it

9-?
  1. Collect all circles
  2. Avoid squares
    Comment: If your eyes can't help you, something else can
Chapter 10
Theme
Wait now, what do those colors mean? The number and color of the dots represent the world the type of rule first appeared in
You will need a mastery of the concepts behind all of the previous worlds.

10-1
  1. Don't touch the same type of shape twice
  2. Touch each type of shape
  3. Drawn line must be rectangular

10-2
  1. Avoid all numbers
  2. Each area contains one number
  3. Each number gives the size of the area it's in
  4. All areas have 180-degree rotational symmetry

10-3
  1. Avoid all shapes
  2. Symbols combine to form the shape of the area it's in
  3. Each symbol as a number is equal to the number of tiles you touch diagonally next to it

10-4
  1. Collect all triangles
  2. Enter and exit each triangle in the direction it's pointing
  3. The line segment before and after a triangle are the same length

10-5
  1. Avoid all shapes
  2. Each number marks the distance to the nearest other number. Your line blocks it

10-6
  1. Avoid all shapes
  2. Each area contains exactly 2 suns
  3. The shapes can form the shape of the empty spaces in their area

10-7
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Avoid triangles
  4. The number of triangles is equal to the number of turns you make

10-8
  1. Collect all shapes
  2. SPECIAL: The line you draw must be divisible into N identical pieces, for each number you touch. Rotation is allowed
  3. The drawn line cannot be the shape of a rectangle

10-9
  1. Collect all triangles
  2. Avoid the tiles in front and behind triangles
  3. SPECIAL: The areas behind and in front of a triangle cannot be the same area
  4. SPECIAL: Each area must be behind and in front of the same number of triangles

10-10
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Turn at least twice
  4. Turns must be in identical places if you rotate the board 180-degrees. The direction of each turn does not matter

10-?
  1. The line matches a pre-defined shape.
Comment: What, did you think I would tell you what that shape is?
Chapter (11)
Theme
This used to be chapter 11, but was renamed to simply be a space. You may think it lacks an image on the overworld, but it actually does have one! The theme is "empty"

-1
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Leave no empty spaces

-2
  1. SPECIAL: Start on empty
  2. SPECIAL: End on empty
  3. Collect all circles
  4. Avoid all squares

-3
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on square
  3. Collect exactly 3 empty spaces

-4
  1. Start on circle
  2. End on squares
  3. Avoid triangles
  4. The number of empty spaces in an area is equal to the number of triangles in it

-5
  1. Start on sun
  2. End on sun
  3. Collect all suns
  4. The number of empty spaces you collect is equal to the number of suns +1

-6
  1. Collect all tiles surrounding a sun
  2. Don't touch any tiles that aren't near a sun

-7
  1. Collect all suns
  2. Collect suns in order, starting with the suns near the fewest empty spaces

-8
  1. Line length is the first number divisible by both the board's height and width

-9
  1. Line length is the sum of digits in the board's size

-10
  1. Avoid all shapes
  2. SPECIAL: Touch exactly one empty space between shapes of the same type
  3. SPECIAL: Don't touch any empty spaces between shapes of different types

-?
  1. Line length is equal to some variable
Comment: You can brute force the first 5 boards easily enough, but you may start to run into a problem at boards 6 and 7. Why are they different? Writing down the correct values may help you notice something. It may also help if you come back to it later
? (The end)
The final level. I'll leave you on your own for this one, somehow I think you can figure it out.

Comment: You aren't one of those people who skip the credits, are you?

Chapter - (12)
Theme
Yes, this chapter's name is simply a dash. The dash symbol will appear in all of the levels, and the theme it relates to is the shape of the drawn line.

--1
  1. Collect all squares
  2. Avoid other symbols
  3. The drawn line must consist of only the shape given by the dash symbols, but the shape may appear multiple times

--2
  1. Avoid all symbols
  2. All shapes must be able to fit together to form the line you draw

--3
  1. Collect all squares
  2. Avoid other symbols
  3. The line you draw must contain each shape

--4
  1. Collect all squares
  2. Avoid other symbols
  3. The line you draw must not contain any shape

--5
  1. Avoid symbols
  2. The border of the filled tiles you draw contains the shape of the dashed symbols

--6
  1. Avoid symbols
  2. Dash symbols fit together to form a closed shape that is the filled tiles your line passes through

--7
  1. Avoid symbols
  2. Every area must contain a symbol
  3. Dash symbols can be arranged to form the borders between filled and empty tiles

--8
  1. Avoid symbols
  2. Draw a line in the shape of the dash symbols, but ignore consecutive dashes in the same direction

--9
  1. Start on a square
  2. End on a square
  3. Avoid other shapes
  4. Draw a line in the shape of the dash symbols, but lines in the same direction can be any length

--10
  1. Cover every empty space
  2. Avoid all symbols
  3. All shapes must be able to fit together to form the line you draw, but lines in the same direction can be any length

--?
  1. Cover every space
  2. Draw a line in the shape of the dash symbol, but lines in the same direction can be any length
48 Comments
< >
WHYHW2297-P1xeliTe 18 Feb, 2024 @ 4:22am 
The third rule of 9-6 is incorrect.
Try to draw a line from the 3rd tile to the 18th tile in 9-6-5.
Shou-Chan 3 Oct, 2023 @ 9:39am 
I believe that for 3-8 the third rule should be different number of shapes in each section as opposed to different number of squares
crazyabe111 12 Jan, 2022 @ 9:27am 
Some of these are REALLY misleading as to what they *really* mean- Still more helpful than expected considering there isn't a better guide.
Example- (11) 7 only DIRECTLY ADJACENT empty spaces count for determining the order, which is REALLY important to note.
Example- (11) 9 The 'rule' given is INCREDIBLY VAGUE to the point of being useless, I only solved it because I checked the comments and found an explanation of what that even means.
zipitu32 16 Nov, 2021 @ 9:22am 
it is double i'm dumb and it won't let me delete the comment
zipitu32 16 Nov, 2021 @ 9:19am 
in 4-6 the areas are in a 4:1 ratio not double
shadowoner00013 9 Nov, 2021 @ 3:17pm 
Error 5:
Level 6-1:
You refer to the line as "Touched tiles". That can mean literally anything in this game. Please change that to "Line".
shadowoner00013 9 Nov, 2021 @ 3:06pm 
Error 4:
Level - :
Shapes of lines can actually overlap each other. This is not mentioned anywhere in that section of the guide.
It got me stuck for half an hour, because for example on --1-3, there is an impossible to draw shape, if you cannot overlap the 2 corner shapes. But you can.
shadowoner00013 9 Nov, 2021 @ 3:06pm 
Error 3:
Level 5:
Distance from the number is only measured in the 4 cardinal directions. Up down left right. Diagonals are not calculated when measuring distance away from line.

That got me mislead and stuck for quite some time when I read the rule of yours you've written in this guide. I have drawn the diagonal of a number 2, and it failed.
shadowoner00013 9 Nov, 2021 @ 3:04pm 
Error 2:
Level 6:
What you call 180-degree rotational symmetry, is in geometry called origin point symmetry. These are, for example, the functions that have odd parity. They are symmetric around 1 central point.

Because 180 degree rotational symmetry has no meaning. Shapes and objects that are origin point symmetric, are not exclusively 180 degrees symmetric, they are symmetric on all 360 degrees rotation.
shadowoner00013 9 Nov, 2021 @ 3:04pm 
Note: This is gonna be a multi comment message, because there is a 1000 character limit on comments.

In your guide, you have multiple errors.

Error 1:
Level 6:
You have swapped the horizontal and vertical symmetries.
Horizontal symmetry is when you put a mirror on an object from left to right, and the image on the mirror, and the visible part of the object are identical.
Vertical symmetry is when you put a mirror on an object from top to bottom, the image in the mirror, and the visible part of the object are identical.