The Buff

The Buff

Tag one spot in every region, spray your paint in the right order, and match the piece before the clock runs out. A deduction puzzle in a graffiti yard.

Order matters Daily puzzle Move budget Keyboard play Offline No ads
Play in your browser How it works

Playable now · Free · Works offline

The Buff board — four spray cans placed across a painted grid, with the target piece beside it

Two problems, not one

Most placement puzzles ask where the pieces go. The Buff asks where and in what order. Each can sprays its whole row and column, and the last can painted wins the cells it shares. Get the positions right and the colours still come out wrong — that is the game.

Tag the regions

One can per coloured region, one per row, one per column, and cans never touch — not even diagonally. That part you already know.

Layer the paint

Every can covers its full row and column. Where two sprays overlap, the one fired last is the one you see. Deduce the firing order as well as the positions.

Match the piece

The target card shows the finished wall. When your board matches it, the piece is done — and the sooner, the more stars.

Three ways to lose — and one to win

The clock

Counts down, not up. Bigger walls get more time. Run out and you lose a life; you get three per piece.

The move budget

The counter reads used out of a cap of three times par. Empty it without matching the piece and that is a life too. Hints cost moves, so they are not free.

The watchman

A sleeping night officer dozes at the corner of the yard, and a cartoony alarm clock marches out to shake him awake when the time gets low. Catch him before he catches you.

Four screens from The Buff — mid-game board, pattern mode, the level map, and the rules panel

Built for a phone, playable with a keyboard

Daily puzzle and streaks

Every date seeds its own level, so everyone plays the same wall. Miss a day and the streak resets; clear it and the flame grows.

Stars, best times, share card

Three stars for solving in par with no hints. Best times sit on the level map, and the share card is a Wordle-style result you can paste anywhere.

Patterns mode

Stamps every block with its own shape, so the wall reads without relying on colour. Arrow keys, Enter, Delete, Undo, Hint, Turn and Check all work.

Installable

Add it to your home screen and it keeps playing with no connection — the wall, the music and every level ship with it.

Free and offline

A typical puzzle gameThe Buff
PriceFree, with interstitialsFree
AdsBetween nearly every levelNone
Lives and timersBuy them back with moneyThree per piece, earnable
Daily puzzleSometimesYes, with a streak
Works offlineVariesInstallable app
Your progressOften an accountStays on your device

Questions

Is it really free, with no ads?

Yes. No ads, no subscription, no account and no analytics. Hints are unlimited and never gated behind a video.

Do I need to be good at Sudoku?

No. The first level is a guided tutorial that teaches the whole loop in about thirty seconds: place a can, watch it paint, learn that the last spray wins, then fix an order that is deliberately wrong.

What does the name mean?

To buff is what a city crew does to graffiti — paint straight over it. In the game you are the one layering the paint, and every new coat goes over the last.

Does it work offline?

Yes. The Buff is an installable web app. Add it to your home screen and it keeps working with no connection, music included.

Will it come to Google Play?

Maybe. The web build is the reference version; a store build would share the same engine. Nothing is announced yet.

On privacy

The Buff runs entirely in your browser. There is no account, no analytics and no ad network — nothing is sent anywhere, and your levels, stars and streaks are stored on your own device.