Sleigh Route: free Christmas route planning puzzle game

What is Sleigh Route?

Six snowy maps, from 4 to 8 houses, with pine trees in the way. Tap the houses in the order the sleigh should visit them; it flies square by square from the workshop and back. Every map's shortest loop is worked out exactly, so you see how close you came, and a loop that's too long arrives after dawn.

Sleigh Route is a free Christmas planning puzzle. Each snowy map has a workshop, a few pine trees in the way and from 4 to 8 houses waiting for presents. Tap the houses in the order the sleigh should visit them; it flies one square at a time around the trees and comes back to the workshop at the end.

The game works out the true shortest loop for every map, so after each flight you see your route next to the best one and how many steps you could have saved. A loop more than a quarter longer than the best arrives after dawn and costs a life. Six maps, three lives.

At a glance

Category

Seasonal

Difficulty

Hard

Play time

4–6 min

Price

Free, in your browser, sign-up optional

How to play

Plan a loop

Tap the houses in visiting order, or press their letters. The sleigh starts at the workshop and flies back there.

Count the steps

The sleigh moves one square at a time, up, down, left or right, around the trees.

Beat the dawn

A loop more than a quarter longer than the shortest one costs one of 3 lives.

Score

Up to 200 for matching the shortest loop, +100 for an exact match, +20 per house.

Scoring

Each map scores up to 200 points for matching the shortest loop (200 × shortest ÷ your steps), 100 more for an exact match, and 20 per house.

A loop more than a quarter longer than the shortest one arrives after dawn: no points for that map and one of your 3 lives lost. Your best score is kept in this browser.

What it trains

Route optimisation

Finding the shortest loop through every stop and back.

Planning ahead

Seeing the whole map before the first move instead of going stop by stop.

Spatial reasoning

Counting real distances around obstacles, not straight lines.

Strategy and tips

Look at the whole map first

Spot the clusters of houses before you tap anything.

Sweep, don't zigzag

The best loops usually go round the map once and rarely cross themselves.

Nearest isn't always best

Flying to the closest house each time can leave a long trip home at the end.

Mind the trees

Two houses side by side on the map can be far apart if a row of trees is between them.

Use the keys

Letters A to H add a house, Backspace undoes and Enter flies.

Why play Sleigh Route?

Planning a delivery round, a shopping trip or a day of errands is the same puzzle: visit every stop once and get home with the least travel. Comparing your loop with the true shortest one, map after map, builds the habit of planning the whole route before the first step.

Frequently asked questions